Introduction: Samson was chosen by God to begin to deliver the Israelites out of the hands of the Philistines.

Transcription

1 15 15:1 20 Animosity Btwn Samson and th Philistins Continus Outlin of Chaptr 15: vv. 1 8 Samson dos not gt his wif back so h taks it out on th Philistins vv Th Judæans hand Samson ovr to th Philistins vv Samson kills 1000 Philistins with th jawbon of an ass vv Samson stablishs a rlationship with God Charts: Introduction: Samson was chosn by God to bgin to dlivr th Isralits out of th hands of th Philistins. 15 is a continuation of that struggl btwn Samson and th Philistins. Samson actd lik a on-man army, causing both constrnation to Judah and to Philistia. It bgan as a simpl tit for tat and scalatd from thr. Samson simply did not lik th way things wr going and h took it out on th Philistins. This is on of th strangst xampls of all things work togthr for good to thos who lov God. God taks Samson and his ptulant fits and actually uss this against th Philistins. Apart from what w know of history, it would appar that Samson was th villain and th Philistins wr th good guys. In mor dtail: Samson thinks about this woman situation and dcids, apparntly, that h forgivs his fianc. So, h slaughtrs a goat and hauls it down to hr fathr s hous to mak amnds. Unfortunatly, sh has bn givn away (although his fathr-in-law-to-b offrs him th youngr daughtr. W don t har anything of a rspons. Samson dcids to tak his angr out on th Philistins, so h sts fir to som of thir vinyas and grovs. Th Philistins ar undrstandably upst, but, rathr than dal with Samson dirctly, thy burn down th hom of his x-fianc and hr fathr (with thm in it). This givs us a clu as to how cold-bloodd th Philistins ar. Samson gos on a on-man killing spr, although w do not know how many Philistins that h kills. Thn h hids out in th clft of a rock. Th Philistins mov into position into Judah, causing th Judæans to bcom agitatd at Samson. Isral dos not hav th guts at this tim to fight for indpndnc; Isral was willing to allow th Philistins to rul ovr thm and thy wr also willing to giv up Samson in or to prsrv whatvr pac thy could. Thy dlivr Samson ovr to th Philistins and suddnly, th Spirit of God taks ovr Samson, giving him grat strngth, and h kills, in a rathr short priod of tim, 1000 Philistins with th jawbon of an ass. You will not that Samson acts alon against th Philistins. Throughout th book of, w hav a varity of mn who dlivr Isral, but what stands bhind thm is an Isralit army. Not so with Samson. Th only Isralits army that h coms in contact with ar 3000 Judæans who ti him up in or to dlivr him ovr to th Philistins. In othr wos, dspit his immaturity and slf-cntnss (which God will not lt go unpunishd), Samson stands alon against th Philistins, which is a tstimony to his grat strngth in God th Holy Spirit. I hsitat to say th following, bcaus thr is always that psycho looking for light at th nd of th tunnl, but thr ar tims whn w will fl as though w ar th only ons, as though w ar th only ons to acts in accoanc with God s will. All of th Christians that you know will hav no intrst in God s Wo, thy will lad livs of immorality, thy will do things which ar in dirct opposition to God s Wo. This will not man that you ar th only on who is faithful, but it will just appar to b that way in your immdiat priphry. If you hav to tak a stand, thn tak a stand in God th Holy Spirit guidd by His Wo. Don t b lik Samson, who, although h dos tak a position against vil, h taks it from a position of slf-cntnss.

2 Th Book of th 467 What happns at th nd of th chaptr is th most significant and th most ovrlookd. Samson, up until this point, dos not sm to hav a dirct dpndnc upon God at last in his own mind. Finally, for th first tim in th thr chaptrs that w hav studid, Samson calls upon God to sav him from dying of thirst. God dos and Samson acknowldgs it. This is on of Samson s shining momnts. In fact, I ought to point this out hr: thr ar svral things in this chaptr that no xpositor, to th bst of my knowldg, has vr corrctly xplaind or undrstood. Som of it is hiddn barly undr th surfac in th Hbrw; othr aspcts of this chaptr could b undrstood, vn in th English, but no on, to th bst of my knowldg, has vr takn th tim to proprly unarth thm bfor. Now, I am not going to rval any arthshaking nw doctrins hr; but I will proprly xplain som passags which you hav nvr ha corrctly xplaind bfor. <<Rturn to Chaptr Outlin>> <<Rturn to th Chart Indx>> Samson Dos Not Gt His Wif Back So H Taks it out on th Philistins Slavishly litral: And so h was from days in days of a harvst of what [stalks]: and so visitd Samson his woman with a kid of th goats. And so, h said, "I will go in unto my woman [in] th chambr." And would not grant him hr fathr to go in. 15:1 Modratly litral: And it was aftr som tim, in th tim of th what harvst that Samson visitd his brid [-to-b] with a kid of th goats. And so h said, I will go in unto my wif to hr privat room. And hr fathr would not prmit him to go in. Somtim latr, during th tim of th what harvst, Samson visitd his fianc carrying a young goat for a barbqu. H thought to himslf, I ll go right into hr privat room. Hr fathr would not lt him ntr into hr room. Aftr th wos and h was, w hav a phras which shows up svral tims in th book of th : mîyyâmîym ( íé î. È îò ) [pronouncd m-yaw-meem], which is th combination of th mîn prposition (from, out from) and th plural of th wo for days. Togthr, thy man som whil aftr, som tim latr. This phras occurs in 11:4 14:8 15:1 and possibly nowhr ls. Thr is no indication that this mans mor or lss than a yar. Mîn = Strong s #4480 BDB #577. Yâmîym = Strong s #3117 BDB #398. This is followd by th construct phras in days; which is proprly rnd in th days of, during th tim of, at th tim of. Th concpt hr rfrs to a particular tim. Bêyth has no Strong s # BDB #88. What follows is th plural of chîþþâh (ä È çò ) [pronouncd kht- TAW], which mans what. Sinc it is in th plural, w might want to rndr it what stalks. Strong s #2406 BDB #334. What w hav in this first phras is simply a priod stting or a tim fram during which to plac ths incidnts. It is not connctd grammatically to th rst of th sntnc. This puts us at th nd of May or th bginning of Jun. W thn hav th wâw conscutiv, which, whn it follows a stting of th tim, can b rnd that, whr th tim of th action has bn stablishd. What Samson did was th Qal imprfct of pâqad (ã Ç È ) [pronouncd paw-kahd], which mans, in th Qal, to go to a prson, to visit a prson, to commit, to charg to th car of, to fall upon, to attack. Th ky is prsonal contact and th contxt dtrmins whthr this should b takn in a positiv or a ngativ sns. Strong's #6485 BDB #823. Samson obviously dos not raliz that his btrothd has bn givn to anothr man undr th you snooz, you loos rul (plas undrstand that Samson had no undrstanding at all of right man-right woman). Thrfor, in thinking it ovr, h dcids that h ought to go back to hr and h brings along a kid in or to hav a barbqu and win hr hart back, sing that h did so wll with th barbqu scn in th prvious chaptr.

