Lange Commentary - Judges 16:1

Lange Commentary - Judges 16:1 - 16:3

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Lange Commentary - Judges 16:1 - 16:3

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Samson visits Gaza. The Philistines meditate his destruction; but he escapes at midnight, carrying the gate of the city away with him.

Jdg_16:1-3.

¹Then went Samson [And Samson went] to Gaza [’Azzah], and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. ²And it was told the Gazites [’Azzites], 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. ³And Samson lay till midnight, and [he] arose at midnight, and took [laid hold of] the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them [pulled them up], bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an [the] hill that is before Hebron.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[¹ Jdg_16:1.— åַéָּáàֹ àֵìֶéäָ . Dr. Cassel, in accordance with his exposition (see below), renders, und kam zu ihr “and came (went) to her.” This rendering is certainly possible (cf. Gen_6:20; Psa_51:1, etc.); but as the expression is a standing euphemism, the writer of Judges would scarcely have employed it in its more proper sense here, where the context would inevitably suggest the least favorable interpretation.—Tr.]

[² Jdg_16:2.— åַéֻּðַã (cf. Gen_22:20) or åַéּàֹîְøåּ , has doubtless been dropped out of the text by some oversight of transcribers. The Sept., Targum, and other ancient versions, supply the deficiency, if indeed it existed in their day.—Tr.]

[³ Jdg_16:2.— åַéָּñֹáּåּ : the accusative (cf. Ecc_9:14) object of this verb is to be disengaged from ìåֹ , the object of the immediately following verb. So Bertheau and Keil. Dr. Cassel takes the word in the sense “to go about,” to patrol, which would require the object òéø (Isa_23:16) or áָּòִéø (Son_3:3) to be expressed.—Tr.]

[⁴ Jdg_16:2.— òַãÎàåֹø äַáֹּ÷ֶø åַäֲøַâðֻäåּ : literally, “Until morning light! then we kill him.” That is, “Wait (or, with reference to the preceding éִúְçָøְùׁåּ : Be quiet) until morning light,” etc. Cf. 1Sa_1:22 àåֹø is the infinitive construct, cf. Ges. Lex. s. v. òַã , B, 2, b.—Tr.]

EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL

Jdg_16:1. And Samson went to’Azzah. The heroic deeds of Samson have driven the Philistines back within their old boundary-lines. They no longer venture to come anywhere near him. He, however, with the fearlessness of genius, undertakes to visit them in their own fortified chief city. ’Azzah, the Gaza of the Greeks, was the most powerful border-city and capital of the Philistines. There, as in Gath and Ashdod, remnants of the Anakim are said to have remained (Jos_11:22). Concerning the etymology of the name òַæָּä (’Azzah), different opinions have been expressed. Hitzig’s derivation from òֵæ , “she-goat,” has been justly called in question by Stark (Gaza und die philist. Küste , p. 46). But by the side of the view which, after the older authorities (from Jerome down) he adopts—which makes òַæָּä to be “the strong, fortified city,” in contrast with the open country, and appeals to such names as Rome and Valentia as analogous—I would place another, perhaps more accordant with the national spirit of the Philistines. The origin of the name must probably be sought in the worship of Mars-Typhon, the warlike Death-god. Movers has compared ̓ Áæçóßá , the Trœzenian name of Persephone, with òַæָּä (Phönizer, i. 367). “Strong,” in the true sense of the word, may be appropriately predicated of death; accordingly it is said in the “Song of Solomon” (Jdg_8:6): “Strong ( òַæָּä ) as death is love.” To the name ̓ Áæçóßá (Azesia) not only el-Asa, the idol of the ancient Arabians (Mars-Asiz) would correspond, but also and especially òֲéָàæֵì (Azazel), to whom the Mosaic law sent the goat laden with the sins of the people. The name ’Azzah had its origin in the service of subterranean, typhonic deities, peculiar to the coasts of the Mediterranean sea. Although the Greeks called the city Gaza, it is nevertheless clear that the Indo-Germanic etymology of this word ( ãÜæá ), which signifies “public treasure,” is not to be brought into comparison.

