John Gill Commentary Judges 16

Then went Samson to Gaza
One of the five principalities of the Philistines, which was ten miles from Ashkelon, as Sandys^F17 says; who also describes^F18 it as standing upon an hill environed with valleys, and these again well nigh enclosed with hills, most of them planted with all sorts of delicate fruits; and, according to Bunting^F19 , forty two miles from Ramathlehi, the place where we last hear of him, (See Gill on Amos 1:6) (See Gill on Zephaniah 2:4) what he went hither for is not easy to say; it showed great boldness and courage, after he had made such a slaughter of the Philistines, to venture himself in one of their strongest cities, where he must expect to be exposed to danger; though it is highly probable this was a long time after his last encounter with them:

and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her ;
the Targum renders it an innkeeper, one that kept a victualling house; so Kimchi, Ben Gersom, and Ben Melech interpret it;

into whose house he went for entertainment and lodging, and very probably in the dusk of the evening; and the woman that kept this house might herself be an harlot, or, however, Samson saw one in her house, with whom he was captivated, and went in unto her, or had criminal conversation with her; it seems as if he did not turn in thither with any such wicked design, but on sight of the person was ensnared to commit lewdness with her; and, as Lyra says, there were many hostesses in some places, and so here, who too easily prostituted themselves to their guests.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: Travels, l. 3. p. 118.
• F18: Travels, l. 3. p. 116.
• F19: Ut supra. (Travels, l. 3. p. 118.)

And it was told the Gazites
The inhabitants of Gaza, the principal ones of it, the magistrates of the city, either by some persons that saw him come in, who knew him, or by the harlot into whose company he fell, to whom he made himself known:

saying, Samson is come hither ;
the man so famous for his strength, and such an enemy to the Philistines; his name was well known for his great exploits, and rung throughout Palestine, and was a terror to the whole country:

and they compassed [him] in ;
not that they surrounded the house where he was, which perhaps they might not certainly know, but they secured all the avenues and gates of the city, made them fast, and placed guards there, that he might not escape their hands:

and laid wait for him all night in the gate ;
particularly at that gate, where, if he went out for his country, he must pass:

and were quiet all the night ;
did not attempt to disturb Samson, or seize on him, if they knew where he was; knowing his great strength, and what a tumult might be raised in the city, they said nothing of it to anybody that passed, what they were placed there for, lest it should come to his ears; they made as if they were deaf and dumb, as some interpret it, and heard and knew nothing:

saying, in the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him ;
when they should better know him, and make sure their blow at him, and do it suddenly, unawares to him, as he came to the gate, to pass through it.

And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight
Either not being able to lie any longer through the conviction of his conscience for his lewdness, or being warned by a dream, or having an impulse upon his spirit, which suggested to him that wait was laid for him, and the danger he was in; and coming to the gate of the city, which he found shut and fast barred and bolted, and the watch perhaps asleep, not expecting his coming until daylight:

and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went
away with them, bar and all ;
did not stand to break open the doors of the gate, but took the two side posts up, on which the folding doors of the gate were hung, out of the ground in which they were fastened, with the bar which went across the doors for the security of them:

and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron ;
if this hill was near Hebron, as the words thus read seem to intimate, he must carry the gates twenty miles upon his shoulders, for so far was Hebron from Gaza; so Josephus says it was over Hebron; but according to Adrichomius ^F20 , it was near Gaza, looking towards Hebron; and so Sandys says ^F21 , in the valley, on the east side of the city, are many straggling buildings, beyond which there is a hill more eminent than the rest, on the north side of the way that leads to Babylon, said to be that to which Samson carried the gates of the city. It is very probable, as some think, that it was between Gaza and Hebron, in sight of both cities, which may be meant by the phrase "before", or "on the face of"; being so high might be seen as far as Hebron, as well as at Gaza.

