§48. The Birth of Samson (Judg. 13:2-6, 24)

There was a certain man of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife bare no child. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, "Behold now, thou shalt bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: for, lo, thou shalt bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head: for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from his birth: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

Then the woman came and told her husband.

And the woman bare a son and called his name Samson: and the child grew and the Lord blessed him.

§49. The Riddle at the Wedding Feast (Judg. 14)

And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife."

Then his father and his mother said unto him, "Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the Philistines?"

And Samson said unto his father, "Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well."

Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

And after a while he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went, and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion. And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

And Samson said unto them, "Let me now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment: but if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment."

And they said unto him, "Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it."

And he said unto them,

And they could not in three days declare the riddle.

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 impoverish us? is it not so?"

And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, "Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, 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 thee?"

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 pressed him sore: 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 sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?"

And he said unto them,

And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

§50. Samson's Strength (Judg. 15:1-17; 16:1-3)

A. THE STORY OF THE FOXES

But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his 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. And her father said, "I verily thought that thou 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."

And Samson said unto them, "This time shall I be blameless in regard to the Philistines, when I do them a mischief."

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the oliveyards.

Then the Philistines said, "Who hath done this?"

And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his companion."

And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

And Samson said unto them, "If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that will I cease."

And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

B. THE STORY OF THE JAWBONE

Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, "Why are ye come up against us?"

And they said, "To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us."

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what then is this that thou hast done unto us?"

And he said unto them, "As they did unto me, so have I done unto them."

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."

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 him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. When he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith. And Samson said,

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand.

C. THE STORY OF THE GATES OF GAZA

And Samson went to Gaza. 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, "Let be till morning light, then we will kill him."

And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

§51. Samson's Weakness (Judg. 16:4-22)

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, "Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver."

And Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee."

And Samson said unto her, "If they bind me with seven new bowstrings that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven new bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had liers in wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."

And he brake the bowstrings as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

And Delilah said unto Samson, "Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound."

And he said unto her, "If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."

And the liers in wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

And Delilah said unto Samson, "Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound."

And he said unto her, "If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web."

And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."

And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

And she said unto him, "How canst thou say, 'I love thee,' when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth."

And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death. And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, "There hath not come a razor upon mine head: for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my birth: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man."

And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he hath told me all his heart."

Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees: and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."

And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself."

But he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

§52. Samson's Vengeance (Judg. 16:23-31)

And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, "Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand." And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, "Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which hath slain many of us." And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may make us sport."

And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made sport before them: and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, "Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them."

Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, "O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once. O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left. And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him in the burying-place of Manoah his father.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

163. All peoples have their old stories of heroes who had great strength. The Greeks had their Hercules and the Hebrews had their Samson. In reading his story we must remember that it belongs to a rude age, when men's passions were strong and they had not learned the gentler ways of life. The story is full of adventure; it is very well told; it shows us much of the old Hebrew life; and it helps us to see how hard the lot of the people must have been under their oppressors. Of course they remembered any strong man of those days, and his story grew as it was told from generation to generation.

164 (§48). The first thing that we learn about the hero is that he was a promised child. He was set apart from his birth to the Lord. Such persons were called Nazirites. They had to abstain from wine, and their hair was not to be cut.

165 (§49). With whom did Samson fall in love? The Philistines were the oppressors of his people. What did his parents think of it? It would seem that they all went down to make the betrothal feast. What great feat of strength did Samson perform on the way? Then there was a second visit for the marriage itself. What did Samson find this time on his way?

166 (§49). The story describes some of the old customs. What was Samson expected to provide for the wedding? How many young men were there? What bet did he make with them? What was the riddle? Could you have guessed it?

167 (§49). How did the young men find out the riddle? How did Samson pay his bet? Consider what rude times those must have been.

168 (§50A). We have a number of the old stories of Samson's strength. Consider what injury was done to Samson. What humorous and savage revenge did Samson take upon his enemies? It was considered a great insult to burn the standing grain. What horrible vengeance did the Philistines take on the bride's family?

169 (§50B). Tell what Samson's own people did to him. Why did they do it? What was Samson's great feat? Notice how big they made the stories—one man killing a thousand.

170 (§50C). They loved the stories of Samson's clever escapes. How did the men of Gaza think he was caught? How did Samson escape?

171 (§51). This strong man was not really a great man. After he had lost his first Philistine wife he fell in love with another woman of the same race. She proved as deceitful as the first. Note the enormous bribe that the Philistine lords offered Delilah. What was the first trial of Samson's strength? The new bowstrings were probably cords made from the intestines of animals. If they were not dried they would be tougher.

172 (§51). Tell the story of the second trial. The story of the third trial is not quite so plain. It means that his long hair was to be woven in with a piece of stuff that was being woven in the loom. When he woke up he walked off with the whole heavy loom.

173 (§51). Notice how he let the wicked woman tease him. Was he strong or weak? Is it the part of a strong man to go into temptation or to run away from it? What was done to Samson? He makes us think of many a big strong man who was weak when it came to a question of goodness. Most of the big prize fighters are so weak that they become drunkards. Think of this hero doing the work of a slave.

174 (§52). Notice how delighted the Philistines were that they had overcome their great enemy. Imagine the crowd gathered in a temple, the roof of which rested upon two central pillars. When they were very merry they sent for the poor blind Samson to make fun of him. What happened?

175. Do you think Samson was a great man?

WRITTEN REVIEW

Discuss the question whether Samson ought to have been put among the heroes of Israel. Read over the story carefully and see why the Hebrews would have wished to class him with their heroes. Read it again to see what there is against giving him that distinction. Prepare for a debate upon the question.