48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the Philistines went up,.... From Palestine, which lay low on the shore of the Mediterranean sea: and pitched in Judah; in the laud of Judea, which lay higher, particularly in the tribe of Judah, whither they came with an army, and encamped there: and spread themselves in Lehi; their forces were so many, that they extended a considerable way,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the men of Judah said,.... To the Philistines, very probably by a deputation, which they sent unto them, to know the reason of this formidable appearance: why are ye come up against us? in this hostile manner, with such a number of forces, since they were not conscious to themselves that they had done anything to offend them; they had not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then three thousand of Judah went up to the top of the rock of Etam,.... Or "went down" (g); that is, into the cave of the rock of Etam, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; and so it is taken by David de Pomis (h) for a cave dug in the rock: this was a large number that went to take one man; the reason is, they knew his great strength:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said unto him, we are come down to bind thee,.... That is, they were come down into the cave where he was; otherwise more properly they were come up to the top of the rock: that we may deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines; they own what was their intention in binding him, and what put them upon it was not ill will to him, but...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they spake unto him, saying, no,.... They declared they would not fall upon him themselves and slay him; nor would the Jews put Christ to death themselves, though they were virtually his betrayers and murderers, John 18:31 but we will bind thee fast and deliver thee into their hands; as the Jews did Christ, and not only delivered him bound to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he came unto Lehi,.... The place which was afterwards so called, from what happened there at this time, and where the Philistines were spread, Judges 15:9 this, according to Bunting (k), was six miles from Etam: the Philistines shouted against him: for joy that they had got him into their hands, and in the circumstances he was, being...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he found a new jawbone of an ass,.... That is, the jawbone of an ass lately killed, which perhaps had some of the flesh upon it, the blood or purulent matter on it; for Jarchi says, he had read in the books of physicians, that the word here used signifies the sanies or purulent matter of a wound; however, it was moist, and fresh, and so tough...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Samson said,.... In a kind of triumphant song: with the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps; that is, with such an instrument he had slain heaps of men, who lay dead in heaps upon one another; in the words for an "ass", and for an "heap", is an elegant "paronomosia", not easy to be expressed in our language: with the jaw of an ass have I slain...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking,.... Of delivering out the above song, which very probably consisted of much more than what is here expressed: that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; which he held in his hand had wrought by him through the means of it, and so served to animate him to praise and thankfulness; but...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he was sore athirst,.... Which Josephus (n) thinks came upon him as a rebuke unto him, for ascribing the victory he had obtained to his own strength, and not to the Lord, whereby he was shown his own weakness, and how easily his strength could be reduced; but for this there seems to be no foundation; it is not to wondered at, in a natural way,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout,.... A socket in which was fastened one of the teeth, and was in the form of a mortar; so Jarchi and Ben Melech, as the word for an hollow place signifies; one of the grinders was knocked out, and so the place where it had been was left hollow, and out of that sprung...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. While they had the power over the Israelites, who were not entirely delivered out of their hands by Samson, he only began to deliver them, but did not completely do it; though he got many advantages over them, and wrought many salvations and deliverances, yet was not the author of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Judges 16 In this chapter we have an account of Samson's too great familiarity with two harlots; by the one he was brought into great danger, and narrowly escaped, Judges 16:1, and by the other he was betrayed into the hands of the Philistines, having got the secret out of him wherein his great strength lay, Judges 16:4 who having...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then went Samson to Gaza,.... One of the five principalities of the Philistines, which was ten miles from Ashkelon, as Sandys (q) says; who also describes (r) it as standing upon an hill environed with valleys, and these again well nigh enclosed with hills, most of them planted with all sorts of delicate fruits; and, according to Bunting (s),...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Samson's name (we have observed before) signifies a little sun (sol parvus); we have seen this sun rising very bright, and his morning ray strong and clear; and, nothing appearing to the contrary, we take it for granted that the middle of the day was proportionably illustrious, while he judged Israel twenty years; but the melancholy story of this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it was told the Gazites,.... The inhabitants of Gaza, the principal ones of it, the magistrates of the city, either by some persons that saw him come in, who knew him, or by the harlot into whose company he fell, to whom he made himself known: saying, Samson is come hither; the man so famous for his strength, and such an enemy to the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight,.... Either not being able to lie any longer through the conviction of his conscience for his lewdness, or being warned by a dream, or having an impulse upon his spirit, which suggested to him that wait was laid for him, and the danger he was in; and coming to the gate of the city, which he found...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass afterwards, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek,.... Which, according to Adrichomius (y) was but half a mile from the brook Eshcol, from whence the spies brought a bunch of grapes, as a specimen of the fruit of the land of Canaan; and this valley of Sorek seems to have been famous for the best wine, and hither Samson...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her,.... Having heard that Samson kept company with her, she being a noted strumpet, like Lais among the Grecians. These were in number five, as appears from Judges 3:3 and had under them five principalities, into which Palestine was divided; and these, if not united in their government, which possibly...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Delilah said to Samson,.... At a proper opportunity, when in his hands and caresses, as Josephus relates (e), and introduced it in an artful manner, admiring his strange exploits, and wondering how he could perform them: tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth; which she proposed seemingly out of mere curiosity, and as it would...