Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 16:23
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
23. a great sacrifice unto Dagon ] at Gaza, as the context suggests ( Jdg 16:21). Dagon was the god specially honoured by the Philistines; he had a temple at Ashdod (1Sa 5:2-7, 1Ma 10:83 f., Jdg 11:4) and elsewhere; there was a Beth-dagon in the Shephlah (Jos 15:41? = Beit-dejan 6 m. S.E. of Joppa, or Dejan 1 m. further south 1 [57] ) and on the boundary of Asher (Jos 19:27). But the name also occurs outside the territory once held by the Philistines; it survives in Beit-dejan 7 m. E. of Nblus; and we may infer that the worship of Dagon was not confined to the Philistines. Most likely he was a Canaanite god adopted by the Philistines when they settled in the country, just as they adopted Ashtoreth (1Sa 31:10). The name of the Canaanite letter-writer Dagan-takala in the Amarna tablets (Nos. 215, 216) carries us back to the age when Babylonian influences prevailed in Canaan; and Dagan is met with as the name of a deity from the early Babylonian down to the Assyrian period, both in proper names and in conjunction with Anu; the latter fact points to a god of heaven. But whether he was a native Babylonian god is not certain; it seems probable that he was introduced from outside, perhaps from Canaan; most authorities identify him with the Philistine Dagon 2 [58] . Of his nature nothing definite is known. Philo of Byblus derives the name from dgn = corn, and regards him as an agricultural deity; imi (xiiith century a.d.) in his commentary on 1Sa 5:4 mentions a tradition that Dagon’s image was shaped as a man above the waist and a fish below ( dg = fish). These, however, are only etymological guesses. It may be questioned whether the god, half man and half fish, represented on the coins of Ascalon and Arvad, was intended for Dagon 3 [59] .
[57] One of these was probably the Bit-daganna mentioned in the Prism Inscr. of Sennacherib, KB. ii. 93.
[58] See Dhorme, La Rel. Assyro-Babylonienne (1910), 17, 35, 165; Zimmern, KAT. 3 , 358.
[59] As Lagrange considers, t. sur les Rel. Smitiques 2 , 131 f.
for they said our hand ] looks like a gloss founded on the song in the verse which follows.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Dagon was the national idol of the Philistines 1Ch 10:10, so called from Dag, a fish. The description of Dagon, in his temple at Ashdod 1Sa 5:4, exactly agrees with the representations of a fish-god on the walls of Khorsabad, on slabs at Kouyunjik, and on sundry antique cylinders and gems. In these the figures vary. Some have a human form down to the waist, with that of a fish below the waist; others have a human head, arms, and legs, growing, as it were, out of a fishs body, and so arranged that the fishs head forms a kind of mitre to the mans head, while the body and fins form a kind of cloak, hanging down behind.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. Unto Dagon their god] Diodorus Siculus describes their god thus: , ‘ ;; “It had the head of a woman, but all the rest of the body resembled a fish.” Dagon was called Dorceto among the heathens.
Horace, in the following lines, especially in the third and fourth, seems to have in view the image of Dagon: –
Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
Pingere si velit; et varias inducere plumas,
Undique collatis Inembris; ut turpiter atrum
Desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne;
Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici?
DE ART. POET., V. 1.
“Suppose a painter to a human head
Should join a horse’s neck; and wildly spread
The various plumage of the feather’d kind
O’er limbs of different beasts, absurdly join’d;
Or if he gave to view a beauteous maid,
Above the waist with every charm array’d,
Should a foul fish her lower parts infold,
Would you not smile such pictures to behold?”
FRANCIS.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The lords of the Philistines gathered them together; either upon some annual or customary solemnity; or rather, upon this special occasion, to praise Dagon for this singular favour. And they did not appoint this solemn service as soon as Samson was taken, but some considerable time after, as appears by the growth of Samsons hair in the mean time, because they would give sufficient time and warning for all their friends and allies to come thither, and for the making of all necessary preparations for so great an occasion.