3 Chaptr Somtims you hav to rad th commntaris that you hav with a smil. Th NIV Study Bibl rads: such a gift 1 was customary, as with Judah and Tamar (G. 38:17). In cas you didn t follow th story in Gn. 38, Judah thinks h is slping with a whor and th kid is th pric that h has ag to. 2 Whr h intnds to go is to th masculin singular of chdr (ø ã ç ) [pronouncd KHEH-dhr], which mans chambr, room, privat room. Rcall that w saw this wo bfor in 3:24 whn w wr spaking of th rc-room or privat offic of fat king Eglon. Hr, it rfrs to th privat bdroom of his btrothd. Strong s #2315 (and #2316) BDB #293. Affixd to this wo is th hê local, which answrs th qustion whr? W can also indicat th xistnc of th hê dirctional by supplying th prpositions to or towa. Sh apparntly is still living at hr fathr s hom, and sh dos hav a privat room with hr nw husband or thir marriag just has not bn consummatd yt, which is mor likly th scnario. In any cas, hr fathr mts Samson first. It rads: And did not grant him hr fathr to go in. It is rathr simpl. Hr fathr rally nvr xpctd to s Samson again, nor did his fianc. Furthrmor, Samson s fianc must hav flt badly, or at last had mixd motions; howvr, sh dos turn around and marry (or, bcom ngagd to) on of th mn who thratnd hr. W don t know any of th spcifics hr; w don t know if thr was som quick improvisation on th part of hr fathr at th nd of th wdding fast aftr Samson lft in a huff. Nor do w know how much th thrats wr smoothd ovr. And, considring that thr wr thirty mn, not all of thm would hav had to vrbally mak th thrat, thus making it asir for hr to forgiv a man who did not actually spak. In fact, th woman may not hav had a say in whom sh marrid at all. Obviously, th fathr nvr rcivd wind of ths thrats so h had no problm with his daughtr marrying on of th bst mn. In fact, that was probably his prfrnc. 3 And so said hr fathr, A saying I said that hating you hatd hr and so I gav hr to your companion. [Is] not hr sistr th youngr bautiful from hr? Sh is, plas, to you instad of hr. 15:2 Thn hr fathr said, I dfinitly said you dfinitly hatd hr, so I gav h r to your bridgroom. Isn t hr youngr sistr mor bautiful than sh? Plas, sh [th youngr sistr] is yours instad of hr [th formr fianc]. Th n h r fath r said, I most assur dly thought that you absolut ly hat d h r, so I gav h r to on of your bst mn. Bsids, isn t hr youngr sistr mor attractiv? You may marry hr youngr sistr instad, if you would. Th fathr of Samson s fianc appars to b thrown into a tizzy. Sing Samson got him rathr nrvous and what h says sms to indicat that. W find th vrb to say twic in what h says, first in th Qal infinitiv absolut and st nd thn in th 1 prson singular, Qal prfct. Thn h uss th Qal infinitiv absolut of to hat followd by th 2 prson masculin singular, Qal prfct. I pictur this as bing rharsd and nrvous on th part of th fathr. H always knw that Samson might rturn; h may or may not hav known that Samson wnt down and killd 30 Philistins in or to mak good on his bt; but in sing Samson, h is intimidatd. Probably for somtim, h had rharsd what h would say if Samson vr showd up at his door. Th us of th Qal infinitiv absoluts 1 Th NIV Study Bibl; 1995 by Th Zondrvan Corporation; p I don t man to chid th NIV Study Bibl; Barns said ssntially th sam thing. 3 On th othr hand, w don t know if h flt bullid at this point ithr. What wnt on thr, although w hav th facts, is a rathr incomplt pictur of th human drama which took plac. Thr is a rason for this. Whn a prson writs an historical documnt basd upon his own xprincs, h dos not rco that which h dos not s. Samson would hav bn in no position to obsrv what happnd aftr h lft. H would hav found out at th door that his btrothd marrid anothr, and that is th information which h includs. H m ay hav bn givn som song and danc by th fathr as to why his fianc so quickly marrid somon ls, but God th Holy Spirit did not s fit to rco that, as th full story givn Samson by th fathr was probably so much crap anyway. Thrfor, what is rcod is a dirct quot, rathr than a rprsntation of what happnd xactly.

4 Th Book of th 469 tnds to mphasiz th action of th vrbs as mor dfinit and final. Also, it soundd bttr to th fathr to say that h gav his daughtr to Samson s companion, vn though ths mn wr not his buds. Lt m show you how othrs rnd what th fathr said to Samson: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB REB Young's Lit. Translation I thought that thou didst hat hr, so I gav hr to thy companion, Is not hr youngr sistr fairr than sh? Pray lt hr b thin in hr stad. I rally thought that you hatd hr intnsly; so I gav hr to your companion. Is not hr youngr sistr mor bautiful [lit., bttr] than sh? Plas lt hr b yours instad [lit., instad of hr]. I was sur that you wr rally hostil to hr, so I gav hr in marriag to your groomsman. Hr young sistr is bttr than sh is tak hr instad. I crtainly said, that thou didst crtainly hat hr, and I giv hr to thy companion; is not hr sistr th young on bttr than sh? Lt hr b, I pray th, to th, instad of hr. In comparing th womn, th fathr first rfrs to hr sistr as th fminin singular adjctiv qâþân (ï èè È ) [pronouncd kaw-tawn], which mans small, young, unimportant. Strong s #6996 BDB #881. W oftn rndr this as a comparativ, but it just indicats that thr is a youngr sistr who rmains unmarrid. b b Thn w hav th adjctiv þôw v (á è) [pronouncd to v], which mans plasant, plasing, agrabl, good. Strong s #2896 BDB #373. It is followd by th mîn prposition and 3 prson fminin singular, which sts up a comparativ. In English, w s th comparativ advrb first, and thn th adjctiv; hr, w hav th adjctiv first, and thn th prposition which indicats w ar looking at a comparativ. W hav an intrsting us of th particl of ntraty hr. Th woman s fathr is not bgging Samson to plas, plas, plas tak his othr daughtr; h is offring hr to Samson, and th particl of ntraty rcognizs Samson s volition in this mattr. Th ssnc of his rmark is mor Tak hr youngr sistr, if you would so choos. Strong's #4994 BDB #609. This man obviously dos not want troubl. Vry likly, Samson mad him fl rathr unasy, if thy wr advrsaris. Th fathr would fl much safr if h and Samson wr linkd through marriag. H apparntly dos not dislik Samson (or, h is intimidatd by him) and has no problm with a mixd marriag (this was apparntly lss of an issu to th Canaanits and Philistins than it was to th Isralits). Th fathr had alrady ngotiatd a dowry pric and had probably alrady rcivd it and it was in his possssion. In any cas, Samson appars to ignor this qustion, and puts his nrgy into doing somthing ls. And so said to thm Samson, I am acquittd th tim from a Philistins whn doing I with thm hurt. 15:3 Thn Samson said to thm, I am mor blamlss than Philistins this tim whn I do thm harm. Thn Samson said to thm, I will b lss guilty than th Philistins this tim with th harm that I will bring upon thm. Samson was obviously mt at th door by mor than just th fathr. Whn h spaks, Samson dosn t spak to him but to thm, which is th rst of th houshold, who stood with th fathr. H is obviously a littl pissd off and h throws in a lot of wos quickly. First, hr is what Samson said, accoing to othr translators: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Lit. Translation I shall b mor blamlss this tim than th Philistins, though I should do thm a mischif. This tim I shall b blamlss in rga to th Philistins whn I do thm harm. I am mor innocnt this tim than th Philistins, though I am doing with thm vil.

