forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweet- | and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men ness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. 15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire : have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? 16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my peo-Samson, when he had courted an alliance with the Philistines, did but seek an ple, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? 17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him; and she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day, before the sun went down, What is against them, ch. 14. 4. Now here we have a further account of the occasions he took to weaken them, and to avenge, not his own, but Israel's quarrels, upon them. Every thing here is surprising; if any thing be thought incredible, because impossible, it must be remembered that with God nothing is impossible, and it was by the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him, that he was both directed to, and strengthened for, those unusual ways of making war. I. From the perfidiousness of his wife and her father, he took occasion to burn their corn, v. 1-5. II. From the Philistines' barbarous cruelty to his wife and her father, he took occasion to smite them with a great slaughter, v. 6-8. III. From the treachery of his countrymen, who delivered him bound to the Philistines, he took occasion to kill one thousand of them with the jaw-bone of an ass, v. 9-17. IV. From the distress he was then in for want of water, God took occasion to show him favour in a seasonable supply, v. 18-20. Bme of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his UT it came to within a while after, in the wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. 2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou Luke 11.8. 18.4, 5. & ver. 6. or, apparel. t c. 15. 2. Jer. 9. 4. Mic. 7. 5. John 3. 29. seven days, v. 12-14. The usage, it seems, was very ancient husband, (v. 15 ;) and she did it, 1. With great art and maupon such occasions, when friends were together, to be inno-nagement, (v. 16,) resolving not to believe he loved her, unless cently merry, not to spend all the time in dull eating and drink- he would gratify her in this thing. She knew he could not bear ing, as Bishop Patrick expresses it, or in the other gratifications to have his love questioned, and therefore if any thing would of sense, as music, dancing, or shows, but to propose questions, work upon him, that would, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest by which their learning and ingenuity might be tried and im- me not, if thou deniest me;" whereas he had much more reaproved. This becomes men, wise men, that value themselves son to say, "Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not, if thou by their reason; but very unlike to it are the infamous and insistest on it." And that she might not make this the test of his worse than brutish entertainments of this degenerate age, which affection, he assures her he had not told his own parents, notsend nothing round but the glass and the health, till reason is withstanding the confidence he reposed in them. If this predrowned, and wisdom sunk. Now, 1. Samson's riddle was his vail not, she will try the powerful eloquence of tears, she wept own invention, for it was his own achievement that gave occa- before him the rest of the days of the feast, choosing rather to sion for it; Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong mar the mirth, as the bride's tears must needs do, than not gain came forth sweetness. Read my riddle, what is this? Beasts her point, and oblige her countrymen, v. 17. 2. With great of prey do not yield meat for man, yet food came from the de- success. At last, being quite wearied with her importunity, vourer; and those creatures that are strong when they are alive, he told her what was the meaning of his riddle, and though we commonly smell strong, and are every way offensive when they may suppose she promised secrecy, and that if he would but let are dead, as horses, and yet out of the strong, or out of the bitter, her know, she would tell nobody, she immediately told it to the so the Syriac and Arabic read it, came sweetness. If they had children of her people; nor could he expect better from a Phibut so much sense as to consider what eater is most strong, and listine, especially when the interests of her country were ever what meat is most sweet, they would have found out the riddle; so little concerned. See Mic. 7. 5, 6. The riddle is at length and neither lions nor honey were such strangers to their coun-unriddled; (v. 18,) What is sweeter than honey, or a better try, that the thoughts of them needed to be out of the way: the meat? Prov. 24. 