"The Futility of the Flesh: Samson V”
Judges 16

August 13, 2006
by C.W. Powell

I have used a number of commentaries in order to try to understand the details of this narrative, but the application is my own, although suggested by some of the commentaries. Among others, the major ones I consulted were Adam Clarke, Barnes, Delitzsch and Keil, and Matthew Henry. The fruit of these labors I will try to unpack and then make some applications. First of all, we would accept the historicity of these accounts. In fact, Clarke makes a strong case that all the Hercules myths of the ancient world are rooted in a corruption of the history of Samson. Here we have the tragic story of Samson come to an end. Let us look at the details and then make applications. We will be brief.

Judges 16:1-3
1 Then 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.

1. Samson was strong in body, but weak in controlling his passions. He never entered into a godly and holy marriage with a woman of faith and left no offspring. His influence therefore was limited in both its area and in its time. He did weaken the Philistines and prepared the way for the great victories under Saul and David.

2. It was a prodigious feat of strength for him to carry away the gates with the posts and place them on top of all hill that may have been as far away as twenty miles.

Judges 16:4-17:
And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name [was] Delilah.
5 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.
6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength [lieth], and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now [there were] men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
10 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.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And [there were] liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
13 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.
14 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 went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
15 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].
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, [so] that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I [have been] a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any [other] man.

1. Delilah, though maybe not a harlot, yet was little better than one, for she dealt most treacherously with Samson and used his affection for her to betray him for money.

2. Though gifted with great strength at times, Samson was most foolish throughout his life and never more so than in this tragic history.

3. He plays fast and loose with the gift of God and this whole account is about transgression of the Third Commanded, which forbids treating God and His attributes and gifts lightly. He makes a riddle indirectly making a reference to the seven braids of his hair.

4. He deceives Delilah three times, coming closer and closer to the truth. It reminds us of Esau who despised his birthright: “Feed that red to this red,” making a foolish joke; “I am at the point of death, and what good will this birthright do to me.” He found no repentance though he earnestly sought it with tears. Samson found repentance because he was elect of God; Esau never did.

a. Bind with uncured cords. Either of green roots or tough wooden twigs, as willow—which are still used in some parts of the world—or strong strips of leather of horses or cattle—for the word can mean any of these.

b. Bind with new ropes.

c. Weave my hair into the loom, fastened with a plug into the wall or the floor. Samson’s hair was woven into seven braids, and had never been cut, for this was the sign of his dedication to God as a Nazarite.

5. Notice he comes closer and closer to the truth: Seven withes; seven cords; seven lock of hair. These were riddles. His pay for this game was her phony love; what a fool a man can be when it comes to a woman! Solomon, who knew from bad experience, wrote about evil women: “16 Whoso [is] simple, let him turn in hither: and [as for] him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread [eaten] in secret is pleasant. 18 But he knoweth not that the dead [are] there; [and that] her guests [are] in the depths of hell.” (Proverbs 9:16-18 AV)

6. He is playing with her, teasing her, but coming closer and closer to the truth. The Philistines no doubt thought that his strength was due to some spell or magic, rather than the gift of God.

7. Finally he tells her all his heart, revealing his secret; his vow to God. Solomon said “A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise [man] keepeth it in till afterwards.” (Proverbs 29:11 AV)

Judges 16:18-21
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 showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 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 before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

1. She completes her deception and earns her pay, calling a man to cut off his hair after he has gone to sleep in her lap.

2. One of the saddest verses in the Bible: “I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he did not know that the Lord was departed from him….”

3. They blinded him and took him to one of their chief cities, and made him grind the grain, turning the upper stone upon the lower stone, as a slave or an animal.