5 Chaptr Samson first uss th Pil prfct of nâqâh (ä È ðè ) [pronouncd naw-kawh], which mans to b clansd, to b acquittd, to b dcla innocnt in th Pil stm. Strong #5352 BDB #667. Thn w hav th dfinit articl and th fminin singular noun pâ am (í ò Ç È ) [pronouncd PAW-gahm], which mans bat, foot, anvil, occurrnc, tim. Thn connction hr is that you hav a succssion of vnts which indicats that tim is passing. For us and th movis for many yars, it was th ticking of a clock. For th ancints, it might b th sound of footstps or hors clomps or th banging of an anvil. Strong s #6471 BDB #821. Th dfinit articl acts lik our dmonstrativ adjctiv in this cas. Mîn is usd as a comparativ hr again, aftr which follows th plural adjctiv gntilic Philistins. This is followd by th vry common conjunction kîy (é ò ) [pronouncd k], which mans whn, that, for, bcaus. Strong's #3588 st BDB #471. This is followd by th Qal activ participl of to do, thn th 1 prson pronoun, th phras with thm. What Samson plannd to do to thm was th fminin singular of râ a (ò òç øè ) [pronouncd raw-ìahì], which dos not man mischif; it mans to b vil, bad, displasing, morally rprhnsibl. Th masculin noun appars to rfr to somthing which is morally wrong, whras th fminin hr rfrs to somthing which is a physical vil a calamity, a distrss, or hurt. Strong's #7489 BDB #949. I don t find a lot about Samson vry nobl so far. H is going to bhav lik a ptulant child who did not gt his way and popl ar going to pay. A fw wks ago, h wantd to marry this woman, dspit th wishs of his parnts. Thn h didn t want to marry hr, and did not appar to b intrstd in th last as to hr xplanation as to what happnd. Now, h has thought things ovr and dcidd, What th hll, sh s a bab; I ll marry hr. Now, whn h finds out that this is no longr an option, h is rally pissd off. Th Philistins apparntly prssu hr for th information (w don t know what Samson knw at this tim); thy bat him at his stupid riddl, so now h is going to mak thm fl a littl hurt. On th on hand, you would think that God could hav found somon anyon ls in Isral, who would hav bn mor nobl and ddicatd. Howvr, God uss all kinds of popl, which w prsonally should find vry rassuring. Now, Samson is spaking to Philistins right hr this is prhaps not th smartst thing in th world. Crtainly th fianc and possibly hr husb a n d ( o r, fianc) ar thr, and w do not know how many othrs. Howvr, Samson hr maks som vagu thrats (at this point in tim, h probably dosn t know what h plans on doing). Now, I want you to undrstand Samson s rasoning hr (you don t hav to agr with it). Prviously, h was unitd in marriag (or, about to b unitd in marriag) to this family. Thrfor, h could gt away with flcing th thirty mn, but that was pushing it. H could not vry wll kill th thirty mn at th wdding suppr it just would hav bn bad protocol. Howvr, Samson did not hav a problm with hading ovr to Ashklon and killing thirty othr Philistins, and taking thir clothing to fulfill his obligation to ths thirty mn. Howvr, h now fls as though h has bn btrayd by th Philistins in gnral, and fls as though taking a littl vnganc is in or. In fact, whn it coms to vnganc, h is probably thinking spcifically of ths thirty mn. Also notic Samson dos not appar to b dirctly angry at th fathr of his formr fianc (contrary to what Kil and Dlitzsch claim). H is pissd off with th Philistins in gnral and with thirty of thm in particular. All of th thirty put prssur on his fianc to solv th riddl, and thn on of thm marris his fianc. In othr wos, Samson has animosity towa a fw Philistins whic h h, bcaus of this incidnt and probably othrs unknown to us, attributs to th Philistins in gnral. Thrfor, his angr will b towa th Philistins in his immdiat priphry. Vowing rvng in front of ths Philistins is how thy figu out who burnd down thir filds (which is coming in th nxt fw vrss). And so wnt Samson and so h captu thr hund jackals and so h took torchs and so turnd tail unto tail and so placd a torch on btwn two th tails in th middl. 15:4 So Samson wnt and captu thr hund jackals and h took torchs and turnd [th jackals] tail to tail and placd a torch on in th middl btwn th two tails. Thn Samson wnt out and captu 300 jackals. Thn turnd th jackals back to back and attachd a torch btwn ach pair of jackals to th two tails.