13. What is stronger than a lion, or a greater solving of the riddle would have given him occasion to tell them devourer? Samson generously owns they had won the wager, the entertaining story on which it was founded. This riddle is though he had good reason to dispute it, because they had not applicable to many of the methods of divine providence and declared the riddle, as the bargain was, (v. 12,) but it had been grace. When God, by an overruling providence, brings good declared to them. But he only thought fit to tell them of it, If ye out of evil to his church and people; when that which threat- had not ploughed with my heifer, made use of your interest with ened their ruin turns to their advantage; when their enemies my wife, you had not found out my riddle. Satan, in his temptaare made serviceable to them, and the wrath of men turns to tions, could not do us the mischief he does, if he did not plough God's praise, then comes meat out of the eater, and sweetness with the heifer of our own corrupt nature. out of the strong. See Phil. 1. 12. 2. His wager was more considerable to him than to them, because he was one against thirty partners. It was not a wager laid upon God's providence, or upon the chance of a die or a card, but upon their ingenuity, and amounted to no more than an honorary recompense of wit, and a disgrace upon stupidity. IV. His companions, when they could not expound the riddle themselves, obliged his wife to get from him the exposition of it, v. 15. Whether they were really of a dull capacity, or whether under a particular infatuation at this time, it was strange that none of the thirty could in all this time stumble upon so plain a thing as that, What is sweeter than honey, and what stronger than a lion? It should seem, that in wit, as well as manners, they were barbarous; barbarous indeed, to threaten the bride, that if she would not use means with the bridegroom to let them into the meaning of it, they would burn her and her father's house with fire. Could any thing be more brutish? It was base enough to turn a jest into earnest, and they were unworthy of conversation, that would grow so outrageous rather than confess their ignorance and lose so small a wager; nor would it save their credit at all, to tell the riddle when they were told it. It was yet more villanous, to engage Samson's wife to be a traitor to her own husband, and to pretend a greater interest in her than he had. Now that she was married, she must forget her own people. Yet most inhuma of all was it, to threaten, if she could not prevail, to burn her and all her relations with fire, and all, for fear of losing each of them the value of a shirt and a coat: Have ye called us to take what we have? Those must never lay wagers, that cannot lose more tamely and easily than thus. V. His wife, by unreasonable importunity, obtains from him a key to his riddle. It was on the seventh day, that is, the seventh day of the week, (as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures,) but the fourth day of the feast, that they solicited her to entice her VI. Samson pays his wager to these Philistines with the spoils of others of their countrymen, v. 19. He took this occasion to quarrel with the Philistines, went down to Ashkelon, one of their cities, where, probably, he knew there was some great festival observed at this time, to which many flocked, out of whom he picked out thirty, slew them, and took their clothes, and gave them to those that had expounded the riddle: so that, in balancing the account, it appeared that the Philistines were the losers, for one of the lives they lost was worth all the suits of clothes they won; since the body is more than raiment. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, both to authorize and to enable him to do this. Lastly, This proves a good occasion of weaning Samson from his new relations. He found how his companions had abused him, and how his wife had betrayed him, and therefore his anger was kindled, v. 19. Better be angry with Philistines, than in love with them, because, when we join ourselves to them, we are most in danger of being insnared by them. And meeting with this ill usage among them, he went up to his father's house. It were well for us, if the unkindnesses we meet with from the world, and our disappointments in it, had but this good effect upon us, to oblige us by faith and prayer to return to our heavenly Father's house, and rest there. The inconveniences that occur in our way, should make us love home, and long to be there. No sooner was he gone, than his wife was disposed of to another, v. 20. Instead of begging his pardon for the wrong she had done him, when he justly signified his resentment of it, only by withdrawing in displeasure for a time, she immedi ately marries him that was the chief of the guests, the friend of the bridegroom, whom perhaps she loved too well, and was too willing to oblige, when she got her husband to tell her the riddle. See how little confidence is to be put in man, when those may prove our enemies, whom we have used as our friends. hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. 3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. 4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. a c.14. 