Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 16:3
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put [them] upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that [is] before Hebron.
3. plucked them up ] Cf. Jdg 16:14; the word is used of plucking up tent-pegs Isa 33:20, hence of setting out on a journey Gen 35:5 and often.
The gate was probably in two leaves, turning upon pins in sockets, and secured by a bar (cf. 1Ki 4:13, Amo 1:5 etc.) which was let into the posts on either side. Samson pulled up the whole framework of the gate, doors, posts and bar, and carried it off in one piece.
the mountain that is before Hebron ] Hebron is at least 40 m. from Gaza, and before, if it does mean east of (cf. Deu 32:49, 1Ki 11:7 etc.), may also denote overlooking (Num 21:20; Num 23:28 etc.). To make the prodigious feat more credible, some take the mountain to be the low hill of el-Munr, half an hour outside the walls of Gaza on the E.; for a recent description in support of this view see Gautier, Souv. de Terre-Sainte (1898), 131 f. But can el-Munr be said to face Hebron? Cheyne ( Encycl. Bibl. , col. 4432) makes the suggestion that Hebron is a mistake for Sharuhen (Jos 19:6), otherwise Shaaraim = the two gates (1Sa 17:52), which may be the Egyptian fortress Sharaan on the road from Egypt to Gaza; the legend, then, was told to account for the name. Similarly Stahn ( Die Simson-Sage, p. 31), who supposes that there was a rock or defile near Hebron called Shaar Gaza (i.e. gate of Gaza or strong gate); the story then will have had the same origin as that which accounted for the names Ramath-lehi and En-hakkore, Jdg 15:17; Jdg 15:19.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Instead of forcing the doors open, he tore the posts up, as it were, by the roots, with the barred doors attached to them. The word rendered went away with them, means to pluck up the tent-pins, and hence, to remove. The present town of Gaza (Ghuzzeh) is an open town, without gates or walls, but the sites of the ancient gates still remain visible. One of these, on the southeast, is shown as the gate carried off by Samson.
A partially-isolated hill, about half-an-hour southeast of Gaza, and standing out from the chain that runs up to Hebron, bears the name of Samsons Mount. But it may be doubted whether one of the hills overlooking Hebron is not rather meant.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Took the doors of the gate] Though Samson was a very strong man, yet we do not find that he was a giant; consequently we may conjecture that the gates of the city were not very large, as he took at once the doors, the two posts, and the bar, with him. The cities of those days would appear to disadvantage among modern villages.
A hill – before Hebron.] Possibly there were two Hebrons; it could not be the city generally understood by the word Hebron, as that was about twenty miles distant from Gaza: unless we suppose that al peney Chebron is to be understood of the road leading to Hebron: he carried all to the top of that hill which was on the road leading to Hebron.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Arose at midnight; being either smitten in conscience for his sin, when he first awaked, and thence fearing danger, as he had just cause to do; or being secretly warned by God in a dream, or by an inward impulse, for the prevention of his designed destruction.
The doors of the gate of the city; not the great gates, but lesser doors made in them, and strengthened with distinct posts and bars.
Went away with them; the watchmen not expecting him till morning, and therefore being now retired into the sides or upper part of the gate-house, as the manner now is, to get some rest, whereby to fit themselves for their hard service intended in the morning; or if some of them were in his way, he could easily and speedily strike them dead, and break the door, whilst the rest were partly astonished with the surprise, and partly preparing themselves for resistance: nor durst they pursue him, whom they now again perceived to have such prodigious strength and courage; and to be so much above the fear of them, that he did not run away with all speed, but went leisurely, having so great a weight on his shoulders, wherewith they knew he could both defend himself and offend them.
Up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron; either,
1. To a hill near Hebron, which was above twenty miles from Gaza; or,
2. To the top of a high hill not far from Gaza, which looked towards Hebron, which also stood upon another high hill, and might be seen from this place, though it was at a great distance from it. And Samson did this not out of vain ostentation, but as an evidence of his great strength, for the encouragement of his people to join with him more vigorously for their own deliverance than yet they had done, or durst do, and for the greater terror and contempt of the Philistines. It may seem strange that Samson immediately after so foul a sin should have the courage in himself, and the strength from God, for so great a work. But,
1. It is probable that Samson had in some measure repented of his sin, and begged of God pardon and assistance, which also he perceived by instinct that God would afford him.