This was an emblem of Christ's resurrection, of whom Samson was a type, who being encompassed in a sepulchre, and sealed and watched by soldiers, broke through the bars of death and the grave, and carried off the doors in triumph; and in a short time ascended to heaven, whereby he declared himself to be the Son of God with power. It was usual for doors and bars of gates to be carried in triumph, and laid up in temples ^F23 ; and the Jews say these doors were not less than sixty cubits, and suppose Samson's shoulders to be as broad ^F24 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: "Theatrum Terrae Sanet". p. 133.
• F21: Ut supra, (Travels l. 3.) p. 117.
• F23: "----sacris in postibus arma: ----et portarum ingentia claustra." Virgil. Aeneid. 7. ver. 185.
• F24: T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 10. 1.

And it came to pass afterwards, that he loved a woman in the
valley of Sorek
Which, according to Adrichomius ^F25 was but half a mile from the brook Eshcol, from which thespies brought a bunch of grapes, as a specimen of the fruit of the land of Canaan; and this valley of Sorekseems to have been famous for the best wine, and hither Samson retired for refreshment and pleasure; but,according to Jerom {z}, it was on the north of Eleutheropolis, where, he says, was shown a village in histime called Capharsorech, near the village Zorah, from where Samson was; and Bunting ^F1 makes itto be twelve miles from Hebron, and twelve from Jerusalem; where he met with a woman he loved.

Whether shewas an Israelite, or one of the daughters of the Philistines, they now being the rulers of Israel, is notsaid; most likely the latter, as say Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, since the lords of the Philistines were sointimate with her, and were entertained in her house, and she showed more respect to them than to Samson. TheJews say she became a proselyte, but if she did, there is very little evidence of her being a sincere one:some have thought, that the courtship to her was a lawful conjugal love; that falling in love with her, hecourted and married her; but this is not very likely, since no mention is made of his marriage to her, nordid he take her home, but dwelt in her house: it rather seems to be an impure and unlawful love he had toher, and that she was an harlot, as Josephus ^F2 ; and all her conduct and behaviour confirm thesame:

whose name was Delilah ;
the Jews say ^F3 she was so called because she weakened the heart and spirit of Samson, andweakened his strength, and weakened his works; and therefore, if this had not been her name, they say it wasone very proper for her.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: Ut supra, (Theatrum Terra Sanct.) p. 24.
• F1: Travels, p. 116, 117.
• F2: Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8.) sect. 11.
• F3: T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 9. 2.

And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her
Having heard that Samson kept company with her, she being a noted strumpet, like Lais among the Grecians. These were in number five, as appears from (Judges 3:3) and had under them five principalities, into which Palestine was divided; and these, if not united in their government, which possibly might be the case at this time, yet were united against their common enemy Samson; and being great personages, it is thought by some they came not themselves to this harlot's house, but sent a deputation of five persons in their names, though the text is very express here and after: they are said to come up to her, because their country lay on the shore of the sea, and lower than Judea:

and said unto her, entice him ;
persuade him with soothing and flattering words; take an opportunity when in an amorous mood to improve her interest in his affections:

and see wherein his great strength lieth ;
for it might not appear by the size of his body, or from his natural constitution, and in the common actions of life, but only at certain times, and as it should seem when he pleased; and he might have been heard to say that it was a secret he kept to himself, and no man knew it; or they might suspect something of magic in the case, that he carried something about with him, which, if it could be gotten from him, would deprive him of his strength:

and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to
afflict him ;
to humble him, bring him low, and reduce him to the common condition of men; they did not propose to kill him, which they might think she would not agree to, and so reject their proposal at once, but at most to distress him, and to chastise him with mockings and scourgings, bonds and imprisonment, for the mischief he has indeed done them, and prevent him from doing more:

and we will give you, everyone of us, eleven hundred [pieces] of
silver
or shekels; it may seem strange that they should promise each 1100: some think their principalities offered each 1000 shekels, and the princes themselves one hundred; but Abarbinel supposes that this was, on some account or another, in those times an usual sum or computation, since the same is mentioned in the following chapter;

though it may be observed that these five several sums put together make a round number, 5500 pieces of silver; which, taking them to be shekels, according to Waserus ^F4 : they amounted to 1375 rix dollars, and of Helvetian money 3666 pounds, and a little more, and of our money near seven hundred pounds sterling;

a considerable bribe, and very tempting to a person of such a character, and which she readily embraced, as appears by what follows.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: De Antiquis Numis, l. 2. c. 5.