20. ⚫ let her be thine, or, blameless from. ‡or, torches. NOTES TO CHAPTER XV. V. 1-8. Here is, I. Samson's return to his wife, whom he had left in displeasure; not hearing, perhaps, that she was given to another, when time had a little cooled his resentments, he came back to her, visited her with a kid, v. 1. The value of the present was inconsiderable, but it was intended as a token of reconciliation, and perhaps was then so used, when those that had been at variance, were brought together again; he sent this, that he might sup with her in her apartments, and she with him, on his provision, and so they might be friends again. It was generously done of Samson, though he was the party offended, and the superior relation, to whom therefore she was bound in duty to sue for peace, and to make the first motion of reconciliation. When differences happen between near relations, let those be ever reckoned the wisest and the best, that are most forward to forgive and forget injuries, and most willing to stoop and yield for peace' sake. II. The repulse he met with; her father forbade him to come near her, for truly he had married her to another, v. 2. He endeavours, 1. To justify himself in this wrong. I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her. A very ill opinion he had of Samson, measuring that Nazarite by the common temper of the Philistines; could he think worse of him, than to suspect, that because he was justly angry with his wife, he utterly hated her, and because he had seen cause to return to his father's house for a while, therefore he had abandoned her for ever? Yet this is all he had to say, in excuse of this injury. Thus he made the worst of jealousies to patronise the worst of robberies. But it will never bear us out in doing ill, to say, "We thought others designed ill." 2. He endeavours to pacify Samson, by offering him his younger daughter, whom, because the handsomer, he thought Samson might accept, in full recompense for the wrong. See what confusions those did admit, and bring their families to, that were not governed by the fear and law of God; marrying a daughter this week to one, and next week to another; giving a man one daughter first, and then another. Samson scorned his proposal, he knew better things than to take a wife to her sister, Lev. 18. 18. III. The revenge Samson took upon the Philistines for this abuse. Had he designed herein only to plead his own cause, he would have challenged his rival, and would have chastised him and his father-in-law only. But he looks upon himself as a public person, and the affront as done to the whole nation of Israel; for, probably, they put this slight upon him, because he was of that nation, and pleased themselves with it, that they had put such an abuse upon an Israelite; and therefore he resolves to do the Philistines a displeasure, and does not doubt but this treament which he had met with among them, would justify him in it; (v. 3,) Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines. He had done what became him, in offering to be reconciled to his wife, but she having rendered it impracticable, now they could not blame him if he showed his just resentments. Note, When differences arise, we ought to do our duty in order to the ending of them, and then, whatever the ill consequences of them may be, we shall be blameless. Now the way Samson took to be revenged on them, was, by setting their cornfields on fire, which would be a great weakening and impoverishing to the country, v. 4, 5. 1. The method he took to do it, was very strange; he sent one hundred and fifty couple of foxes, tied tail to tail, into the cornfields; each couple had a stick of fire between their tails, with which being terrified, they ran into the corn for shelter, and so set fire to it; thus the fire would break out in many places at the same time, and therefore could not be conquered, especially if it was done, as it is probable it was, in the night. He might have employed men to do it, but perhaps he could not find Israelites enough that had courage to do it, and himself could do it but in one place at a time, which would .not effect his purpose. We never find Samson, in any of his exploits, make use of any person whatsoever, either servant or soldier, therefore, in this project, he chose to make use of foxes as his incendiaries. They had injured Samson by their subtlety and malice, and now Samson returns the injury by subtle foxes and mischievous firebrands. By the meanness and weakness of the animals he employed, he designed to put contempt upon the enemies he fought against. This stratagem is often alluded to, to show how the church's adversaries, that are of different interests and designs among themselves, that look and draw contrary ways in other things, yet have often united in a firebrand, some cursed project or other, to waste the church 6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up and burnt her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done_this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. 