Dagon is by most supposed to be an idol, whose upper part was like a man, and whose lower part was like a fish; whence there is mention of Dagons hands, but not of his feet, in 1Sa 5:4. And this place being near Egypt, where some of their gods were worshipped in the form of fishes, and being near the sea, it seems most probable that it was one of the sea gods of the heathens, and that it had in some part the resemblance of a fish.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. the lords of the Philistinesgathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto DagonItwas a common practice in heathen nations, on the return of theirsolemn religious festivals, to bring forth their war prisoners fromtheir places of confinement or slavery; and, in heaping on them everyspecies of indignity, they would offer their grateful tribute to thegods by whose aid they had triumphed over their enemies. Dagon was asea idol, usually represented as having the head and upper partshuman, while the rest of the body resembled a fish.
Jud16:26-31. HIS DEATH.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together,…. The five lords, with their friends, not directly upon Samson’s being taken and committed to prison, but some time after; perhaps some months:
for to get a great sacrifice to Dagon their god; in later times their god was called Marnas o, which signifies the lord of men, but now Dagon; who also had a temple at Ashdod, another of the five principalities of the Philistines, 1Sa 5:2 and seems to have been at this time their common and chief deity: according to Jarchi in the place referred to, it was in the form of a fish, for “dag” in Hebrew signifies a fish; and Kimchi on the same place says, that from its navel upwards it was in the form of a man, and from thence downwards in the form of a fish p; and Diodorus Siculus q relates that Derceto, a goddess of Ashkelon, another of the five principalities of Palestine, its face was human, and the other part of its body resembled a fish; and the same Lucian says of the Syrian goddess; and Cicero r testifies, that the Syrians worshipped a fish, and Porphyry s says they will not eat any; and Gaza being a maritime city, a sea port, this might be their sea god in this form: but Ben Gersom in the above place says, it was in the form of a man; and Sanchoniatho t making mention of Dagan, a brother of Saturn, Philo Byblius, who translated his history into Greek, interprets it by Siton, which signifies corn, deriving it from Dagan, which so signifies; as if this deity presided over corn, as Ceres in other nations, and Jupiter Frumentarius, or Aratrius; yea, he says he invented corn and the plough; however this be, the Philistine princes met together to sacrifice to him, not a common offering, but a great sacrifice. It is very probable that this was a public festival of the Philistines, as Josephus u says, an anniversary one; and perhaps was held in a more grand manner on the present occasion, since it is added,
and to rejoice: for they said, our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hands; for though Samson’s harlot had done it, and they had paid her for it, yet they attribute it to their god, such was their blindness and stupidity; and yet this may shame us believers in the true God, who are so backward to ascribe to him the great things he does for us, when such Heathens were so forward to give glory to their false deities, without any foundation for it.
o Hicron. in Isa. xvii. fol. 39. K. p So David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 18. 3. Milton in his Paradise Lost, l. 1. v. 462, 463. “Dagon his name sea monster! upward man, And downward fish.” q Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 92. & Ovid Metamorph. l. 4. Fab. 1. v. 44, &c. r De Natura Deorum, l. 3. s De Abstinentia, l. 2. sect. 6. t Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 1. p. 36, 37. u Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Death of Samson Jdg. 16:23-31
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
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 made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
16.
What was the occasion for the sacrifice to Dagon? Jdg. 16:23
The lords of the Philistines went together to proclaim a time of national rejoicing among the Philistines. Since they had been able to capture Samson they believed God had wrought a great victory for them. They wanted to praise Dagon their god for this great accomplishment. Samson had been a great enemy of their country, and they rejoiced when he was captured.
17.
In what way had he destroyed their country? Jdg. 16:24
On account of Samsons presence among them the house of the father of his wife had been burned by the Philistines themselves. He had sent foxes among their crops to burn down the standing grain and the vineyards. He had personally broken down the doors to the gates to the city of Gaza. In all of these instances he had proved himself indeed worthy of the title of destroyer, as they said he had also slain many of themon one occasion, a thousand men; on another occasion, thirty men.
18.
In what way did Samson make them sport? Jdg. 16:25
The wicked Philistines with a sadistic turn to their nature summoned Samson and required him to entertain them. They probably tormented him. Since he was blind, they would be able to trip him. They could come at him from all sides without his being able to prepare himself for their attacks. No doubt, they had a riotous time as they humiliated the great man from Dan who had won many victories over them.
19.
