Adam Clarke

So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.”

“And he said unto there - Thus he states or proposes his riddle: - Out of the eater came forth meat, And out of the strong came forth sweetness. Instead of strong, the Syriac and Arabic have bitter.”

Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?”

“If ye had not ploughed with my heifer - If my wife had not been unfaithful to my bed, she would not have been unfaithful to my secret; and, you being her paramours, your interest was more precious to her than that of her husband.”

Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those…

“The Spirit of the Lord came upon him - “The spirit of fortitude from before the Lord.” - Targum. He was inspired with unusual courage, and he felt strength proportioned to his wishes.”

and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

“But Samson’s wife was given to his companion - This was the same kind of person who is called the friend of the bridegroom, Joh 3:29.”

Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.

“Went and caught three hundred foxes - There has been much controversy concerning the meaning of the term שועלים shualim, some supposing it to mean foxes or jackals, and others handfuls or sheaves of corn.”

“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.”

“Burnt her and her father - This was probably done to appease Samson: as they saw he had been unjustly treated both by his wife and her father; therefore they destroyed them both, that they might cause his wrath to cease from them.”

And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

“He smote them hip and thigh - This also is variously understood; but the general meaning seems plain; he appears to have had no kind of defensive weapon, therefore he was obliged to grapple with them, and, according to the custom of wrestlers, trip up…”

“Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.”

“To bind Samson are we come up - It seems they did not wish to come to an open rupture with the Israelites, provided they would deliver up him who was the cause of their disasters.”

But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.”

“That ye will not fall upon me yourselves - He could not bear the thought of contending with and slaying his own countrymen; for there is no doubt that he could have as easily rescued himself from their hands as from those of the Philistines.”

And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

“He judged Israel - twenty years - In the margin it is said, He seems to have judged southwest Israel during twenty years of their servitude of the Philistines, Jdg 13:1.”

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.

“Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot - The Chaldee, as in the former case, renders the clause thus: Samson saw there a woman, an inn-keeper.”

Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

“He loved a woman in the valley of Sorek - Some think Samson took this woman for his wife; others, that he had her as a concubine.”

Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.”

“Seven green withs - That is, any kind of pliant, tough wood, twisted in the form of a cord or rope. Such are used in many countries formed out of osiers, hazel, etc.”

He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.”

“If they bind me fast with new ropes - Samson wishes to keep up the opinion which the Philistines held; viz., that his mighty strength was the effect of some charm; and therefore he says, Seven green withs which had not been dried; new ropes…”

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.”

“The seven locks of my head - Probably Samson had his long hair plaited into seven divisions, and as his vow of a Nazarite obliged him to wear his hair, so, seven being a number of perfection among the Hebrews, his hair being divided into…”

Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb.

“If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me - The miraculous strength of Samson must not be supposed to reside either in his hair or in his muscles, but in that relation in which he stood to God as a Nazarite, such…”

And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head.

“She began to affect him - She had probably tied his hands slyly, while he was asleep, and after having cut off his hair, she began to insult him before she called the Philistines, to try whether he were really reduced to a state of…”

Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson…

“Now the house was full of men - It was either the prison-house, house of assembly, or a temple of Dagon, raised on pillars, open on all sides, and flat-roofed, so that it could accommodate a multitude of people on the top.”

Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me.

“Samson called unto the Lord - It was in consequence of his faith in God that he should be strengthened to overthrow his enemies and the enemies of his country, that he is mentioned, Heb 11:32, among those who were remarkable for their faith.”

And Samson reached out for the two central pillars supporting the temple. Bracing himself against them with his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other,

“The two middle pillars upon which the house stood - Much learned labor has been lost on the attempt to prove that a building like this might stand on two pillars. But what need of this?”

said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me…

“About which thou cursedst - Houbigant and others understand this of putting the young man to his oath.”

Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

“The man Micah had a house of gods - בית אלהים beith Elohim should, I think, be translated house or temple of God; for it is very likely that both the mother and the son intended no more than a private or domestic chapel, in…”

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

“There was no king in Israel - The word מלך melech, which generally means king, is sometimes taken for a supreme governor, judge, magistrate, or ruler of any kind; (see Gen 36:31, and Deu 33:5); and it is likely it should be so understood here.”

This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place.

“To sojourn where he could find - He went about the country seeking for some employment, for the Levites had no inheritance: besides, no secure residence could be found where there was no civil government.”

“Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your…

“Be unto me a father and a priest - Thou shalt be master of my house, as if thou wert my father; and, as priest, thou shalt appear in the presence of God for me.”