9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.d b 2 Sam. 14. 30. e c. 14. 15. d ver. 19. of God, and particularly to kindle the fire of division in it. 2. The mischief he hereby did to the Philistines was very great. It was in the time of wheat harvest, (v. 1,) so that the straw being dry, it soon burned both the shocks of corn that were cut, and the standing corn, and the vineyards and olives. This was a waste of the good creatures, but where other acts of hostility are lawful, destroying the forage is justly reckoned to be so. If he might take away their lives, he might take away their livelihood: and God was righteous in it; the corn, and the wine, and the oil, which they had prepared for Dagon to be a meatoffering to him, were thus, in the season thereof, made a burntoffering to God's justice. IV. The Philistines' outrage against Samson's treacherous wife and her father; understanding that they had provoked Samson to do this mischief to the country, the rabble set upon them and burned them with fire, perhaps in their own house, v. 6. Samson himself they durst not attack, and therefore with more justice than perhaps they themselves designed in it, they wreak their vengeance upon those who, they could not but own, had given him cause to be angry. Instead of taking vengeance upon Samson, they took vengeance for him, when he, out of respect to the relation he had stood in to them, was not willing to do it for himself. See his hand in it, to whom vengeance belongs; those that deal treacherously, shall be spoiled and dealt treacherously with, and the Lord is known by these judgments which he executes; especially when, as here, he makes use of his people's enemies as instruments for revenging his people's quarrels one upon another. When a barbarous Philistine sets fire to a treacherous one, the righteous may rejoice to see the vengeance, Ps. 58. 10, 11. Thus shall the wrath of man praise thee, Ps. 76, 10. The Philistines had threatened Samson's wife, that if she would not get the riddle out of him, they would burn her and her father's house with fire, ch. 14. 15. She, to save herself, and oblige her countrymen, betrayed her husband; and what came of it? The very thing that she feared, and sought by sin to avoid, came upon her; she and her father's house were burned with fire, and her countrymen, whom she sought to oblige by the wrong she did to her husband, brought it upon her. The mischief we seek to escape by any unlawful practices, we often pull upon our own heads. He that will thus save his life, shall lose it. V. The occasion Samson took from hence to do them yet a greater mischief, which touched their bone and their flesh; (v. 7, 8,)" Though ye have done this to them, and thereby showed what ye would do to me if ye could, yet that shall not deter me from being further vexatious to you. Or," Though ye think, by doing this, ye have made me satisfaction for the affront I received among you, yet I have Israel's cause to plead as a public person, and for the wrongs done to them, I will be avenged on you; and if ye will then forbear your insults, I will cease, aiming at no more than the deliverance of Israel." So he smote them hip and thigh, with a great stroke; so the word is. We suppose the wounds he gave them, to have been mortal, as wounds in the hip or thigh often prove, and therefore translate it, with a great slaughter. Some think he only lamed them, disabled them for service, as horses were houghed or hamstrung. It seems to be a phrase used to express a desperate attack; he killed them pellmell, or routed them horse and foot. He smote them with his hip upon thigh, that is, with the strength he had, not in his arms and hands, but in his hips and thighs, for he kicked and spurned at them, and so mortified them, trod them in his anger, and trampled them in his fury, Is. 63. 3. And, when he had done, he retired to a natural fortress in the top of the rock Etam, where he waited to see whether the Philistines would be tamed by the correction he had given them, V. 9-17. Here is, I. Samson violently pursued by the Philistines. They went up in a body, a more formidable force than they had together when Samson smote them hip and thigh, and they pitched in Judah, and spread themselves up and down the country to find out Samson, who, they heard, was come this way, v. 9. When the men of Judah, who had tamely submitted to their yoke, pleaded that they had paid their tribute, and that none of their tribe had given them any offence, they freely own they designed nothing in this invasion but to seize Samson; they would fight neither against small nor great, but only that judge of Israel, (v. 10,) to do to him, as he has done to us; that is, to smite his hip and thigh, as he did ours; an eye for an eye. an army come against one man, for indeed he was himself an army. Thus a whole band of men was sent to seize our Lord Here was 10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went* to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers fover us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. 