In what house were the men and women? Jdg. 16:27
These Philistines must have gathered themselves in the great temple which was dedicated to Dagon. Three thousand of them were on the roof, and others must have been inside the house. It was customary for these heathen peoples to have these centers of worship where they could gather for such festive occasions as the feast made to Dagon in honor of the capturing of Samson.
20.
What was Samsons final prayer? Jdg. 16:28
Samson prayed, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. This was a prayer of great desperation, but it was a prayer made from a long period of meditation. Samson had let his hair grow in order again to proclaim he belonged to the Lord. Throughout these days he must have repented of the great wickedness he had committed and the headstrong way in which he had walked. As a result, God answered Samsons prayer and strengthened him for one great, final victory over the Philistines.
21.
How did Samson know the location of the pillars? Jdg. 16:26; Jdg. 16:29
Samson had asked the young lad who had led him from the prison house to the temple to let him lean upon the pillars which supported the temple. Some have supposed that this may have been a lad who was friendly to Samsons cause. Others have even believed it to be such a great Biblical character as Saul, the son of Kish, who later became the king of Israel. It is better to view the lad as one who was given the responsibility of leading Samson from the mill where he ground the grain of his captors to the temple where he entertained the raucous and impious devotees of Dagon.
22.
Was Samson justified in his final act of destruction?
Ancient commentators have discussed this question without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion. Many believe he actually committed suicide in this act, Others have called his deed the act of a hero. Samson felt it was necessary for him to plunge into the midst of his enemies although it certainly meant his own death. In this way he did effect the deliverance of his people and decide the victory which was the greatest of all his career. If Samson had been able to deliver himself in any way out of the hands of the Philistines, he would always carry about with him the mark of his shame in the blindness of his eyes. This would be a reminder of the unfaithfulness of a servant of God as well as of the triumph of his foes. Even through Samsons death the Lord was working a victory for Israel in Philistia. He may not have justified himself completely by this final feat, but he did die in an hour of triumph,
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(23) Unto Dagon their god.Comp. 1Sa. 5:1-2; 1Ch. 10:10. This was the
Sea-monster:upward man,
And downward fish.
In 1Sa. 5:4 we have an allusion to his stump or fish-part. Dag means fish, and the same root is found in Tagus. A goddess of similar form and attributes was worshipped under the name of Atargatis or Derceto (2Ma. 12:26). How widely the worship was spread we see from the commonness of the name Beth-dagon in the Shephelah (Jos. 15:41). His chief temple at Azotus was burned by Judas Maccabeus (1Ma. 10:83). The only other Philistine god mentioned in Scripture is Baal-zebub, god of Ekron (2Ki. 1:2-16).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Dagon their god The name is derived from the Hebrew , dag, a fish, and the diminutive ending on with the sense of endearment “dear little fish,” (Gesenius.) According to Kimchi and most scholars this idol had a human head and arms and the body of a fish. He was the great national deity of the Philistines, but was worshipped under modified forms and names by other nations. He was the representative or symbol of all those life-giving forces of nature which produce their effects through the medium of water. Kindred to Dagon were the Atargatis of the Syrians and the Babylonian Oannes or Odakon, who, according to Berosus, had the body of a fish, but the head, hands, feet and voice of a man, (see cut and note on 1Sa 5:4,) and from the very beginnings of their history had taught the people arts, religion, law, and agriculture. Among the Assyrian ruins have been found several representations of this fish-god.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the lords of the Philistines gathered themselves together in order to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.”
The taking of Samson was seen as a cause for great celebration. So at their next great festival at which great sacrifices would normally be offered to Dagon, the god that they had adopted from the Canaanites, they declared a celebration. He it was, they believed, who had handed Samson over to them.
Dagon was possibly a corn god from which came the Hebrew dagan (‘grain, corn’). He was worshipped in Mesopotamia from at least 2500 BC and had a temple at Mari (18th century BC) adorned with bronze lions. In 14th century BC there was a temple to him at Ugarit and their texts depicted him as the father of Baal. The mention of more than one Beth-dagon (‘house of Dagon’ – found in two areas – Jos 15:41; Jos 19:27) demonstrates that there were also at some time temples to him in Canaan. Raamses II mentions a Bth-Dgn in his Palestinian lists (around 1270 BC). (There are no genuine grounds for seeing him as a fish god. That was an invention of a later post-Christian age). Saul’s head would later be displayed in the house of Dagon (1Ch 10:10).