2. This singular strength and courage was not in itself a grace, but a gift, which might have been in a graceless person, and therefore might continue in a good man, notwithstanding a heinous act of sin; and it was such a gift as did not depend upon the disposition of his mind, but upon the right ordering of his body, by the rule given to him, and others of that order.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Samson . . . arose at midnight,and took the doors of the gate of the cityA ruinous pile ofmasonry is still pointed out as the site of the gate. It was probablya part of the town wall, and as this ruin is “toward Hebron,”there is no improbability in the tradition.
carried them up to the top ofan hill that is before HebronThat hill is El-Montar; but byHebron in this passage is meant “the mountains of Hebron”;for otherwise Samson, had he run night and day from the time of hisflight from Gaza, could only have come on the evening of thefollowing day within sight of the city of Hebron. The city of Gazawas, in those days, probably not less than three-quarters of an hourdistant from El-Montar. To have climbed to the top of this hill withthe ponderous doors and their bolts on his shoulders, through a roadof thick sand, was a feat which none but a Samson could haveaccomplished [VAN DEVELDE].
Jud16:4-14. DELILAHCORRUPTED BY THEPHILISTINES.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 shut and fast barred and bolted, and the watch perhaps asleep, not expecting his coming until daylight:
and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all; did not stand to break open the doors of the gate, but took the two side posts up, on which the folding doors of the gate were hung, out of the ground in which they were fastened, with the bar which went across the doors for the security of them:
and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron; if this hill was near Hebron, as the words thus read seem to intimate, he must carry the gates twenty miles upon his shoulders, for so far was Hebron from Gaza; so Josephus says it was over Hebron; but according to Adrichomius t, it was near Gaza, looking towards Hebron; and so Sandys says u, in the valley, on the east side of the city, are many straggling buildings, beyond which there is a hill more eminent than the rest, on the north side of the way that leads to Babylon, said to be that to which Samson carried the gates of the city. It is very probable, as some think, that it was between Gaza and Hebron, in sight of both cities, which may be meant by the phrase “before”, or “on the face of”; being so high might be seen as far as Hebron, as well as at Gaza. This was an emblem of Christ’s resurrection, of whom Samson was a type, who being encompassed in a sepulchre, and sealed and watched by soldiers, broke through the bars of death and the grave, and carried off the doors in triumph; and in a short time ascended to heaven, whereby he declared himself to be the Son of God with power. It was usual for doors and bars of gates to be carried in triumph, and laid up in temples w; and the Jews say these doors were not less than sixty cubits, and suppose Samson’s shoulders to be as broad x.
t “Theatrum Terrae Sanet”. p. 133. u Ut supra, (Travels l. 3.) p. 117. w “—-sacris in postibus arma: —-et portarum ingentia claustra.” Virgil. Aeneid. 7. ver. 185. x T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 10. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Arose at midnight.Apparentlybut here again the narrative omits all detailshe had been told of the plot, and found the gates unguarded; unless we are to suppose that he slew the guards, without awaking the city.
Took.Rather, grasped or seized.
The two postsi.e., the side-posts.
Went away with them, bar and all.Rather, tore them up, with the bar; the bar was the bar which fastened the two valves together. Gaza, as we see from the site of its walls, had several gates. The site of the gate traditionally pointed out is on the south-east. It may have been the smaller gate, by the side of the main gate, which he thus tore up. In Mohammedan legend Ali uses the gate of Chaibar as a shield, which may be a sort of confused echo and parallel of this event (Po-cocke, Hist. Arab., p. 10).