12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand; but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound | ec. 14. 4. f Ps. 106. 41. c. 14. 6. A Ps. 18. 34. † were moist. ⚫ went down. melled. Jesus, that blessed Samson, though a tenth part would have served now that his hour was come, and ten times as many would have done nothing, if he had not yielded. II. Samson basely betrayed and delivered up by the men of Judah, v. 11. Of Judah were they? Degenerate branches of that valiant tribe! Utterly unworthy to carry in their standard the lion of the tribe of Judah. Perhaps they were disaffected to Samson because he was not of their tribe; out of a foolish fondness for their forfeited precedency, they would rather be oppressed by Philistines, than rescued by a Danite. Often has the church's deliverance been obstructed by such jealousies, and pretended points of honour. Rather it was, because they stood in awe of the Philistines, and were willing, at any rate, to get them out of their country. If their spirits had not been perfectly cowed and broken by their sins and troubles, and they had not been given up to a spirit of slumber, they would have taken this fair opportunity to shake off the Philistines' yoke. If they had had the least spark of ingenuousness and courage remaining in them, having so brave a man as Samson was to head them, they would now have made one bold struggle for the recovery of their liberty; but no marvel if they that had debased themselves to hell in the worship of their dunghill gods, (Is. 57. 9,) thus debased themselves to the dust, in submission to their insulting oppressors. Sin dispirits men, nay, it infatuates them, and hides from their eyes the things that belong to their peace. Probably, Samson went into the border of that country to offer his service, supposing his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, as Moses did, Acts 7. 25. But they thrust him from them, and very disingenuously, 1. Blamed him for what he had done against the Philistines, as if he had done them a great injury. Such ungrateful returns have those often received, that have done the best service imaginable to their country. Thus our Lord Jesus did many good works, and for those they were ready to stone him. 2. They begged of him that he would suffer them to bind him, and deliver him up to the Philistines. Cowardly, unthankful wretches! Fond of their fetters, and in love with servitude! Thus the Jews delivered up our Saviour, under pretence of a fear lest the Romans should come, and take away their place and nation. With what a sordid servile spirit do they argue; Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? And whose fault was that? They knew they had no right to rule over them, nor had they been sold into their hands, if they had not first sold themselves to work wickedness. III. Samson tamely yielding to be bound by his countrymen, and delivered into the hands of his enraged enemies, v. 12, 13. How easily could he have beaten them off, and kept the top of his rock against these three thousand men, and none of them all could, or durst, have laid hands on him; but he patiently submitted, 1. That he might give an example of great meekness, mixed with great strength and courage; as one that had rule over his own spirit, he knew how to yield, as well as how to conquer. 2. That by being delivered up to the Philistines he might have an opportunity of making a slaughter among them. 3. That he might be a type of Christ, who, when he had showed what he could do in striking those down that came to seize him, yielded to be bound and led as a lamb to the slaughter. Samson justified himself in what he had done against the Philistines; As they did to me, so I did to them; it was a piece of necessary justice, and they ought not to retaliate it upon me, for they began." He covenants with the men of Judah, that if he put himself into their hands, they should not fall upon him themselves, because then he should be tempted to fall upon them, which he was very loath to do. This they promised him, (v. 13,) and then he surrendered. The men of Judah, being his betrayers, were, in effect, his murderers; they would not kill him themselves, but they did that which was worse, they delivered him into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines, who, they knew, would do worse than kill him, would abuse and torment him to death. Perhaps they thought, as some think Judas did, when he betrayed Christ, that he would, by his strength, deliver himself out of their hands; but if he did, that was no thanks to them, and if they thought he would, they might of themselves have thought this again, that he could and would him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15 And he found a new jaw-bone of an ass, and put forth his hand and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 16 And Samson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and called that place "Ramath-lehi. 18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deli an heap, two heaps. ii. e. the lifting up of the jaw-bone, or, the casting away of the jaw-bone. i Ps. 3. 