6 Th Book of th 471 You hav got to hand it to Samson; h is, if nothing ls, imaginativ. Th vrb bfor tail is th Qal imprfct of pânâh (ä ð È È ) [pronouncd paw-nawh], which mans to turn, to turn away from, to turn towa. Strong's #6437 BDB #815. Th torchs hr wr unlit and xactly how thy wr attachd to th tails is not givn. Apparntly, th tails wr not tid togthr, but somhow th tail was attachd to a torch and that was attachd to anothr torch. Why on torch pr animal was not don is not xplaind. My guss is that whn th torch was lit, th foxs ran in opposit dirctions from th flam, which kpt th torch up. Thy did vntually mov, and mor or lss in unison, but this probably kpt th torch off th ground. This givs a whol nw maning to hr com th foxs. Actually, th wo is shûw âl (ìòè ) [pronouncd shoo-ìawl], which ithr mans foxs or jackals or both. BDB sms to think this rfrs to foxs in Nh. 3:25 and SOS 2:15 and that it rfrs to jackals in 15:4 Psalm 63:11 Ezk. 13:4 Lam. 5:18. Strong s #7776 BDB #1043. Both foxs and jackals xist in larg numbrs 4 during that tim vn to rcnt tims. This is attstd to by th fact that w find this nam usd for th propr nam of citis (s Joshua 15:28 19:4 I Sam. 13:17). Accoing to Kil and Dlitzsch, som Arab groups today still classify jackals and foxs togthr and says that ths animals group togthr and ar asily captu in larg 5 numbrs. Th citis mntiond ar in th vicinity of th Philistins. Barns: Ovid rlats a vry curious custom at Rom of ltting loos foxs with lightd torchs fastnd to thir tails in th circus at th Cralia, in commmoration of th damag onc don to th standing corn by a fox which a rustic had wrappd in hay and straw and st on fir, and which, running away, put th corn-filds in a blaz. This custom, which may hav had a Phœnician origin, is a curious illustration of th narrativ. 6 And so h burnd a fir in th torchs and so h snt [thm] out into standing grain of Philistins and so h burnd up from stacks [of grain] and as far as standing grain and as far as an orcha of oliv. 15:5 So h burnd a fir in th torchs and s nt [thm] out into th standing grain [filds] of th Philistins, and [as a rsult], h burnd stacks [of harvstd grain], grain [still to b harvstd] and oliv orchas. Th n Samson s t fir to th torch s, and r l as d th fox s into th grain fi lds of th Philistin s. As a rsult, h burnt up both harvstd and unharvstd grain as wll as svral oliv orchas. What h did was th Hiphil imprfct of bâ ar (ø ò Ç È ) [pronouncd baw-yahr], which, in th Qal, clarly mans to burn (Ex. 3:5 Num. 11:1). Th Hiphil is th causativ stm gnrally spaking, whn a prson is causing somthing to burn, th Hiphil is usd; whn th objct itslf is said to burn, th Qal is usd (th Pil is a whol diffrnt story). Strong s #1197 BDB #128. Whr Samson dircts th foxs is fminin plural construct of qâmâh (ä îè È ) [pronouncd kaw-maw], which mans standing grain, standing corn, stalks of grain prior to maturity and prior to harvsting. Strong s #7054 BDB #879. What h burnd up was th masculin singular of gâdîysh ( é ã. È ) [pronouncd gaw-deesh], which mans stacks, haps [of grain or corn]. This noun is only found in Ex. 22:6 15:5 Job 5:26 21:32. Strong s #1430 BDB #155. This fir of cours took out th grain filds thmslvs and also burnd th masculin singular construct of krm (íø ) [pronouncd kh-rem], which mans vinya, orcha. Strong s #3754 BDB #501. This is an orcha of th masculin singular of zayith (ú éò æ) [pronouncd ZAH-yth], which mans - oliv, oliv tr. Strong s #2132 BDB #268. Just as this dos not ncssarily only rfr to on oliv tr, th 4 Barns Nots, Volum 2, rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books ; p. 454 and Th NIV Study Bibl; 1995 by Th Zondrvan Corporation; p Rfrncs for both of ths assrtions ar found in Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p Now, just how asy it is to captur 300 foxs (or, jackals ), w don t rally know. Howvr, as othr xpositors hav pointd out in th past if Sam s on can kill a thousand mn using th jawbon of an ass for a wapon, thn surly h can captur 300 foxs. 6 Barns Nots, Volum 2, rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p. 454.

7 Chaptr orcha is not ncssarily only on orcha. Som translations rndr this as vinyas and oliv orchas; howvr, thir is no wâw conjunction hr. Thr is a conjunction in th Grk Sptuagint, howvr. Ths wos ar found togthr in Dut. 6:11, Joshua 24:13, I Sam. 8:14 and Nh. 9:25, both in th plural and with a wâw conjunction. This is th only passag whr w hav a vinya of th oliv, which is why many translators go with vinyas and oliv orchas. Howvr, w do not hav an altrnat Hbrw phras for oliv orcha or orcha of th oliv; thrfor, thr is no problm with th Hbrw as it stands. Conncting ths nouns ar th prpositions mîn (ï îò ) and ad (ã ò). Our undrstanding of ths togthr would - b from...to or both...and; as in from soup to nuts or both young and old. Min (ï îò) = Strong's #4480 BDB #577 and ad (ã òç ) = Strong s #5704 BDB #723. Now, it should b obvious that Samson did not burn all of th filds and orchas of th Philistins nor did h just burnt down on of ach. Th Hbrw singular without th dfinit articl allows for ths wos to stand for groups of filds. What Samson did affctd mor than just on Philistin farmr and his fild. This would hav occur at th nd of a long, dry sason, making ths filds particularly vulnrabl to a fir. McG: H caught thr hund foxs, tid thir tails togthr and thn tid a torch on th tails, st thm on fir, and lt th animals loos in th filds. Of cours ths foxs would rally tak out on a run, and thy would scattr th firbrands vrywhr. Actually, frinds, this ntir pisod is lik a prank a juvnil would play! Samson crtainly dosn t look lik god s man hr! 7 And so said Philistins, Who did this? And so th y said, Samson, son-in-law of th Timnit bcaus h took his woman and so h gav hr to his companion. And so wnt up Philistins and so thy burnd hr and [a hous of] hr fathr in fir. 15:6 So th Philistins said, Who did this? And thy said, Samson, th son-in-law of th Timnit, bcaus h took his [Samson s] woman and gav hr to his companion. Thrfor, th Philistins wnt up and burnd hr and hr fathr with fir. A larg group of Philistins discussd this saying, Who did this? Othrs answ, Samson, who was going to b th son-in-law of th Timnit. Samson did it bcaus hr fathr gav hr to his bst man. Thrfor, thy wnt up to Timnah and burnd both hr and hr fathr. Th vrb for burn in this vrs is diffrnt. It is th Qal imprfct of sâraph (ó ø Ç È ) [pronouncd saw-rahf], which mans to burn. Strong s #8313 BDB #976. Although th Massortic txt rads that thy burn hr and hr fathr, th Sptuagint, th Syriac and on arly printd dition rads hr and th hous of hr fathr. Vry likly, hr fathr is a mtonym for th hous of hr fathr, which includd both hr and hr fathr. Rcall that this is th thrat that th thirty Philistins had mad against th woman if sh did not ntic Samson to rval th maning of th riddl to hr ( 14:15). It is with this vrs that w gt a bttr fl for th charactr of ths Philistins. In th problm citd, this man and his daughtr r a lly ar not th caus. Howvr, this is a quick, cowaly and vicious way to gain som rvng th Philistins in cold-blood burn him and his daughtr aliv (w can assum that th rmaindr of th family was burnd up as wll). Thr ar tims in th Bibl whr what and who is wrong is vry subtly brought out. This vrs by itslf is a clu as to how dgnrat and unfling th Philistins wr. And so said to thm Samson, If you [all] do as this bcaus if I avng [myslf] against you [all] and aftr I will quit. 15:7 Thn Samson said to thm, Sinc you do as this, for if I avng [myslf] against you thn aftrwa, I will cas. Thn Samson said to thm, Sinc this is your bhavior, thn I will tak my vnganc out on you, and thn I will cas. 7 J. Vrnon McG, Joshua, h1976 by Thru th Bibl Books; pp