Dagon was not their only god (1Ch 10:9-10), they also worshipped Ashtaroth (at Beth-shan – 1Sa 31:10 – but these would strictly be a confederate Sea People called the Tjekker) and Baalzebub (at Ekron – 2Ki 1:1-6; 2Ki 1:16) among others, but at this time he appears to have been the prime favourite with a temple at Ashdod (1Sa 5:1-2) and this one in Gaza (Jdg 16:27). It was at Ashdod that Dagon would shortly fall before the Ark of Yahweh (1Sa 5:3).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
EXPOSITION
Jdg 16:23
Gathered them, i.e. themselves. To rejoice. The Hebrew is for a festivity, or merry-making, or feast. There was to be a great feast upon the sacrifices offered to Dagon their God. Dagon (from dag, a fish in Hebrew), the national male god of the Philistines, as Atergatis, or Derceto, was their goddess. Both the male and female divinities seem to have had the head and breast and hands human, and the rest of the body fish-shaped (see 1Sa 5:5). The fish was a natural emblem of fertility and productiveness, especially to a maritime people. The fish-shaped idol is found upon old Phoenician coins, and also on the monuments of Khorsabad, and on some Assyrian gems in the British Museum. One of the chief temples of Dagon was at Gaza. Several towns bore the name of Dagon, as Beth-dagon in Judah (Jos 15:41) and in Asher (Jos 19:27), Caphar-dagon near Diospolis, etc; showing that the worship of Dagon was widespread.
Jdg 16:24
And when the people, etc. The people, as distinguished from the lords in the preceding verse, to show how universally the capture of Samson was ascribed to Dagon. Rulers and people alike praised Dagon. Saw him. Not on the occasion of his being brought into the temple as mentioned in Jdg 16:25, but after his capture, and whenever they saw him grinding or elsewhere. It was this universal ascription of praise to Dagon that led to the celebration of this great feast. This praise of Dagon is also dwelt upon to show that God, in what happened, vindicated the glory of his own great name, which was blasphemed by the servants of Dagon when they thus made him superior to Jehovah. So Milton makes Samson say, “All the contest is now ‘Twixt God and Dagon … He, be sure, will not connive or linger, thus provoked, but will arise, and his great name assert.” Generally, the ‘Samson Agonistes’ is an excellent commentary on the history of Samson.
Jdg 16:25
When their hearts were merry. They would not have acted so imprudently as to bring Samson out of his prison had not their judgment been clouded with drink. That he may make us sport. And he made them sport. The two verbs are not the same in Hebrew, but they have much the same meaning. It is not certain whether the idea conveyed is that of the A.V; that Samson was brought there to be as it were baited by the populace, jeered and jested at, reviled and reproached, perhaps struck or pelted; or whether the words do not simply mean to dance with music, which is certainly the meaning of the latter verb in 1Sa 18:7 (played, A.V.; see 1Sa 18:6); 2Sa 6:5, 2Sa 6:21; 1Ch 13:8; 1Ch 15:29. They set him between the pillars, i.e. when he had done dancing; because he must have been dancing outside the house for the people on the roof to see him.
Jdg 16:26
Suffer me, or it may be rendered, Let me rest. He pretended to be tired, and asked to be allowed to rest a few minutes and lean against the pillars. That I may feel, or, literally, and make me feel. He adds his motive for making the requestthat I may lean upon themto rest himself after the severe exercise of dancing.
Jdg 16:27
Now the house was full, etc. We do not know what was the construction of Philistine temples or houses of amusement; but from the description here given it seems that the interior was ranged like an amphi- theatre, with seats for the lords and principal people, and with an open front, so as to command a view of the stage just outside, and that front supported by pillars on which the beams of the roof, both the transverse beam and the longitudinal ones running into it, rested. The roof itself was fiat, and had the weight of 3000 people upon it, throwing a great strain upon the beams which rested upon the pillars. The sudden removal of the pillars would bring the roof down at that end, crowded as it was with the people, and would inevitably drag the whole mass in the same direction one over another, while the swaying of the people would bring the whole roof down upon the heads of those beneath, who would be crushed by the heavy timbers and stones and bodies of men falling upon them.