That is before Hebron.It is not implied that Samson walked with the gates and bars on his shoulders nine miles to Hebron; but probably (as the local tradition says) to El Montar, a hill in the direction of Hebron, from which the hills of Hebron are visible. Pliny, in his Natural History (vii. 19), adduces many instances of colossal strength, but in this narrative it is distinctly implied that the strength of Samson was a supernatural gift, arising from his dedication to God. The carrying away the gate of his enemies would be understood in the East as a very peculiar insult. When Almansor took Compostella, he made the Christians carry the gates of St. Jamess Church on their shoulders to Cordova in sign of his victory (Ferraras, Gesch. von Spanier, iii. 145, quoted by Cassel).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Lay till midnight He, perhaps, knew or suspected what his enemies were doing, and his humour took occasion again to make them the butt of ridicule.
Doors of the gate The two leaves, or double folding doors.
Two posts The two sideposts to which the doors were hung, being fastened either by hinges or by sockets.
Bar and all Better, as in the margin, with the bar. The bar was a large heavy crosspiece or bolt of wood or iron, sometimes reaching across the entire breadth of the two doors, and fastened in sockets in the sideposts or walls, and sometimes merely sliding backward and forward like an ordinary bolt. Samson tore away the whole gateway doors, posts, and bar and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron. “The present town of Gaza has no gates, being like an open village; yet the places of the former ones remain, and are pointed out around the hill. One of these, at the foot of the slope on the southeast, is shown as the gate whose doors and bars were carried off by Samson.” Robinson. About half an hour’s walk southeast of the town is a partially isolated hill, ( el-Muntar,) from which the mountains of Hebron are visible, and also a wide view over all the surrounding country. An old tradition calls it “Samson’s Mount,” and points it out as the hill to which he carried the gates of Gaza; and Dr. Robinson says, “There is nothing improbable in the supposition.” The expression before Hebron does not mean in the immediate vicinity of Hebron, but is better rendered towards or over against, as in Deu 32:49, where Mount Nebo is said to be over against Jericho, though it was many miles away, and on the other side of Jordan.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is before Hebron.’
Samson, however, probably had a good idea of the situation, and took them by surprise. He finished his ‘adventures’ at midnight and then he left the house where he was and made for the city gates.
Probably most of the liers in wait were asleep, not expecting him to come at that time, for it would be pointless in view of the fact that the gates were fastened and would not be opened until the morning, and if anyone did spot him they seemingly waited to see what he would do. They knew that he could not possibly escape, and he was not a man to tamper with. None of them expected what actually did happen. For with his huge strength Samson quietly demolished the outer gate and the two gateposts and then lifted the whole on his shoulders and carried them off into the night. They may well have been nail studded with metal coverings which would have added to their weight.
No doubt the sight stunned the watchers to silence and wonder, so that they did nothing. They could probably not believe their eyes. They were probably also unnerved in the darkness, for his fearsome reputation was well known, although they had never seen it at first hand. Perhaps they heard the clatter and noise but were not sure what he was doing. Nor were they going to interfere. The last thing they had expected was for the gates to disappear. And now it was accomplished before their eyes. They must have wondered what powers of darkness were at work. Certainly they would consider that were to be avoided.
And he carried the gates ‘to the top of the hill which is before Hebron’. Hebron was thirty eight miles (sixty kilometres) from Gaza, but this hill may have been a few miles from Gaza going towards Hebron, with Hebron seen in the distance. The feat however was stupendous and left Gaza open to attack. Perhaps that was part of the plan, but if so it would seem to have come to nothing. Alternately it may be that he was expecting them to attack him so that he could use his strength and fighting ability to dispose of a good few more Philistines.
Furthermore he may have intended it as a portent. The gates of cities would often be carried in triumphal processions and that may be what Samson was hinting at here, that this was an omen that the Philistines were doomed. He was preparing the way for Samuel’s ultimate victory.
(It was commonplace in those days for trials of strength to take place before main battles, between selected men or between champions, compare for example David and Goliath (1Sa 17:4). Great importance was put on the final result. It may be that Samson saw this in the same way).