8 Th Book of th 473 This vrs is a bit difficult in th Hbrw, so lt s start with variations of what Samson actually said: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl Kil and Dlitzsch NASB NIV Th Sptuagint Young's Lit. Translation If this is th way you do, surly I will tak rvng on you, and aftr that I will quit. Though y do th lik of this yt will I b avngd upon you and aftrwas will I cas. 8 If you do ths things, I will not cas till I hav takn vnganc upon you. Sinc you act lik this, I will surly tak rvng on you, but aftr that I will quit. Sinc you v actd lik this, I won t stop until I gt my rvng on you. Though you [all] may hav dalt thus with hr, vrily I will b avngd of you, and aftrwas I will cas. Though y do thus, nvrthlss I am avngd on you, and aftrwas I cas! Samson bgins with th hypothtical particl îm (í àò) [pronouncd m], which mans if. It occurs twic in this vrs. îm can almost man whn, sinc, though whn (or, if) followd by a prfct tns which rfrs to a past vnt. Strong's #518 BDB #49. Howvr, w ar not followd by a prfct, but a Qal imprfct of to do, which is followd by as this, which rfrs to th action of th Philistins in burning down th hous of th fathr and daughtr. Thn w hav th conjunction kîy and thn îm again (í àò ò é ) [pronouncd k-m] which litrally is bcaus if; howvr, togthr thy act as a limitation on th prcding thought, and thrfor should b rnd but, xcpt, unlss and possibly only. Strong s #3588 & 518 BDB #471 & 49. nd You may b wondring to whom is Samson spaking? Th vrb hlps us out. It is th 2 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct of to do. H is spaking to som of th Philistins who actually burnd th hous of his fianc and hr fathr. It appars as though, looking at th nxt vrs, that h is spaking dirctly to th prptrators rathr than through a mssngr. Thn Samson uss th Niphal prfct of nâqam (í ðè ) [pronouncd naw-kahm], which mans to avng, to tak - vnganc. In th Niphal, it mans to avng onslf. Strong s #5358 BDB #667. At th nd of this vrs w hav th wâw conjunction, th prposition achar (ø çç àç ) [pronouncd ah-khahr], which mans aftr, following (Strong s #310 BDB #29), and th Qal imprfct of châdal (ì ãç çè ) [pronouncd khaw- DAHL], which mans to lav off, to cas, to dsist; as wll as to forsak, to lav. Strong s #2308 BDB #292. Pulling this ntir phras togthr is obviously difficult, although th gnral maning can b ascrtaind. It is th conjunction and th hypothtical particl th way ths things wr said would hav givn mor maning to what h said than th actual wos. Howvr, Samson both acknowldgs and is abhor by th bhavior and th actions of th Philistins. It is totally out of proportion with what h did. H vows his vnganc hr and, onc h taks appropriat vnganc out on ths Philistins, thn h will stop this tit for tat (so h thinks). That Samson thinks his act will b th nd of all this is surprisingly naiv. Howvr, many of us, undr th control of strong motion, do not think altogthr rationally. Vnganc in th ancint world was a common occurrnc. Svral citis in Isral wr st asid bcaus of man s propnsity for rvng calld citis of rfug. A man who was guilty of involuntary manslaughtr could fl to on of ths citis in or to scap th rvng of th family of th prson who did (Joshua 20:1 9). And so h struck thm [down] calf byond thigh a slaughtr grat. And so h wnt down 9 and so h stayd in a clft of a rock [in] Etam. 15:8 And h struck thm down calf vn to thigh, a grat slaughtr. Thn h wnt down and stayd in a clft of th rock Etam. Samson viciously slaught many of thm and thn took rfug in th clft of th rock nar Etam. 8 This is mor th intrprtation givn by Kil and Dlitzsch in Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p Both th Syriac codx and on arly printd dition rad simply wnt rathr than wnt down.

9 Chaptr This vrs is fairly straightforwa, apart from th hip and thigh part of it. Th first sntnc is various rnd: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB NIV Th Sptuagint Young's Lit. Translation So h smot thm, lg on thigh, with a grat smiting... And h struck thm ruthlssly [lit., lg on thigh] with a grat slaughtr... H attackd thm viciously and slaught many of thm. And h smot thm lg on thigh a grat ovrthrow... And h smitth thm hip and thigh a grat smiting... Th first wo to look at is th fminin singular noun shôwq ( ) [pronouncd shohk], which mans lg. Whn rfrring to man, it is th lowr portion of th lg th calf; whn rfrring to a sacrificial animal, it is th uppr portion of th lg, or th thigh. Don t ask m why; this is all accoing to BDB. Strong s #7785 BDB #1003. Thn w hav th prposition ad (ã òç ) [pronouncd ìad ] which mans as far as, vn to, up to, until. Strong s #5704 BDB #723. This is followd by th fminin singular noun yârk (ê Ó ø éè) [pronouncd yaw-rek ], which mans thigh, loin, sid, bas, rproductiv systm. Strong's #3409 BDB #437. What ths wos man togthr is prtty 10 much unknown. Gsnius suggsts that thy wr all cut into pics. My first thought was that th bodis wr 11 stackd that high around Sampson. Gowr rasonably suggsts that this is a wrstling trm. My thinking is that th vocabulary and usag of th vocabulary throughout has bn havily ppp with Philistin sayings, things that w hav no way of knowing xactly what thy man, as thy mostly occur only hr. This was likly a trmndously vicious slaughtr, but whthr it wnt to th lngths suggstd by Gsnius is a whol othr mattr. Th topic of whr Etam was is rlativly complx and unncssary hr, so w will lav it for anothr tim. ZPEB suggsts wstrn Judah and Barns claims that it is probably not th sam Etam as is found in II Chron. 4:32, which is in Simon (although, I don t s why not). Th clft of th rock is on of th many hiding placs affod by th mountains in that vicinity. Barns writs:...a sit nar Eluthropolis (Bth-Jibrin) is rqui; and thr xist som xtraoinary cavrns in th soft limston or chalky rock, fifty or twnty ft dp, with prpndicular sids, opning into xtnsiv xcavations in th rock, about two hours from Eluthropolis. 12 Kil and Dlitzsch xtnsivly discuss whr w would look in th contmporary mid-ast to find th ruins of Etam: on th bor of th Ngv and th mountains of Judah, to which Samson would hav had to hav gon down from Timnath. 13 McG: Notic that this is prsonal. This has nothing to do with his commission from God to dlivr Isral from th Philistins. H is just avnging himslf. His actions had nothing to do with dlivring Isral. His rvng was 14 prsonal. I should clarify: Samson s intntions had nothing to do with dlivring Isral. God s intntions wr that h would dlivr Isral. God usd Samson s immatur and juvnil bhavior to bgin to svr th rlationship of Isral to th Philistins. As you can s, this back and forth btwn Samson and th Philistins was not somthing which was going to nd. God did not want a pacful co-xistnc btwn th two popls. Whn Samson took rfug, this tlls us that h knw it was not ovr. <<Rturn to Chaptr Outlin>> <<Rturn to th Chart Indx>> Th Judæans Hand Samson ovr to th Philistins And so cam up Philistins and so thy campd in Judah and so thy wr lt go in th Lhi. 15:9 Thn th Philistins cam up and thy campd in Judah and thy sprad out in Lhi. As a rsult, th Philistins cam up in forc and campd out in Judah, sprading out in th Lhi ara. 10 H.W.F. Gsnius, Hbrw-Chald Lxicon to th Old Tstamnt; 1979 by Bakr Books; p Th Nw Mannrs and Customs of Bibl Tims; Ralph Gowr; 1987 by Moody Intrnational; h by Moody Prss; p Barns Nots, Volum 2, rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p J. Vrnon McG, Joshua, h1976 by Thru th Bibl Books; p. 195.