Jdg 16:28
And Samson called unto the Lord. This is the first mention we have of Samson praying since the memorable occasion when he gave the fountain the name of En-hakkoreh (Jdg 15:19, note). Perhaps we may see in this an evidence that his affliction and shame had not been without their effect, in bringing him back to God humbled and penitent. The language is very earnest. “O Lord, Jehovah, remember me strengthen me only this once, O God!” The threefold name by which he addresses the Almighty implies great tension of spirit. That I may be at once avenged. Meaning at one strokehe would take one vengeance so terrible that it would be sufficient for his two eyes, which makes very good sense if the Hebrew will bear it. The literal translation would be, that I may be avenged with a vengeance of one stroke. Others take it, that I may be avenged with a vengeance for one of my two eyes, which it is not easy to understand the meaning of.
Jdg 16:29
The two middle pillars. There may have been, say, four pillars in the front; the two middle ones standing near together, and the other two nearer the sides.
Jdg 16:30
Let me die, or, my life shall perish with the Philistines. He knew it was certain death to himself, but he did not shrink from it. His last act should be to destroy the oppressors of his country. So the dead which he slew, etc. The words sound like the snatch of some song or proverb in which Samson’s death was described.
Jdg 16:31
His brethren, etc. Some infer from this that Samson’s mother bare other children after the birth of Samson. But the Hebrew use of the word brethren is so wide, applied to cousins, or members of the same house of fathers, or of the same tribe, that it is by no means a certain inference. Here his brethren might mean the Danites generally, and all the house of his father those who were more nearly related, as belonging to the house of his father. His father was probably dead, and indeed the mention of his father’s burying-place, or rather sepulchre, makes it certain that he was, so that Milton was in error in making him alive. Zorah and Eshtaol. See above, Jdg 13:2, Jdg 13:25, note. And he judged Israel. See Jdg 15:20. The parallel between Samson and Hercules is in many respects very remarkable, and has been drawn out by Serdrius and others. The supernatural strength of each, the slavery to women, the tearing asunder of the lion, the violent death of each, partly voluntary and partly forced, are all points of strong general resemblance. But one of the most remarkable is the connection of Hercules with two pillars. The “pillars of Hercules” on each side the straits of Gibraltar, Mount Abila and Mount Calpe, were said to have been rent asunder by the strength of Hercules’ arms. And Herodotus relates that in the temple of Hercules at Tyre were two remarkable pillars, one of refined gold, the other of smaragdus, some green stone like an emerald (2:44). But the account given of a visit of Hercules to Egypt is still more remarkable, as compared with the history of the binding of Samson and the slaughter of the Philistines, as related in Jdg 15:1-20. The following are the words of Herodotus:”The Greeks say that when Hercules went down to Egypt, the Egyptians surrounded him, and led him in a procession to sacrifice him to Jupiter; that he kept quite still for a time, but that when they were commencing the sacrifice at the altar” (the first act of which was cutting off the hair) “he turned in self-defence, and by his prowess slew them all.” On which Herodo. tus remarks, “How was it possible for him, being but one, and being only a man, to slay many myriads?” The prevalence of the worship of Hercules among the Phoenicians, as, e.g; at Tyre and Thasos, a Phoenician colony, and the close connection of Egypt with Gaza, where the prowess of Samson was so well known, are points not to be omitted in considering the probability of some of the legends of Hercules being drawn from the history of Samson. So also is the title of the Phoenician Hercules, the saviour or deliverer, as compared with Jdg 2:16, Jdg 2:18; Jdg 13:5.
HOMILETICS
Jdg 16:23-31
The short-lived triumph.