Judges 16:22-31:
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for 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.
24 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.
25 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 them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 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.
28 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.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 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.
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought [him] up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

1. Dagon was their fish god; the body of a fish, the upper part a man, with the head of the fish forming a mitre above the head.
2. The house for these festivities was composed of a courtyard and a two storied structure adjoining the courtyard, the upper story supported by pillars. The lords and great men of the Philistines sat under the upper floor among the pillars, the common people—several thousands of them—sat on the upper floor. There were two chief pillars upon which the integrity of the structure depended.
3. Samson was used for sport, for he was mocked and abused, and provided entertainment for those who had been their great enemy, but now in their power. They brought him up close to the Lords and great men, between the two great pillars.
4. Laying his hands upon the two great pillars, he prayed to God, ‘Strengthen me this once…” and bowed himself, pulling upon the two great pillars, breaking them, the others fell like dominoes, the roof came crashing down killing those on the roof and those underneath, a greater slaughter than all that Samson had done before.
5. It must have been a devastating blow, for no one hindered Samson’s family from coming to take his corpse and bury it with Manoah his father.

Application.

1. Paul says that “bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8 AV) Samson was very strong in body, but very weak in wisdom and godliness.

2. Peter says that we are to add virtue to our faith; Samson did not do this.

a. His faith was in the promise of God concerning the Messiah, for there is no other kind of true faith;
b. His faith was of the Holy Spirit, for true faith is not the work of the flesh.
c. But the work of the Spirit seems to be confined in Samson to great power in the body, and only a small work in the soul, although the faith of Samson shines bright in the end, and he did do the work that God intended him to do. The blood of Christ was sufficient even for Samson and his sins were forgiven and he obtained that good report that Hebrews 11 speaks of.

3. How much greater are the gifts that are given to the church by the Spirit of God, that is poured out upon us by the Gospel and from our Lord in heaven. As “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7 AV)

a. These wonderful gifts were given especially to the apostles, but are also given in measure to all the people of God.

i. Not the spirit of fear, but of power. Samson had a certain power of the flesh, and he was very proficient in slaughtering men, but how much greater is that power that is able to convince men, and persuade them to turn from their sins and misery and follow Christ. Better is he that calls men to repentance and faith than he that slaughters thousands. There is something defiling about slaughtering men, as God intimates to David, when God refused to allow David to build the temple, because he was a man of blood. Samson did his slaughters by the power of God’s spirit, but this is not God’s best work or His preferred work, for God Himself said by the prophet:

“Say unto them, [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11 AV)

This is an idiom of the Jews and the Hebrew language and doesn’t mean that God does not choose to bring death to the wicked, but that He has more pleasure in the salvation of men, and not their destruction, as Jesus indicated in the account of the prodigal son. Let us pray for this kind of power.

ii. Not the spirit of fear, but of love. This is the reason we are commanded to add brotherly kindness to godliness. There was a certain godliness connected with Samson’s slaughter of the Philistines, befitting the days of the law, in which the love of God was not so clearly revealed. But the godliness of Samson’s slaughter was an imperfect godliness, for brotherly kindness perfects godliness and completes it, as Peter tells us. But this was not known so clearly in the days of the law. God commended his love—He introduced and affirmed His love to us—toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What a wonderful gift of grace that we can love our enemies, pray for those who despitefully use us, and do good to all men, especially those who are of the household of faith. We are not talking of the sentimentality of pacifism, for the Bible knows nothing of that—remember that Samson slew Philistines by the power of the Holy Spirit—don’t forget that there is great wrath in God—but we must never forget either, that where sin abounds, there grace much more abounds, and let us pray for the power of the transforming Gospel be poured out upon the world, for that is the only cure for the sin and misery of men.

iii. Not the spirit of fear, but of a sound mind. Samson certainly did not have a healthy mind and he is no example of anything, but that it is God who gives us the victory, and God can use even the most flawed instruments. This is the reason we are called to add temperance or moderation or self-control to our knowledge, for everything is ruined if we are not ruled by the wisdom of God. The gospel restores us to soundness and healthiness of mind. Samson behaved like a naughty child, without wisdom and without understanding. The only thing you could commend him for is this: He knew who is enemies were and did not use his strength against the people of God. And that is a very great commendation in these days where Christians war with Christians. Samson had sense enough to know who his enemies were.

b. So we come to the end of a sad story. The only bright spot is that God did not forsake his people, but continued to nurture and care for them until the time of the fulfilling of His promise: to send His son into the world to redeem them from their folly and their sin.

Amen and Amen. May God bless you.