7. have delivered them too, if they would have adhered to him, and made him their head. Justly is their misery prolonged, who, to oblige their worst enemies, thus abuse their best friend. Never were men so infatuated, except those who thus treated our blessed Saviour. IV. Samson making his part good against the Philistines, even then when he was delivered into their hands, fast pinioned with two new cords. The Philistines, when they had him among them, shouted against him, v. 14. So, triumphing in their success, and insulting over him; if God had not tied their hands faster than the men of Judah had tied his, they would have shot at him, (as their archers did at Saul,) to despatch him immediately, rather than have shouted at him, and given him time to help himself. But their security and joy were a presage of their ruin. When they shouted against him as a man run down, confident that all was their own, then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, came mightily upon him, inspired him with more than ordinary strength and resolution. Thus fired, 1. He presently got clear of his bonds; the two new cords, upon the first struggle he gave, broke, and were melted (as the original word is) from off his hands, no doubt, to the great amazement and terror of those that shouted against him, whose shouts were hereby turned into shrieks. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, his cords were loosed; where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, and those are free indeed, who are thus freed. This typified the resurrection of Christ by the power of the Spirit of holiness; in it he loosed the bands of death; and its cords, the grave-clothes, fell from his hands, without being loosed, as Lazarus's were, because it was impossible that the mighty Saviour should be holden of them; and thus he triumphed over the powers of darkness that shouted against him, as if they had him sure. 2. He made a great destruction among the Philistines, who all gathered about him to make sport with him, v. 15. See how poorly he was armed, he had no better weapon than the jaw-bone of an ass, and yet what execution he did with it; he never laid it out of his hand, till he had with it laid a thousand Philistines dead upon the spot; and thus that promise was more than accomplished, One of you shall chase a thousand, Josh. 23. 10. A jaw-bone was an inconvenient thing to grasp, and, one would think, mightly easily be wrested out of his hand, and a few such blows as he gave with it, might have crushed and broken it, and yet it held good to the last. Had it been the jaw-bone of a lion, especially that which he himself had slain, it might have helped to heighten his fancy, and to make him think himself the more formidable; but to take the bone of that despicable animal, was to do wonders by the foolish things of the world, that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of man. One of David's worthies slew three hundred Philistines at once, but it was with a spear, 1 Chr. 11. 11. Another slew of them till his hand was weary, and stuck to his sword, Sam. 23. 10. But they all came short of Samson. What could be thought too hard, too much, for him to do, on whom the Spirit of the Lord came mightily! Through God we shall do valiantly. It was strange the men of Judah did not now come in to his aid; cowards can strike a falling enemy: but he was to be a type of him that trod the wine-press alone. 2 V. Samson celebrating his own victory, since the men of Judah would not do even that for him; he composed a short song, which he sang to himself, for the daughters of Israel did not meet him, as afterward they did Saul, to sing, with more reason, Samson hath slain his thousands. The burden of this song, was, With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, have I slain a thousand men, v. 16. The same word in Hebrew (Chamor) signifies both an ass and a heap, which makes this an elegant paronomasia, and represents the Philistines falling as tamely as asses. He also gave a name to the place, to perpetuate the Philistines' disgrace, (v. 17,) Ramath-lehi, the lifting up of the jaw-bone. Yet he did not vaingloriously carry the bone about with him as a show, but threw it away when he had done with it. So little were relics valued then. verance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 1. How he was betrayed by her to his sworn enemies, the Philistines, who (1.) By her means got it out of him at last where his great strength lay, v. 517. (2.) Then robbed him of his strength, by taking from his head the crown of his separation, v. 18-20. (3.) Then seized him, blinded him, imprisoned him, abused him, and at a solemn festival made a show of him, v. 21-25. 2. How he avenged himself of them, by pulling down the theatre upon their heads, and so dying with them, v. 26-31. 