One of the severest trials to which the faith of the people of God is exposed, is that triumph of evil over good, and of the enemies of Christ over his Church, which from time to time is permitted by God, and which in truth is one of the features of this disjointed age. The most signal and most awful triumph of the powers of darkness over the kingdom of light was when the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus our Lord, in the midst of his life of perfect goodness, and his service of perfect obedience to the will of his Father, was betrayed into the hands of sinners, and given up to suffer death upon the cross. When he hung in shame upon the cross, helpless and forsaken; when he bowed his head and gave up the ghost; when he was laid in the silent tomb, and the light of the righteous One was quenched in the darkness of the grave, then indeed the triumph of sin was at its height, and the hope of the servants of God was brought very low. But when on the third day the doors of that grave were burst open, and the prisoner of hope came forth in the power of an endless life, and he that was crucified ascended up to heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, from thenceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, that brief triumph of the powers of darkness was turned into the far greater triumph of the kingdom of light; the enemies of Christ were put to shame, the servants of Christ were enabled to rejoice, and the joyful hope was exceedingly revived and established, that in due time there will be a final deliverance from evil, and that the kingdom is God’s, and the power and the glory for ever. In the light of the resurrection the Church looks forward with unmoved confidence to the time when the Son of man shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and shall take to himself his everlasting kingdom of righteousness, and reign with his ancients gloriously. But meanwhile the Church must expect many short-lived triumphs of evil over good, and of darkness over light. There will be many occasions on which the world will say, Let us rejoice, for our god hath delivered our enemy into our hand. We may expect that many an isolated affair, or even a connected chain of events, will take that turn that the servants of Christ will be put to shame, and ungodliness and irreligion will seem to have it all their own way. It may even come to pass that the champions of the gospel shall seem fit only to make sport for an unbelieving and self-sufficient age. Nor is it the least part of the trial that some of these discomfitures are brought on by the errors and failures of the servants of God. The presumption and self-confidence, the blindness and moral weakness, of some like Samson; the intemperate, fiery spirit of others like the Boanerges; the fear of man in others like Peter, and so on, provoke defeat by putting religion in a false light in the eyes of those who are always looking out for occasions to bring it into contempt. But in the midst of these trials of faith, whether they take the form of private discouragements, or of public checks to the progress of religion, and public triumphs of the spirit of ungodliness, it is the Church’s unfailing comfort to know that the triumphs of evil are short-lived, and the triumph of truth is eternal. Magna est veritas et proevalet. We should never forget for one moment that behind the passing cloud there is shining the unchanging sun. The faith and patience of the saints are indeed required, sometimes more, sometimes less, but are always required in this present age. The depression of the truth, the insolent aggressions of the various forms of evil, the discomfiture for a time of the champions of the cause of Christ, and the temporary victories of Antichrist, are very painful episodes in the history of the world and of the Church. But the pages of Holy Scripture, and even the pages of the experience of centuries, continually testify that the triumphs of falsehood and evil are but for a moment, the victory of truth and righteousness will be for ever.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Jdg 16:21-31
A hero’s exodus.
The blind captive, led by a boy, and degraded to the office of a buffoon in the idolatrous services of the Philistines, is a sad spectacle. But inwardly he was nobler than when carrying the gates of Gaza. His soul’s eye has opened, and he repents. The locks that had been shorn grow again, and with them, gradually and, apparently, unconsciously, his strength returns. The Divinely-offered opportunity. The last act an atonement.
I. GOD OFTEN SUFFERS HIS ENEMIES TO OVERLEAP THEMSELVES. Here they are exultant. They rejoice as over a foe utterly vanquished. They do not know that their festival, blasphemy against God, is to be the occasion of their destruction. “The green bay tree” may be nearer to the axe than insignificant fruit tree.
II. THERE IS AN “UNKNOWN QUANTITY,” NOT TO BE CALCULATED UPON, IN THE REPENTANCE OF THE BACKSLIDER. Even the ruin of a believer may be the temple of the Holy Ghost. A short time with God’s blessing may suffice to retrieve the errors of a lifetime. “Faith as a grain of mustard seed” can “remove mountains.” How often has Satan been disappointed of his prey! Some of the greatest of God’s servants have been won back from backsliding. Let the wicked beware then of their companion and laughing-stock, and let the believing Church work on; the poor useless wreck over which we despairingly weep may yet become a man again, a blessing and a comfort to many souls.
III. THE PRAYER OF REPENTANCE AND FAITH MAY RETRIEVE A SOUL‘S RUIN. Can God give ear to this heart-touching cry, and shall he not listen to his captive children in the dungeons of sinful habit or the temples of superstition? “This once,” “only this once.” One prayer, one look at the Crucified, one grand effort in God’s strength, how much it may do I
IV. EVEN THE WEAK ONES OF GOD ARE MIGHTIER THAN THE GREAT ONES OF THE WORLD.M.
Jdg 16:28-30
Samson’s heroic death.
The death of Samson was more honourable to the man and more useful to his nation than any event in his previous career. The heroism of his death followed the return of God’s strength.
