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| 1 And Samson went to Gazah, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her. |
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| 2 And it was told the Gazathites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they surrounded him, and laid wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning light we will kill him. |
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| 3 And Samson lay till midnight; and he arose at midnight, and seized the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and tore them up with the bar, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron. |
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| 4 And it came to pass afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. |
Delilah – The standards of the Ancient Worthies were different from those of the Gospel age. R4087:6
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| 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Persuade him, and see in what his great strength is, and with what we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to overpower him; and we will each give thee eleven hundred silver-pieces. |
Entice him – Consider how the Adversary seduced the Church. R4088:6
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| 6 Then Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what is thy great strength, and with what thou mightest be bound to overpower thee. |
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| 7 And Samson said to her, If they should bind me with seven fresh cords which have not been dried, then should I be weak, and be as another man. |
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| 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. |
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| 9 Now she had liers in wait abiding in the chamber; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he broke the cords, as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire; and his strength was not known. |
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| 10 And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou mightest be bound. |
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| 11 And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes, with which no work has been done, then should I be weak, and be as another man. |
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| 12 And Delilah took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! Now there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread. |
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| 13 And Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what thou mightest be bound. And he said to her, If thou shouldest weave the seven locks of my head with the web. |
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| 14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep, and tore out the pin of the beam, and the web. |
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| 15 Then she said to him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? these three times hast thou mocked me, and hast not told me in what is thy great strength. |
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| 16 And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death; |
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| 17 and he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor upon my head; for I am a Nazarite of God from my mother's womb; if I should be shaven, then my strength would go from me, and I should be weak, and be like all mankind. |
If I be shaven – Samson's strength, considered in relationship to his Nazarite vow, should show the Lord's acceptance of the consecrated and his making them mighty to the overthrow of their enemies. R4088:3
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| 18 And Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, and she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this time, for he has told me all his heart. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand. |
All his heart – We should be specially on guard against the blandishments of the world and the Adversary through the nominal church. R4088:5
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| 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees, and called a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to overpower him, and his strength went from him. |
Made him sleep – Consider the stupor, drowsiness, ease and worldliness upon those who made a vow to faithfulness during a considerable time. R4088:6
Upon her knees – Similarly, those who are strong in the Lord are in danger of going to sleep in the lap of the modern Delilah, Churchianity. R4088:6
Shave off – A vow once taken must be observed faithfully if its blessings would be enjoyed. R5613:5
His strength went – The strength of the Gospel message was lost while in the drowsy condition in the "Dark Ages." R4088:6
A condition of his vow being broken. R4088:6, R5613:4
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| 20 And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep, and thought, I will go out as at other times before, and disengage myself. And he knew not that Jehovah had departed from him. |
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| 21 And the Philistines seized him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gazah, and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he had to grind in the prison-house. |
Put out his eyes – Illustrating how the Church lost the eyes of her understanding in the Dark Ages. R4088:6
Bound him – Ever since the Reformation time the Church has been to a considerable extent a slave to Churchianity and the world. R4088:6
He did grind – Thus the Church has been grinding food of a certain kind for many while still a slave to the world and under its blinding influences. R4089:1
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| 22 But the hair of his head began to grow after he was shaved. |
Began to grow again – Representing the growing power of Present Truth. R4089:3
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| 23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands. |
Dagon their god – Representing the modern god of Evolution. R4089:3
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| 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has given into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, even him who multiplied our slain. |
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| 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 played before them; and they set him between the pillars. |
Their hearts were merry – The worldly-wise feast and rejoice, giving honor to the god of Evolution through their Higher Critics. R4089:3
Make us sport – Those who are faithful to the principles of the Lord's Word will yet be made sport of by the worldly-wise. R4089:4
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| 26 And Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, Let loose of me, and suffer me to feel the pillars upon which the house stands, that I may lean upon them. |
Samson – Still full of the spirit of his consecration. R4089:1
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| 27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and upon the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson made sport. |
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| 28 And Samson called to Jehovah, and said, Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may take one vengeance upon the Philistines for my two eyes. |
Strengthen me – We have come to a time when the Lord's people are recovering a little of the strength of the early Church. R4089:3
That I may be at once avenged – One lesson we may learn from Samson is the importance of having an object in life. R5613:5
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| 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood (and he supported himself upon them), the one with his right hand and the other with his left. |
Samson took hold – Even now Labor, like the blind giant Samson, is groping for the pillars whose fall will overthrow present conditions. PD89/103
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| 30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines! And he bowed himself with might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain in his life. |
Let me die – His whole life was used in serving his people. R5613:2
Nephesh, soul, sentient being. E334
All his might – The Lord's true people are ready to put forth all their strength to move the pillars of error which uphold Churchianity. R4089:4
And the house fell – With the death of the last member of the Church, the Body of Christ, will surely come the downfall of Churchianity and the present system of world power. R4089:4
Were more than – He did more damage to the Philistines and more for the deliverance of his people in that one act than in all the other experiences of his life. R5613:4, R4089:2
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| 31 And his brethren came down, and all the house of his father, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zoreah and Eshtaol in the sepulchre of Manoah his father. And he had judged Israel twenty years. |
Buried him – According to the Law, Samson was rated as a very faithful servant of God. R5613:2, R4088:1
Judged – In the sense of avenging wrongs that Israel sustained upon the enemies who committed those wrongs. R4088:4
His chief work was to revive the spirit of the totally dejected people; encouraging their return to the Lord, with its resultant prosperity. R5613:1
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