19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again,' and he THE revived: wherefore he called the name thereof +Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. 20 And he judged "Israel, in the days of the Philistines, twenty years. CHAPTER XVI. Samson's name (we have observed before) signifies a little sun, (sol parvus ;) we have seen this sun rising very bright, and his morning-ray strong and clear: and nothing appearing to the contrary, we take it for granted, that the middle but the melancholy story of this chapter gives us such an account of his evening, as did not commend his day. This little sun set under a cloud, and yet, justin the setting, darted forth one such strong and glorious beam, as made him even then a type of Christ, conquering by death. Here is, I. Samson greatly endangered by his familiarity with one harlot, and hardly escaping, v. 1-3. 11. Samsoo quite ruined by his familiarity with another harlot Delilah. Observe, ⚫or, Lehi. k Is. 44.3. 1 Is. 40. 29. ti. e. the well of him that called or cried. Ps. 34.6. m He seems to have judged South west Israel during 20 years consumed him, ate him up, and made him forget himself, till, when he had time to pause a little, he found himself reduced to the last extremity for want of water, and ready to faint. Perhaps there was a special hand of God in it, as there was in the whole transaction; and God would hereby keep him from being proud of his great strength and great achievements, and let him know that he was but a man, and liable to the calamities that are common to men. And Josephus says, It was designed to chastise him for not making mention of God and his hand, in his memorial of the victory he had obtained, but taking all the praise to himself; I have slain a thousand men; now that he is ready to die for thirst, he is under a sensible conviction that his own arm could not have saved him, without God's right hand and arm. Samson had drunk largely of the blood of the Philistines, but blood will never quench any man's thirst. Providence so ordered it, that there was no water near him, and he was so fatigued that he could not go far to seek it: the men of Judah, one would think, should have met him, now that he was come off a conqueror, with bread and wine, as Melchizedek did Abram, to atone for the injury they had done him; but so little notice did they take of their deliverer, that he was ready to perish for want of a draught of water. Thus are the greatest slights often put upon those that do the greatest services. Christ, on the cross, said, I thirst. of the day was proportionably illustrious, while he judged Israel twenty years; II. His prayer to God in this distress. Those that forget to attend God with their praises, may perhaps be compelled to attend him with their prayers. Afflictions are often sent to bring unthankful people to God. Two things he pleads with God in this prayer; 1. His having experienced the power and goodness of God in his late success; Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant. He owns himself God's servant in what he had been doing, "Lord, wilt thou not own a poor servant of thine, that has spent himself in thy service? I am thine, save me." He calls this victory a deliverance, a great deliverance; for if God had not helped him, he had not only not conquered the Philistines, but had been swallowed up by them. He owns it to come from God, and now corrects his former error, in assuming it too much to himself; and this he pleads in his present strait. Note, Past experiences of God's power and goodness, are excellent pleas in prayer for further mercy. "Lord, thou hast delivered often, wilt thou not deliver still? 2 Cor. 1. 10. Thou hast begun, wilt thou not finish? Thou hast done the greater, wilt thou not do the lesser ?" Ps. 56. 13. 2. His being now exposed to his enemies. "Lest I fall into the hands of the uncircumcised, and then they will triumph, will tell it in Gath, and in the streets of Askelon; and will it not redound to God's dishonour, if his champion become so easy a prey to the uncircumcised?" The best pleas are those taken from God's glory. III. The seasonable relief God sent him. God heard his prayer, and sent him water, either out of the bone, or out of the earth through the bone, v. 19. That bone which he had made an instrument of God's service, God, to recompense him, made an instrument of his supply. But I rather incline to our marginal reading, God clave a hollow place that was in Lehi; the place of this action was, from the jaw-bone, called Lehi; even before the action we find it so called, v. 9, 14. And there, in that field, or hill, or plain, or whatever it was, that was so called, God caused a fountain suddenly and seasonably to open just by him, and water to spring up out of it in abundance, which continued a well ever after. Of this fair water he drank, and his spirits revived. We should be more thankful for the mercy of water, did we consider how ill we can spare it. And this instance of Samson's relief, should encourage us to trust in God, and seek to him, for, when he pleases, he can open rivers in high places. See Is. 41. 