10 Th Book of th 475 You will not that throughout th past two chaptrs, th only Isralit in this war was Samson. Insofar as th Philistins wr concrnd, thir problm was not with th Isralits, but with Samson. Th fact that h was an Isralit should not hav bn an issu from thir point of viw. Th last vrb is th Niphal imprfct of nâþash ( è ðè) [pronouncd naw-tahsh], which mans to lav, to forsak, - to prmit. In th Niphal, it mans to sprad onslf out (it is usd of th tndrils of a vin in Isa. 16:8). It mans, in th Niphal, to b lt go, as with a rop (Isa. 33:23). Strong s #5203 BDB #643. Ths mn found a cntral ara in which thy campd and thy sprad out lik tndrils from thr throughout th rst of Judah; thy wr cut loos and lt go. W ar not told any mor than this. W don t know if thy ran raiding partis or what xactly thy did. Whatvr it was, thy got th attntion of th Judæans. Although Lhi is only mntiond in this passag, th Grk nam givn it in som Sptuagint manuscripts is similar to Siyyaj (but, not vry), and som associat th ruins of Siyyaj with it. Its ral significanc is its Hbrw n a m, which is l chîy (é ç. ì) [pronouncd l -KHEE], which mans jawbon. For thos of you who rcall this story, this nam has maning for you alrady. Strong s #3896 BDB #534. Although this ara could b calld Lhi bcaus of th many bons found thr; it was probably so namd aftr this incidnt and usd in this vrs prolptically. Sinc this story is rcod aftr th incidnt, th common nam givn to this ara is usd. Apparntly, although th Philistins had control ovr a portion of Isral, thy did not occupy ach and vry city undr thir control. In fact, th control by th Philistins was consid to b not that bad of a dal; th Isralits a p p a r n tly did hav som fom and wr dtachd somwhat from th Philistins. Thr was s o m intrmingling which was a rsult of th fr will of th participants (s th prvious chaptr). So, apart from th fact that th Philistins wr ruthlss and pagan, thir rul ovr Isral was accptd by most of th popl of Isral as a simpl fact of lif. Apparntly, th Philistins, whn ntring into an ara for a military opration, movd in as a tight organization and thn sprad out in th ara whr thy wr to invad. W find this hr and in II Sam. 5:19, 22. And so said a man of Judah, Why hav you com up against us? And so thy said, To bind Samson w hav com up; to do to him as which h did to us. 15:10 So th mn of Judah said, Why hav you com up against us? And thy rplid, W hav com up to bind Samson to do to him as h did to us. Thrfor, th mn of Judah said to thm, Why hav you com up against us? And th Philistins rplid, W hav com up to plac Samson undr arrst and to do to him and h has don to us. My imprssion is that th Philistins had mor than a strong military prsnc, but that thy carrid out raids against th popl of Judah. Whn approachd by th Judæans, thy xplaind why thy wr doing what thy wr doing. Dspit what God had told th Isralits, thy wr willing to ndur subjction to th Philistins. Kil and Dlitzsch: Instad of rcognising in Samson a dlivrr whom th Lo had raisd up for thm, and crowding round him that thy might smit thir opprssors with his hlp and driv thm out of th land, th mn of Judah wr so dgradd, that thy cast this rproach at Samson. 15 In cas you ar concrnd with right and wrong hr, both Samson and th Philistins wr wrong. Both sids had ngagd in bad bhavior. Siding with th Philistins ovr Samson was not a choic that th Judæans mad out of som wll-thought-out moral cod, it is a choic that thy mad out of xpdincy. Thy wr mor afraid of th Philistins than thy wr of Samson, so thy wr mor than willing to giv Samson ovr to thm. God s intntion bhind all of this was to st up a barrir of animosity btwn th Jws and th Philistins. Th Philistins had rachd a point of dgnracy that was infctious and thrfor dangrous to Isral. Isral s only hop was to rmov th Philistins from that ara ntirly. Again, this has nothing to do with Samson bing right and th Philistins bing wrong. Th ky is God s plan. 15 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 299.

11 Chaptr And so wnt down thr thousand a man of Judah unto a clft of a rock Etam and so thy said to Samson, Do you not know that thy ar ruling in us, Philistins? And why this you hav don to us? And so h said to thm, As which thy did to m, so I hav don to thm. 15:11 So 3000 mn of Judah wnt down to th clft of th rock Etam and said to Samson, Do you not know that th Philistins ar ruling against us? Thn what [is] this you hav don to us? And h rplid to thm, As thy hav don to m, so I hav don to thm. So, 3000 Judæan mn wnt down to th clft of th rock Etam, whr Samson was staying, and said to him, Don t you raliz that th Philistins rul ovr us? Just what on arth do you think you ar doing? H rplid to thm, Just as thy hav don to m, so I hav rpaid thm. Th vrb found fiv tims in this and th prvious vrs is âsâh (ä È òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-sawh] which mans to do, to mak, to construct, to fashion, to form, to prpar. It is first found in th Qal infinitiv construct in v. 10, and thn in th Qal prfct aftr that. Strong's #6213 BDB #793. Rothrham givs two possibl rndrings for th scond thing th Judæans say: What thn is this thou hast don to us? ; or, What, thn, has thou now don to us? I don t quit follow whr th now coms from, but Rothrham cits work of Gsnius. It has com to th point whr, no mattr what Samson dos to th Philistins, thy will fl as though thy must rtaliat; and vic vrsa. Th final advrb in this vrs is kên (ï Å ) [pronouncd kan], which mans so or thus. Strong's #3651 BDB #485. Obviously, Samson is not oprating undr som carfully thought-out moral cod. H s pissd off at th Philistins and h lts thm know it. I rcall a frind of min who had a disagrmnt with a nighborhood association. Thir mutual animosity grw to th point whr h was planting 10 foot bamboo stalks in his front ya and thy wr victing him from his own hous. Nithr sid was right; thy just got furthr and furthr out of control. Th Judæans hav falln a long way sinc 1; you will rcall that thy and th Simonits wr of th fw tribs to aggrssivly pursu God s promis. God told thm to tak th Land of Promis and thy continud to do so. In fact, at on tim, thy vn possssd som of th solidly Philistin controlld citis,.g., Gaza, Ashklon, and Ekron. Now hr, th gathr in forc against on of thir own in favor of th Philistins. Obviously, ths Judæans should hav gath bhind Samson to throw off th rul of th Philistins. Instad, thy gathr to do th bidding of thos who rul ovr thm. Hr is th on man of Isral who could lad thm to victory ovr th Philistins and insid thy know this yt, thy viw him as troubl. Undr human viwpoint, th action takn by th Judæans sms rasonabl th problm is apparntly on of thir own, so thy plan to gt that problm undr control. What th Judæans nvr sm to ask thmslvs is why ar thy undr th control of th Philistins. In Lv. 2625, God promiss this to Isral if thy mov away from Him: I will bring upon you a swo which will xcut vnganc for th covnant; and whn you gathr togthr into your citis, I will snd pstilnc among you, so that you will b dliv into nmy hands. From th curss of disobdinc: Th alin who is among you will ris abov you highr and highr, but you will go down lowr and lowr. (Dut. 28:44). Th rsult was 13:1: Now th sons of Isral again did vil in th sight of Jhovah, so that Jhovah gav thm into th hands of th Philistins for forty yars. And, finally, Psalm 106:40 43: Thrfor th angr of Jhovah was kindld against His popl and H abhor His inhritanc. Thn H gav thm into th hand of th nations and thos who hatd thm ruld ovr thm. Thir nmis also opprssd thm and thy wr subdud undr thir powr. Many tim H would dlivr thm. Thy, howvr, wr rbllious in thir counsl and so sank down in thir iniquity.

