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Judges 16:24

in Judges 16

And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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, who hath slain many of us.

KJV

And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

This verse in Judges 16

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

to offer a great sacrifice

on Judges 16:23-24

Dagon is named here, in 1 Samuel 5 where his image falls before the ark. The Philistines credit their god with the deliverance Judges gives the LORD, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands”. Albert Barnes derives the name from dag, a fish.

This site's exposition

when the people saw him, they praised their god

Barnes reads the words the people sang as part of a Philistine song of victory, like the song of Deborah in chapter 5. Henry notes that every people praised its own god for its victories. Here the praise goes to Dagon.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Letter 19 · Written before 397.

proposed

On the occasion of a great feast Samson is brought out of prison to the assembly of the Philistines, and set in sight of the people. There were nearly three thousand in number, men and women; and they insulted him with bitter reproaches, and carried him about in mockery, a trial harder to be borne than the very reality of captivity by a man conscious of innate power. For to live and die is natural, to be a laughing stock is counted a disgrace.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And when the people saw him,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

All people will thus walk in the name of their gods: they will give them the praise of their achievements; and shall not we pay this tribute to our God whose kingdom ruleth over all? Yet, considering what wicked arts they used to get Samson into their hands, it must be confessed it was only such a dunghill-deity as Dagon that was fit to be made a patron of the villany.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Our God ... - A portion of the Philistine triumphal song. Compare Judg. 5; Exo. 15.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּרְא֤וּand they saw

    vaiyiruH7200 →1300 times

  • אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • וַֽיְהַלְל֖וּand they praised

    vayhaluH1984 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑םgod their

    ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אָמְר֗וּthey said

    ʾameruH559 →5305 times

  • נָתַ֨ןhe has given

    natanH5414 →2011 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֤ינוּgod our

    ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times

  • בְיָדֵ֙נוּ֙in hand our

    veyadenuH3027 →1618 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • א֣וֹיְבֵ֔נוּenemy our

    ʾoyvenuH341 →282 times

  • וְאֵת֙and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מַחֲרִ֣יב[the] desolator of

    macharivH2717 →40 times

  • אַרְצֵ֔נוּland our

    ʾartzenuH776 →2504 times

  • וַאֲשֶׁ֥רand who

    vaasherH834 →5497 times

  • הִרְבָּ֖הhe has multiplied

    hirbahH7235 →227 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • חֲלָלֵֽינוּ׃slain [ones] our

    chalaleinuH2491 →94 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Daniel 5:4

    As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

    it leads to

    • Daniel 5:23

      Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised…

    • Habakkuk 2:19

      Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

    • Psalms 135:15–18

      The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

  • Through

    Isaiah 37:20

    And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 46:10

      “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”

    • Psalms 83:17–18

      May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 31:9

    They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 1:20

      Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

    • Judges 16:23–24

      Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”

  • Through

    Revelation 11:10

    And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 18:17

      When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Samson and Delilah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Samson and Delilah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.