Judges 16, Samson and Delilah

Twice Samson has attacked and killed Philistines. After the second attack, he apparently leads Israel (or at least the regions of Judah and Dan) for twenty years.

Judges 16: 1-3, Samson visits a prostitute in Gaza

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.

The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him." But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Once again, Samson goes cruising in Philistia, looking for women.  He finds a prostitute and spends the night with her.  The Philistines see a chance to capture him and wait outside the city gate.  But the attempt to trap Samson dramatically fails. He gets up at midnight (not dawn), picks up the city gates (which would have been massive) and carries them into Judah.

This episode occurs sometime during the twenty year reign of Samson.  There will be one more episode, this one at the end of his reign. It will also involve a woman -- and this time the woman is named.

Judges 16: 4-5, Delilah

Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."

Delilah, like the prostitute, is not to be trusted. But she is the first lover that is named and there are some signs that Samson truly cares for her. The Philistines now recognize that there is something supernatural or magical about Samson's power and seek to find its source. The offer Delilah an enormous sum of money to betray her lover.

Judges 16: 6-9, Delilah intervenes

So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."

Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."

Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" 

But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

Delilah, like Samson's wife twenty years before, begs Samson to tell a secret. Samson lies to her and breaks the strings.

Is Samson aware of the men hiding in a nearby room?  We don't know.

Judges 16: 10-12, Let's try again

Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."

He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

Samson continues to lie to Delilah.  But he stays with her, confused apparently, by lust and affection.

Samson is not coming across as a good male model!

Judges 16: 13-14, A third attempt

Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied." 

He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." 

So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric and tightened it with the pin. Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" 

He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

Samson defeats Delilah one more time. Throughout this time, apparently Philistine men have been hiding nearby.  It is possible that Samson is still unaware of their presence.

Judges 16: 15-17, A fourth attempt

Then she said to him, "How can you say, `I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength."

With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."

After three attempts, Delilah continues to nag and beg Samson.  Several days pass.  Eventually Samson gives in.  In his confession, he not only reveals his secret, but reveals (to us) that he has been aware of the meaning of the Nazirite commitment.  By revealing his secret, he releases his commitment to YHWH, essentially breaking covenant.

This answer seems believable; it is not magic but Samson's position as a Nazirite fully devoted to YHWH -- that has been his strength.

Judges 16: 18-19, Delilah tells the Philistine rulers

When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.

Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

Since days have passed, there are no longer men hiding in a nearby room.  But Delilah knows that she now has Samson's secret and so sends for the rulers to return.  They do so, with the promised silver. and hide nearby. Delilah puts Samson to sleep and has his braided hair shaven.

Judges 16: 20-22, Caught

Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" 

He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.

But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Foolish Samson is caught.  He has broken covenant with YHWH and no longer has the Spirit of YHWH working through him. The Philistines capture him then make sure he is defenseless by blinding him. (Samson, who began his conflicts with the Philistines by seeing a Philistine woman now has no eyes to betray him.)

The author hints that Samson may have one last chance, as his hair (and commitment to YHWH) begin to return.

Judges 16: 23-26, One last chance

Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands."

When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain."

While they were in high spirits, they shouted, "Bring out Samson to entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. 

When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them."

In celebrating their god, Samson is brought before them.  He is led by a servant. The pillars of the temple are mentioned twice; Samson is placed between them.

Judges 16: 27-30, Death of Samson

Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform.  Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."

Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

Blinded Samson finally gets one act of revenge. He calls on YHWH and with returning strength, he pushes down the temple supports and destroys the temple of Dagon, killing thousands. In his final act, he does more damage to the Philistines than he had done in all previous acts. 

Judges 16: 31, Buriel of Samson

Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.

Samson is buried.  We are reminded again that he had led Israel for two decades. (I am not sure what it means for such a chaotic individual to "lead" Israel.)

This tragic figure has greatly weakened the power of the Philistines. The Philistines, approaching Israel from the west, are weakened but not destroyed. They will be a persistent annoyance to Israel until finally subdued during the reign of David.