Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 13:25
And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
25. the spirit of the Lord ] See on Jdg 3:13. The superhuman power of Jehovah began to stir him to daring feats against the Philistines; cf. St Mar 1:12 ‘the Spirit driveth him forth.’ The pass, of the verb (in a trans, sense only here) is rendered ‘was troubled’ in Gen 41:8, Psa 77:4 etc.
Mahaneh-dan ] here lies in the heart of the Danite settlements; but according to Jdg 18:12 it was situated in Judah, at Kiriath-jearim or behind it, i.e. on the western side, and the six hundred, starting from Zorah and Eshtaol, are said to have reached Mahaneh-dan on their march to the north. A temporary encampment outside the Danite district might naturally receive the name of Dan’s Camp, but not a place among the seats of the tribe. As it is unlikely that there were two places called Dan’s Camp in this part of the country, we must suppose that there is something wrong about the name here. Perhaps for Mahaneh-dan we should read Manahath-dan, a happy suggestion made by Mr S. A. Cook [ Notes on O.T. Hist., p. 88 and Encycl. Bibl. s.v.); cf. 1Ch 2:52 ; 1Ch 2:54, and see above on Jdg 13:2. It is to be noticed that the grave of Manoah, the ancestor of the Manahathites, occupied exactly the position described in this verse, Jdg 16:31.
Eshtaol ] Generally named with Zorah ( Jdg 13:2); the two places were evidently close together. Zorah is certainly ar‘a; and Eshtaol may have stood on the site of Esh‘ about 1 m. to the N.E., up the valley which branches off northwards from the W. e-arr (Sorek). Both places overlook the broad basin of the W. e-arr near its entrance into the Judaean highlands.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In the camp of Dan – Rather, Mahaneh-Dan (see the margin). The impulses of the Spirit of the Lord perhaps took the shape of burning indignation at the subjection of his brethren, and thoughts and plans for their deliverance, but especially showed themselves in feats of strength (Jdg 14:6; Jdg 15:14; Jdg 16:30. Compare Act 7:23-25).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 25. The Spirit of the Lord began to move him] He felt the degrading bondage of his countrymen, and a strong desire to accomplish something for their deliverance. These feelings and motions he had from the Divine Spirit.
Camp of Dan] Probably the place where his parents dwelt; for they were Danites, and the place is supposed to have its name from its being the spot where the Danites stopped when they sent some men of their company to rob Micah of his teraphim, c. See Jdg 18:13-20.
As he had these influences between Zorah and Eshtaol, it is evident that this was while he dwelt at home with his parents for Zorah was the place where his father dwelt; see Jdg 13:2. Thus God began, from his infancy, to qualify him for the work to which he had called him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To move him at times, i.e. to stir him up to heroical designs; to show forth his power in him in the frame of his mind, and in the strength of his body, discovered to his neighbours in extraordinary actions; to incline his heart to great attempts to the help and deliverance of Gods people; and to give some essays of it to his brethren, and to seek all opportunities for it, as he did in the next chapter.
In the camp of Dan; a place so called, either from the expedition of the Danites, Jdg 18:11,12; which though placed after this history, was done before it; or from some other camp which the Danites had formed there at this time, to give some check to the incursions of the Philistines.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. the Spirit of the Lord began tomove him at timesnot, probably, as it moved the prophets, whowere charged with an inspired message, but kindling in his youthfulbosom a spirit of high and devoted patriotism.
Eshtaolthe free city.It, as well as Zorah, stood on the border between Judah and Dan.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan,…. To go out into it, in order to be trained up in and inured to military exercises; or it began to “strike” his mind, inject thoughts into it, and impress it with them concerning doing great things for the people of God in time to come; and for the present put him upon doing strange and wonderful exploits, which were omens of what was to be done by him hereafter; and these were done by him now and then, not always, but as the Spirit of God came upon him, under the impulse of which he did them, and by the strength he gave him; so the Targum,
“and the Spirit of strength from the Lord began to strengthen him.”