Samson comes not, alas! like the tribe of Judah (Jdg_1:18), to conquer the city. But it is a question whether the sensuality which at other times lulled his heroism to sleep, was also the occasion of his present visit to Gaza. The cultus of the Canaanitish nations, and the beauty of the Philistine women, were favorable to voluptuousness. Ancient expositors explained æåֹðָä to mean a female inn-keeper, a hostess. They were so far right, that the houses of harlots were those that stood open to all comers, including such strangers as had no relations of acquaintance and mutual hospitality with any one in the city. (Compare, in Latin, the transition into each other of caupo and leno, caupona and lena.) Hence, the Targum has everywhere (including Jdg_11:1) translated æåֹðָä by ôּåּðְãָ÷ִéúָà , i. e., “female innkeeper,” ðáíä ó êåéá . On this account, the spies, also, whom Joshua sent out, and who were influenced by no sensual impulses, could quarter themselves nowhere in Jericho but in the house of a zonah (Jos_2:1). Samson did not come to Gaza for the purpose of visiting a harlot: for it is said that “he went thither, and saw there a zonah.” But when he wished to remain there over night, there was nothing for him, the national enemy, but to abide with the zonah. This time the narrative gives no occasion to tax him with sensuality. We do not read, as in Jdg_16:4, “and he loved her.” His stay is spoken of in language not different from that employed with reference to the abode of the spies in the house of Rahab. The words, “he saw her,” only indicate that when he saw a woman of her class, he knew where he could find shelter for the night. The purpose of his coming was to give the Philistines a new proof of his fearlessness, which was such that he did not shun to meet them in their own chief city.

Jdg_16:2. And when the ’Azzites were told, that Samson was come thither. He had been seen. It was probably towards evening when he entered the city. The houses in which the trade of a zonah was carried on, lay anciently and still lie on the walls of the city (Jos_2:15), not far from the gates. Although it is not stated whether the inhabitants knew where he was, it must be assumed that they did; for, being in the city, he had no choice as to his place of abode. The king of Jericho commands Rahab to deliver up the spies; but the description here given of the way in which the ’Azzites set to work to catch the dreaded foe, is highly amusing and characteristic. The most direct way would have been to have attacked him in the house of the zonah; but that course they avoid. They propose to lie in wait for him when he comes out. Our author’s use of the imperfects åַéָּñֹáּåּ and åַéֶּàֶøְáåּ is peculiar and interesting. That of which they speak, and say it must be done, as: “patrols must go about,” and “bands must lie in wait all night at the gate,” the graphic narrator relates as if it were actually done. They did nothing of the kind, however, but instead of patrolling and watching “all night,” they were afraid, and kept quiet “all night” ( ëָּìÎäַìַּéìָä , used twice in order to hint at the contrast between counsel and action which they exhibited). They should doubtless have been on their legs throughout the night, but in fact they éִúְúָøùׁåּ , kept themselves still, made no noise, and heard nothing, just as a timid householder, who is afraid of the burglar, feigns to be fast asleep, so as not to be obliged to hear the robbery going on. The gate, they say to each other, is firmly fastened, so that he cannot get out of the city, and to-morrow, at sunrise, we have certainly killed him (the narrator again represents the thing talked about as done, äֲøַâְðֻäåּ ). “Ah yes, to-morrow!” To-morrow, to-morrow, only not to-day, is the language of all lazy people—and of the timorous as well.

Jdg_16:3. But Samson slept till midnight. He had been told that his presence in Gaza was known. How little fear he felt, appears from the fact that he slept till midnight. Then he arose, went calmly to the gate, and (as it was closed and barred) lifted out its posts, placed the doors on his shoulders, and tranquilly proceeded on his way home. Humor and strength characterized all his deeds. On this occasion, however, the mighty jest which he played off on the inhabitants of Gaza, was also the worst humiliation which he could inflict upon them. The gates of a place symbolized its civic and national strength, inasmuch as they represented ingress into it. Samson enacted literally, as it were, the promise made to Abraham: “Thy seed shall possess the gate of its enemies” (Gen_22:17). The fact that Rebecca is dismissed with the same blessing (Gen_24:60); “May thy seed possess the gate of those who hate it!” indicates the popular diffusion of the idea that to take possession of an enemy’s gate is to obtain a complete victory over him. Hence, in the East victorious princes have frequently literally carried away the gates of conquered cities (cf. Hammer, Gesch. des Osman. Reichs, i. 267). For the same reason, Almansor, when he took Compostella, caused the doors of the St. James’ Church to be lifted out, and to be carried on the shoulders of Christians, to Cordova, in sign of his victory (Ferreras, Gesch. von Spanien, iii. 145). The same idea presents itself in North-German legends, when giants are represented as carrying away churches from their places, in order to show their hostility against Christianity (Schambach and Müller, Nieders. Sagen, pp. 150, 151).