12 Th Book of th 477 And so thy said to him, To bind you w hav com down; to giv you into a hand of Philistins. And so said to thm Samson, Swar to m lst you fall in m yourslvs. 15:12 So thy said to him, W hav com down to bind you and to giv you into th hands of th Philistins. Thn Samson said to thm, Swar to m that you will not fall on m yourslvs. Th mn rplid to Samson, W hav com hr in or to ti you up and giv you ovr to th Philistins. Thn Samson mad thm promis, Swar to m that you will not attmpt to kill m yourslvs onc I hav allowd you to ti m up. b b Samson first rqusts th Niphal imprativ of shâ va (ò á Ç È ) [pronouncd shaw -VAH], which mans to swar, so svn onslf, to imprcat, to curs, to swar an oath, to tak a solmn oath, and oftn to xtract an oath (from somon ls). Strong's #7650 BDB #989. Samson dsirs an oath from his fllow Isralits; h follows this with th conjunction pn (ï ) [pronouncd pn], which mans lst, or ls, in or to prvnt, or, so that [plus a ngativ]. Strong's #6435 BDB #814. What Samson dos not want to happn is for his own fllow countrymn to first bind him, and thn attmpt to kill him thmslvs. H has no argumnt with th Judæans. H did not want thm to bind him and thn to th Qal imprfct of pâga (ò â Ç È ) [pronouncd paw-gahì], which mans to fall upon, to mt, to ncountr. Strong s #6293 BDB #803. Now, Samson is not rally all that concrnd for his own wll-bing; h is concrnd for th wll-bing of ths 3000 Judæans. If thy ti him up and thn try to kill him, Samson will b forcd to act against thm. Samson is awar of his supr-human strngth and ralizs that h could do a grat dal of harm to any group of popl. Now, what is particularly humorous about this passag is that you hav 3000 of Judah s bravst mn who hav com to apprhnd Samson, and, ssntially, thy ask him for his prmission to ti him up. Samson s strngth was wll-know and wll-rspctd. Evn with th odds 3000 to 1, th Judæans still dcid to b saf and to ask Samson for his prmission to bind him. And so thy said to him to say, No, for a binding w will bind you and giv you into thir hands and a killing, w will not kill you. And so thy bound him in two rops nw [ons]; and so thy brought him up from th rock. 15:13 So thy answ him, saying, No, w will crtainly ti you up and thn giv you into thir hands; but w will crtainly not kill you. Thn thy bound him with two nw rops and brought him up from th rock. So th y answ r d him, saying, No w bind you and giv you into th ir hands, but w will d finit ly not kill you. Thn thy tid him up with two nw rops and took him out from th rock. Hr, w find a coupl of infinitiv absoluts and imprfcts togthr. Thr is on thing that thy dfinitly would not do, and that is kill Samson; and thr is on thing that thy would dfinitly do, and that is ti Samson up. Now, from a distanc, w might sid with th Judæans against Samson. H has bn involvd in acts of trrorism against th Philistins and thy hav th choic btwn facing th wrath of th Philistins for somthing which thy hav no part in or thy can turn Samson ovr to thm. On of th things that you may hav missd is that Samson asks thm to promis on thing, and thy promis anothr. Samson did not ask thm to promis not to kill him. Samson asks thm, in v. 12, not to pâga him. Pâga (ò â Ç È ) [pronouncd paw-gah or paw-gahg] mans to fall upon, to mt, to ncountr. Strong s #6293 BDB #803. What thy promis not to do, and vry solmnly, is not to mûwth him. Mûwth (ú î) [pronouncd mooth] mans to kill (in th Hiphil). Thy promis Samson that thy will not kill him. Strong's #4191 BDB #559. Samson did not nd thm to promis him this. H obtaind thir promis for thir bnfit and protction, not for his. Th Judæans ar his popl. Samson is prtty msstup, but h kn o ws that h should not turn on his own