This camp of Dan was either a camp formed in that tribe, to prevent the incursions of the Philistines; or rather, since it does not seem that Israel had strength enough to resist them, they having got the power over them, this was the name of a place called Mahanehdan near Kirjathjearim, from the Danites encamping in it, when they went to besiege Laish, Jud 18:11 for the fact was done before this time, though related afterwards:
between Zorah and Eshtaol; which were two cities in the tribe of Dan, and upon the borders of the tribe of Judah; of which see
Jos 15:33. It may be observed, that as the tribe of Dan lay near to the Philistines, and so liable to their ravages, and might be most oppressed by them, so a deliverer of Israel was raised up in this tribe.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When he had grown up, the Spirit of Jehovah began to thrust him in the camp of Dan. , to thrust, denoting the operation of the Spirit of God within him, which took possession of him suddenly, and impelled him to put forth supernatural powers. Mahaneh-dan, the camp of Dan, was the name given to the district in which the Danites who emigrated, according to Jdg 18:12, from the inheritance of their tribe, had pitched their encampment behind, i.e., to the west of, Kirjath-jearim, or according to this verse, between Zorea and Eshtaol. The situation cannot be determined precisely, as the situation of Eshtaol itself has not been discovered yet (see at Jos 15:33). It was there that Samson lived with his parents, judging from Jdg 16:31. The meaning of this verse, which forms the introduction to the following account of the acts of Samson, is simply that Samson was there seized by the Spirit of Jehovah, and impelled to commence the conflict with the Philistines.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(25) The Spirit of the Lord.Jdg. 3:10. The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it rightly, The spirit of courage from Jehovah. Amos (Amo. 2:11) ranks Nazarites with prophets. Different as may be their mode of action, they agree in a belief, which strings up every power to its highest tension, that they are Jehovahs very own, consecrated to Him by a wholly special calling (Ewald).
Began to move him.Literally, to agitate or thrust him (paham, Gen. 41:8; Dan. 2:1). The word implies vehement and overwhelming impulses to noble deeds (fing an ihn zu treiben, Luther), which, however, only came over him at times (Jdg. 14:6; Jdg. 15:14; Jdg. 16:20). The LXX. rendering, to go with him, comes from a wrong reading.
In the camp of Dan.Rather, in Mahaneh-dan. Doubtless the name originated in the migration of this hard-pressed tribe, which is mentioned in Jdg. 18:11-12, but which took place long before this time. The sites of Mahaneh-dan and Eshtaol have not been identified. In his hatred to the enemies of his country, Samson is the Hannibal of the Hebrews.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. Spirit of the Lord began to move him Literally, began to strike him; that is, to urge or impel him to perform marvellous feats of strength. He may have rent many a lion in his youthful days, and such feats had as much to do in developing his faith in God, and preparing him to smite the Philistines, as David’s smiting of the lion and the bear had in preparing him to cope with Goliath. 1Sa 17:37.
Camp of Dan In Jdg 18:12, the word is rendered as a proper name, Mahaneh-Dan. It was the district belonging to the Danites lying between Zorah and Eshtaol. This latter place has not been clearly identified with any modern site, but probably lay between Zorah and Kirjath-jearim. Compare Jdg 18:12, and Jos 15:33.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the Spirit of Yahweh began to move him in Mahaneh-dan (‘the camp of Dan’), between Zorah and Eshtaol.’ The place was called ‘the camp of Dan’ because it was there that the Danites who had previously moved to Laish encamped at the commencement of their journey (Jdg 18:12). It was close to Kiriath-jearim (city of forests) on the Judah/Benjaminite border.
“The Spirit of Yahweh began to move (disquiet) him.” Compare Jdg 14:4. Perhaps the memory of the great trek of his ancestors stirred his spirit. As a result of the work of the Spirit within he became disquieted and dissatisfied, and the surprising result was that he sought a Philistine wife. But it may well be that this move was a part of his personal campaign against the Philistines, for in order to attack them without bringing their wrath on Israel he knew that he would have to become familiar with them and find personal reasons for attacking them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 13:25. The spirit of the Lord began to move him The Chaldee renders it, the spirit of fortitude, or courage. Very early the Spirit of God gave marks of his presence with him, by some extraordinary things superior to human power, which it enabled him to do, as a kind of prelude to that heroic courage with which he was to be endowed. As there was no army of Danites encamped where Samson displayed his power, many follow the version of our Margins, and read this as the proper name of a place; Mahaneh Dan.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
CONTEMPLATE, my soul, the wonderful grace of God manifested to this humble family, amidst the general corruption of Israel; and remark from it, for thy comfort and encouragement in evil times, how the Lord watcheth over his people for good. Behold! how angels minister unto them that are the heirs of salvation. And may I not hope, may I not trust, that some celestial messenger will graciously be sent to my relief in any, and in every case, wherein my God and Father sees it needful.