But precisely because the removal of the gate of Gaza was expressive of the national humiliation of the Philistines before Israel—Israel having, as it were, in the person of its representative, taken their chief city by storm—it is necessary to take the statement that Samson carried the gate “up to the top of the mountain before ( òַìÎôְּðֵé ) Hebron,” in a more literal sense than Keil feels himself bound to do. Hebron was the centre and chief seat of the tribe of Judah. It was probably the abode of Samson also during the twenty years of his judgeship. Israel’s triumph and the Philistines’ ignominy were both most plainly expressed when the gate of Gaza was lying before Hebron; for it was found appropriate to carry the gates of the chief city of the enemy to the chief city of the conqueror, otherwise Hebron would not have been mentioned at all. As to the difficulty of carrying the gate so far as Hebron, it is unnecessary to waste a word upon it. He who wrenched the gate from its firm security, could also carry it to Hebron. Besides, as soon as he was in Judæa, he had time enough. In Hebron the evidences of the great hero’s triumph and the Philistines’ humiliation were probably exhibited long after the event took place. Even when nations seem least capable of doing great things, it is yet a cheering sign, promissory of better days, if they take pleasure in the great deeds of former times. Israel was in servitude for the very reason that it no longer knew the greatness of its ancestors (Jdg_2:10). Whoever takes pleasure in Samson, affords some ground to hope for freedom.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The ancient church used the gate of Gaza, as a type of the gates of hell destroyed by Christ. A modern art-critic, it is true, has remarked that most of the pictures which were supposed to be representations of Samson, carrying away the gates of Gaza, are not such, but represent the paralytic of the gospels, who took up his bed and walked (Martigny, Dictionnaire, p. 599). But the essential matter is, not the pictures, but the spirit. Gaza is, as it were, the stronghold of the enemy. Samson, who enters it, resembles Christ, who is laid in the grave. But the enemy cannot bind the living Word. He not only rises from the dead, but He deprives the fortress of its gates, so that it can no longer detain any who would be free. Only he remains a captive, in whom sin reigns, and passion is supreme—who would be free from Christ.

Footnotes:

[Jdg_16:1.— åַéָּáàֹ àֵìֶéäָ . Dr. Cassel, in accordance with his exposition (see below), renders, und kam zu ihr “and came (went) to her.” This rendering is certainly possible (cf. Gen_6:20; Psa_51:1, etc.); but as the expression is a standing euphemism, the writer of Judges would scarcely have employed it in its more proper sense here, where the context would inevitably suggest the least favorable interpretation.—Tr.]

[Jdg_16:2.— åַéֻּðַã (cf. Gen_22:20) or åַéּàֹîְøåּ , has doubtless been dropped out of the text by some oversight of transcribers. The Sept., Targum, and other ancient versions, supply the deficiency, if indeed it existed in their day.—Tr.]

[Jdg_16:2.— åַéָּñֹáּåּ : the accusative (cf. Ecc_9:14) object of this verb is to be disengaged from ìåֹ , the object of the immediately following verb. So Bertheau and Keil. Dr. Cassel takes the word in the sense “to go about,” to patrol, which would require the object òéø (Isa_23:16) or áָּòִéø (Son_3:3) to be expressed.—Tr.]

[Jdg_16:2.— òַãÎàåֹø äַáֹּ÷ֶø åַäֲøַâðֻäåּ : literally, “Until morning light! then we kill him.” That is, “Wait (or, with reference to the preceding éִúְçָøְùׁåּ : Be quiet) until morning light,” etc. Cf. 1Sa_1:22 àåֹø is the infinitive construct, cf. Ges. Lex. s. v. òַã , B, 2, b.—Tr.]

[The above explanation of Jdg_16:2 is more ingenious than satisfactory. The text does not speak of what the Philistines said ought to be done, but of what was done. It is true, that this view meets with the difficulty of explaining how Samson could carry off the gate, and the watchers be apparently none the wiser. The answer is probably that after the guards and liers-in-wait were posted, these rendered sleepy by inaction ( éִúְçָøְùׁåּ ), and confident that Samson would not leave the zonah until morning, became “quiet” in a sense beyond that intended by the instructions they had received—in other words, allowed themselves to fall asleep. Cf. Bertheau and Keil—Tr.]