13 Chaptr popl. If thy attmptd to kill him, thn h would b forcd to dfnd himslf and to turn against fllow Isralits. Asking ths Judæans not to attack him whil tid up is prhaps th first honorabl thing that Samson dos and vry fw popl vr rcogniz it. 16 You may wondr, what ought ths mn to hav don? Should thy hav just lt Samson go and lt th Philistins trroriz thm? Bar in mind that Samson is not intntionally som grat fom fightr h is almost an unwilling participant in all of this. What Isral should b doing is throwing off th yok of th Philistins; what Isral should do is rvolt against th Philistin rul. God has givn Isral this land and H instructd thm to dstroy all of th hathn of th land. God allowd groups of unblivrs to rmain in th land so that Isral would continu to know war. Now, what ths Isralits and Samson should hav don is stood up unitd against th Philistins and thrown off thir yok of bondag. Howvr, nithr Samson nor th Isralits think about this as an option. It just dos not occur to thm; vn though what you hav hr is th strongst man aliv and 3000 of Judah s bravst mn, nithr party ralizs that this is th prfct opportunity to ovrthrow Philistin rul. God dals with what is in this lif. Th Judæans ar not about to ris up against th Philistins; Samson is not yt rady to lad th popl with rgas to anything, although h finally shows som compassion for somon othr than himslf. God has a plan for Samson s lif, and, in this cas, H will haul Samson kicking and scraming into that plan. b b In this vrs w hav th masculin plural noun ã vôth (úéá òâ ) [pronouncd ìuh -VOHTH], which mans a twistd co, rop, co; Young rndrs this as thick rop. Strong s #5688 BDB #721. It is modifid by th adjctiv châdâsh ( ãè çè ) [pronouncd khaw-dawsh], which mans nw. Strong s #2319 BDB #294. W will find ths wos usd again in 16: <<Rturn to Chaptr Outlin>> <<Rturn to th Chart Indx>> Samson Kills 1000 Philistins with th Jawbon of an Ass H [vn] h cam in as far as Lhi and Philistins wr shouting to mt him. 15:14a H [v n] h cam in as far as Lhi and th Philistins wr shouting to mt him. Samson, of his own volition, walkd right into th camp of th Philistins in L hi; whn thy saw him coming, thy ran out shouting at him, to mt him. W will nd to split v. 14 up into two parts, as thr is so much to covr hr. Thr ar so many things which ar compltly igno in this chaptr by thos who claim to xgt it. Th first is th vry common vrb, which Samson is th subjct of th 3 prson masculin singular, Qal prfct of bôw (à ) [pronouncd boh], which mans to com in, to com, to go in, to go. It mans to bring somthing, to carry whn found in th Hiphil. It is not found hr in th Hiphil. W do not find th sntnc th Judæans brought Samson to th Philistins. Strong s #935 BDB #97. Th Judæans tid up Samson bcaus h allowd thm to. Thy gav Samson thir promis that thy would not attack him, which spa thir livs, not his (thy did not raliz that, but thn, hunds of xpositors missd that as wll). At bst, thy accompanid Samson to th Philistins or thy scortd Samson to th Philistins, but thy did not bring him to th Philistins. Samson wnt to thm ntirly undr his own volition. Now, you may think that I am making a big dal out of somthing which is not a big dal. God s Wo was inspi by God th Holy Spirit. Thr ar no accidnts in th way that Scriptur is rcod. Th Hiphil stm is not usd hr bcaus Samson was not brought by anyon. If anything, h ld ths mn to th Philistins. On mor thing: this sntnc dos not bgin with th vrb nor dos it bgin with th wâw conscutiv, which is what you would xpct. This vrs actually bgins with th 3 prson masculin singular prsonal pronoun t 3 prson masculin singular subjct is built into th vrb it dos not hav to b hr. In th Hbrw, ths things jump right out at you. You xpct on thing and you gt anothr. Th Hbrw paragraph has a lot of wâw conscutivs 16 In fact, in this chaptr, thr will b two tims whr Samson acts with som intgrity, rvaling som spiritual growth, and thr is no commntary anywhr that I am awar of which vn notics this.

14 Th Book of th 479 followd by short thoughts, and suddnly, whn you run into somthing lik this, you sit up and tak notic. You would xpct, with 3000 mn and Samson all tid up, that w would find th wâw conscutiv followd by th 3 prson masculin plural, Hiphil imprfct of bôw. You do not xpct to s th 3 prson masculin singular prsonal pronoun it hits you right btwn th ys; it grabs you by th shirt collar and lifts you up. It tlls you that ths 3000 mn, who tid Samson up (aftr rciving his prmission), did not bring Samson to th Philistins. God th Holy Spirit put it hr to tll us that Samson, of his own volition, walkd right into that camp of th Philistins a camp which would latr bar th nam of th wapon that Samson will us against thm. This passag dos not vn tll us what happnd to ths 3000 mn wr thy with Samson? Did thy walk with him most of th way, point out th Philistins camp, and thn turn tail and rtrat? W don t actually know. In any cas, thy do not appar to b around whn Samson actually mts up with th Philistins. Onc Samson is in viw of th Philistin camp, th Isralits, if thy wr still around, crtainly rtratd quickly. Now, how would you, a prson who dos not rad Hbrw, rcogniz what s rally going on hr? Only in Rothrham s Emphasizd Bibl do w hav a clu th wo h is nclosd with doubl brackts, maning that th ida that w ar daling with a 3 prson masculin singular is of grat importanc hr. Ths nw rops and th 3000 Judæans wr unabl to forc Samson to do anything h walkd into th camp of th Philistins undr th choic of his own fr will. Th Philistins had not vn lft Lhi. Thy knw that thy could dpnd upon th Judæans to bring thm Samson. Now, you will not that w do not hav a court systm in plac. Samson is not brought in and put on trial. What h fac s is ths Philistins and what thy ar doing is th Hiphil prfct of rûwa ( òç ø) [pronouncd roo-ah or roo-ahì], which mans to shout. Th Hiphil is usd bcaus thy ar causd to should b what is in thir souls. Thy hav hat and sk vnganc on Samson. Thy know who burnd th filds and thy ar going to mak him pay. Strong s #7321 BDB #929. This is not som battl cry, nor wr thy crying out in panic ths Philistins ar disgruntld, so say th last, with Samson, and hr h is, walking into thir camp, all tid up, and thy rush him. Thy ar a mob and thy plan to tar him limb from limb. Th ylling is a part of thir angr. Aftr all, what mob attacks with a silnt fury? And so fll upon him a Spirit of Y howah and so wr th rops which [wr] upon his arms as flax which thy burn in fir. And so mltd his bonds from upon his hands. 15:14b Thn th Spirit of Y howah fll upon him and th rops which [wr] on his arms bcam as flax which is burnd with fir; so th bonds mltd from around his hands. Suddnly, th Spirit of Jhovah cam upon him and h brok th rops around his arms as if thy wr nothing. Th vrb with th Holy Spirit is th 3 prson fminin singular, Qal imprfct of tsâlach (ç ìç öè ) [pronouncd tsaw- LAHCH]; it is also givn as tsâlêach ( ç ì öè ) [pronouncd tsaw-lay-ahkh], which, accoing to th lxicons (BDB - and Gsnius), mans to pntrat, to rush, to advanc, to com upon, to attack, to fall upon, to b succssful, to prospr; it mans to pntrat thn advanc. This almost appars to b on of thos wos that you simply clos your ys, rach into a hat, and thn tak out th maning that you lik. Howvr, it is not that way. Whn followd by th prposition al (ì ò) [pronouncd al] (Strong s #5921 BDB #752), it mans to com upon, to fall - upon, to rush upon. Contxt thn dtrmins th nuancs of maning. Most of th tim, it simply mans to b prosprous, to b succssful. Th rlationship is: th rsult of falling upon somon is a succssful attack. Strong's #6743 BDB #852. W ar nvr actually told whthr this filling of th Holy Spirit was th rsult of Samson s volition or whthr God providd th Holy Spirit apart from Samson s volition. My thinking is that, whn put into this hoplss situation, tid up and standing hlplss bfor hunds of vicious Philistins, Samson, a Nazirit, spok to God. Any blivr or anyon who has givn vn a small thought to God, would, undr similar circumstancs, stop for a scond and consult God about a situation lik this. Any normal prson would say on or two wos to God whil tid up and bing approachd by a thousand or mor angry Philistins. Now, lt s approach this from a diffrnt standpoint th spiritual blssings which God givs to us ar a rsult of His sovrignty and our volition. Now, w all rciv a spiritual gift or gifts which may li dormant at salvation.