But do I not see in this instance Jesus himself, the Almighty Angel, and Messenger of the Father’s covenant? Surely, dearest Jesus, as the great Mediator of it, and in this light thy Father’s servant, it is thou thyself which hast brought all the glorious revelations of heaven! It is thou which hast communicated all the important messages from Jehovah to men. Surely it was thou which didst converse with the Patriarchs, with thy church in the wilderness, and upon many occasions, like the present, to thy people, as if thou didst long for the period fixed on from all eternity to arrive, in which thou wouldest assume our flesh, and dwell among us. As if thy precious soul, in contemplating the glories of redemption, anticipated with joy and rapture the hour when by thy appearing in substance of our flesh, thou wouldest ransom the souls of thy people from everlasting destruction. Oh! thou Almighty Angel of the New Covenant, thou High Priest after the order of Melchisedec; thou Altar, thou Rock, and Sacrifice! do thou be all these, and infinitely more, if needful, in all my poor offerings; and do thou perform wondrously, and give me faith to look on, till my eyes see thee ascending in the flame of thine own complete and all-sufficient sacrifice, as an evidence that thou art all in all, and goest up with thy people’s intercession in thy dear name and righteousness; and then, like Manoah and his wife, I would fall with reverence of soul and body at thy feet, as the Lord my righteousness.
But let me take one prospect more of the subject in this Chapter, and in the promised child of Samson, the Nazarite from the womb, behold him typified, who was not only separated from the very shadow of guilt, and before his incarnation devoted to his Father’s service, but was miraculously conceived by the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost. Samson, though set apart from his mother ‘ s womb, a Nazarite by birth, was born in sin, and shapen in iniquity. But the Almighty Samson of our salvation was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. The Samson of Manoah and his wife was indeed raised up of God to be the deliverer of his brethren from temporary affliction; and even this limited, as it necessarily was, to the boundaries of this life, by reason of death, could not be accomplished but in part. But the Almighty Samson of our heavenly Father, was raised up to be the Deliverer of his people from everlasting ruin, and to save them from the wrath to come. And in this glorious work, Jesus is not only the author, but the finisher of the work, and hath completed the eternal redemption of our souls. Hail! thou that art mighty to save! the Lord of Hosts is thy name. Lord! let thy grace be sufficient for me, and thy strength, of which Samson’s was but the mere shadow in resemblance, be made perfect in my weakness. For of thee, and through thee, and to thee, are all things; to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Ver. 25. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times. ] Or, Hither and thither, as the bells which hung in the skirts of Aaron’s garment. Those bells have their name (pagnamon) from pagham a here used; because they were shaken to and fro.
In the camp of Dan.
a Agere sive impellere, verberare ut incus, quae nominatur “Pagnain” Isa 41:7
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
began. They had yet to wait. Compare Jdg 15:20.
move him = stir him with trouble. See Gen 41:8. Psa 77:3. Dan 2:1, Dan 2:3.
at times = to and fro.
the camp of Dan, where Israel lay in a fortified place. Compare Jdg 18:12.
Eshtaol. On the borders of Judah.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Spirit: Jdg 3:10, Jdg 6:34, Jdg 11:29, 1Sa 11:6, Mat 4:1, Joh 3:34
the camp of Dan: Heb. Mahaneh-dan, as Jdg 18:12
between: Jdg 18:11, Jos 15:33
Reciprocal: Gen 21:20 – God Gen 49:16 – General Deu 33:22 – General Jos 19:41 – Zorah Jdg 14:6 – the Spirit Jdg 14:19 – the Spirit Jdg 16:31 – between Zorah Jdg 18:2 – Zorah 1Sa 16:13 – the Spirit 1Ch 2:53 – the Zareathites 1Ch 4:2 – Zorathites 1Ch 12:18 – the spirit Neh 11:29 – Zareah Psa 51:11 – take Eze 2:2 – General Luk 1:66 – And the Luk 1:80 – the child