This event suggests that Samson was naturally hugely strong for there is no thought of the activity of the Spirit of God here, nor would we expect it. His activities with the prostitute, following his connection with death through the use of the jaw of the ass, serves to demonstrate that his dedication as a Nazirite was waning. Pride and arrogance had taken over. All that was left of his vow was his long hair. That would go next.
It is not accidental that the incident of the jaw bone when he came in contact with dead matter, his behaviour with the prostitute, and the shaving of his hair come in sequence. They were the downward steps he took, resulting finally in the destruction of his consecration to Yahweh. First he was careless about touching dead matter, then he sank into sexual misconduct and finally he played fast and loose with his ‘holy’ hair. He had become complacent.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 16:3. An hill that is before Hebron Or, a mountainous place, that is, &c. Hebron was twenty miles from Gaza, which was situated near the extremity of the promised land. It is probable, therefore, that this hill, or mountainous place, lay between Gaza and Hebron. It might be rendered, which looketh towards Hebron.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
I pass over every other consideration, to call the Reader’s attention to the lively representation here made of Samson’s wonderful strength, and that of our divine Redeemer, in his victory over death, hell, and the grave. Did not Jesus, though the soldiers secured, as they thought, the grave, and the stone upon it sealed: did he not burst asunder all the bars, and carry them away before him? Was not our dear Lord, like Samson, when they had bound him and nailed him to the cross, considered as the sure prisoner, which could not escape their hands? And yet, did he not, like Samson at midnight, just at the break of day, lead captivity captive, and come forth to the terror and confusion of a1l his enemies? Yes! thou dear Redeemer! thou hast indeed, not only come forth, from the supposed confinement of the grave, but thou hast forever prevented thine enemies, and ours, from confining our bodies and souls, for everlasting destruction. The grave, into which the bodies of thy saints are put, is now an open grave, and by thy glorious resurrection, the everlasting power, and dominion of it, is done away. So that in thy triumph, all thy people now sing; 0 death where is now thy sting; 0 grave where is now thy victory: Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Co 15:55-57 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 16:3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put [them] upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that [is] before Hebron.
Ver. 3. And arose at midnight. ] From the bed of fornication, where the Spirit had screeched out unto him, “Oh, do not this abominable thing!” Jer 44:4 Nevertheless he did it; and yet by the instinct of the same Spirit, who might justly have loathed his lodging, he arose and prepared to be gone. God dealeth not with his people according to their sins, but beareth long with their evil manners.
And took the doors of the gate of the city.
Bar and all.
Up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
took the doors: i.e. unhinged both leaves. Compare Isa 45:1.
an hill = the hill.
before = over against.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
took: Psa 107:16, Isa 63:1-5, Mic 2:13, Act 2:24
bar and all: Heb. with the bar
Reciprocal: Jdg 16:20 – I will go 1Sa 23:7 – he is shut Psa 59:1 – when Act 9:24 – their
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 16:3. Samson arose at midnight Perhaps warned by God in a dream, or rather by the checks of his own conscience; and took the doors of the gate, &c. The watchmen not expecting him till the morning, and therefore being now retired into the sides or upper part of the gate-house to get some rest; and went away with them, bar and all Nor durst they pursue him, whom they now again perceived to have such prodigious strength and courage, and to be so much above the fear of them, that he did not run away with all speed, but went leisurely. And carried them to the top of the hill It is uncertain how far he carried them; but it seems to have been to a great distance, as it is said this hill was before Hebron, which was above twenty miles from Gaza. And Samson did this, not out of vain ostentation, but as an evidence of his great strength, for the encouragement of his people to join with him vigorously; and for the great terror and contempt of the Philistines. It may seem strange that Samson, immediately after so foul a sin, should have courage and strength from God for so great a work. But, 1st, It is probable that Samson had, in some measure, repented of his sin, and begged of God pardon and assistance; 2d, This singular strength and courage was not in itself a grace, but a gift, and it was such a gift as did not so much depend on the disposition of his mind, as on the right ordering of his body, by the rules given to him, and others of that order.