17, 18. IV. The memorial of this, in the name Samson gave this upstart fountain, En-hakkore, the well of him that cried, thereby keeping in remembrance, both his own distress, which occasioned him to cry, and God's favour to him, in answer to his Many a spring of comfort God opens to his people, which may fitly be called by his name, it is the well of him that cried. Samson had given a name to that place, which denoted him cry. HEN went Samson to Gaza, and saw there "an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. And it came to pass afterward, that he loved of their servitude of the Philistines. c. 13. 1. a woman, an harlot. a 1 Sam. 23. 26. Ps. 118. 10-12. ↑ silent. with the bar. great and triumphant, Ramath-lehi, the lifting up of the jawbone; but here he gives it another name, which denotes him wanting and dependent. Lastly, The continuance of Samson's government after these achievements, v. 20. At length Israel submitted to him whom they had betrayed. Now it was past dispute that God was with him, so that henceforward they all owned him, and were directed by him as their judge; the stone which the builders refused, became the head-stone. It intimates the low condition of Israel, that the government was dated by the days of the Philistines; yet it was a mercy to Israel, that though they were oppressed by a foreign enemy, yet they had a judge that preserved order, and kept them from ruining one another. Twenty years his government continued, according to the usage of the judges' administration; but of the particulars we have no account, save of the beginning of his government in this chapter, and the end of it in the next. NOTES TO CHAPTER XVI. V. 1-3. Here is, 1. Samson's sin, v. 1. His taking a Philistine to wife, in the beginning of his time, was, in some degree, excusable; but to join himself to a harlot that he accidentally saw among them, was such a profanation of his honour, as an Israelite, as a Nazarite, that we cannot but blush to read it, Tell it not in Gath. This vile impurity makes the graceful visage of this Nazarite blacker than a coal, Lam. 4. 7, 8. We find not that Samson had any business at Gaza; if he went thither in quest of a harlot, it would make one willing to hope, that, as bad as things were otherwise, there were no prostitutes among the daughters of Israel. Some think he went thither to observe what posture the Philistines were in, that he might get some advantages against them; if so, he forgot his business, neglected that, and so fell into this snare. His sin began in his eye, with which he should have made a covenant; he saw there one in the attire of a harlot, and the lust which conceived brought forth sin, he went in unto her. 2. Samson's danger. Notice was sent to the magistrates of Gaza, perhaps by the treacherous harlot herself, that Samson was in the town, v. 2. Probably, he came in a disguise, or, in the dusk of the evening, went into an inn, or public house, which happened to be kept by this harlot. The gates of the city were hereupon shut, guards set, all kept quiet, that Samson might suspect no danger; now they thought they had him in a prison, and doubted not but to be the death of him the next morning. O that all those who indulge their sensual appetites in drunkenness, uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts, would see themselves thus surrounded, waylaid, and marked for ruin, by their spiritual enemies! The faster they sleep, and the more secure they are, the greater is their danger. 3. Samson's escape, v. 3. He rose at midnight, perhaps roused by a dream, in slumberings upon the bed, (Job 33. 15,) by his guardian angel, or rather by the checks of his own conscience; he rose with a penitent abhorrence (we hope) of the sin he was now committing, and of himself because of it, and with a pious resolution not to return to it; rose under an apprehension of the danger he was in, that he was as one that slept upon the top of a mast; rose with such thoughts as these; "Is this a bed fit for a Nazarite to sleep in? Shall a temple of the living God be thus polluted? Can I be safe under this guilt?" It was bad that he lay down without such checks; but it would have been worse if he had lain still under them. He makes immediately toward the gate of the city, probably, finds the guards asleep, else he had made them sleep their last, stays not to break open the gates, but plucks up the posts, takes them, gates and bar and all, all very large and strong, and a vast weight, yet he carries them on his back several miles, up to the top of a hill, in disdain of their attempt to secure him with gates and bars, designing thus to render himself more formidable to the Philistines, and more acceptable to his people; thus to give a proof of the great strength God had given him, and a type of Christ's victory over death and the grave. He not only rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and so |