I. THE RETURN OF STRENGTH.
1. It followed a great fall. We may learn lessons from our own failures. Through our very weakness we may discern the secret of strength. The humility which should accompany failure is one of the first steps towards wiser conduct.
2. It came in a season of distress. Samson was a prisoner, defeated, insulted, mutilated. Sorrow is one road to God’s grace,
(1) as it teaches us the folly of the evil conduct that produced it,
(2) as it leads us into a mood of serious and heart-searching reflection in which true wisdom is found, and
(3) as it teaches us our helplessness, and compels us to turn to God for deliverance.
3. The return of strength followed a return to obedience. This was suggested by the growing of Samson’s hair and the return to fidelity to his vow. It was gradual. We are received into God’s favour immediately we return in penitent faith; but we only conquer evil consequences of sin and regain lost powers and position by degrees.
4. The return of strength was realised through prayer. Samson now knows his weakness. In his own soul he is weak. Strength must come from above. There is no prayer which God will more certainly hear than that which invokes his aid in our performance of some great self-sacrificing duty.
II. THE HEROIC DEATH.
1. Samson uses his new strength for the deliverance of his nation. It is not given him merely for the amusement of the Philistines. If God gives us any special powers, he does so for some high purpose. We must not waste these in idle amusements, but put them to practical service.
2. Samson can only accomplish the greatest feat of his life by means that bring death to himself
(1) This was partly a result of his sinful weakness, which had betrayed him into the bands of his enemies, and brought him to such a position of bondage that his own death must be involved in that of the Philistines. Thus sin leaves consequences which produce suffering even after repentance and a return to a better life.
(2) It was also an instance of that strange law which makes the greatest good to men depend on the sacrifice of the benefactor. It has thus something in common with the death of Christ, though with many points of difference, Samson’s death involving the destruction of his enemies, while Christ’s death is expressly designed to give salvation to his enemies.A.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jdg 16:23. Then the Lords of the Philistines, &c. Then, that is, some time after Samson had been in prison, his hair having grown again to a considerable length, the Philistines prepared to celebrate their annual festival in honour of Dagon, to whom they conceived themselves indebted for this triumph over their great enemy. Dagon, which comes from dag, a fish, was the tutelary deity of the Philistines; and the lower part of this idol, it is most probable, was in the form of a fish. See Deu 4:18 and 1Sa 5:4. As fishes are remarkably fruitful, it seems most probable that Dagon was designed as an emblem of the fertility of nature. , Dagon, that is, the corn-giver, says Sanchoniathon in Philobiblius. Those who are inclined to know more of Dagon may consult Selden de Diis Syriis, Calmet’s Dissertations, Cumberland in Sanchoniath. and the Pisga Sight of Fuller; who is of opinion, that Dagon, coming from a word signifying bread, was worshipped as the inventor of bread-corn, and was represented in a form entirely human: but the former is the more general opinion.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Nothing can be more plain from the history, than that it was the artful intrigue of a woman which had been the instrument for delivering Samson into the hands of the Philistines; but yet a dunghill god must have the credit. To what a desperate state of ignorance, as well as sin, is the mind capable of arriving, when the glory of God, and his honor is not acknowledged. See an awful account of this by Paul, Rom 1:22 , etc.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
Ver. 23. For to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god. ] That is, To Triton, the idol af those maritime nations, which was a fish downward, whence also he had his name Dagon. See 1Sa 5:4 . Diodorus Siculus calleth this idol Derceta; others, Leucothea.
And to rejoice.
a Camd., Britan. Irel., p. 144.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
offer. Hebrew “slay”. See App-43.
to rejoice. Figure of speech Antimereia (of Noun). App-6. Noun “rejoicing”, put for verb “to rejoice” = for a rejoicing
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Dagon: 1Sa 5:2-5, Jer 2:11, Mic 4:5, Rom 1:23-25, 1Co 8:4, 1Co 8:5, 1Co 10:20
to rejoice: Job 30:9, Job 30:10, Psa 35:15, Psa 35:16, Pro 24:17
Reciprocal: Exo 32:6 – sat down Jdg 9:27 – the house Jdg 10:6 – the gods of the Philistines 1Sa 6:16 – the five 1Sa 30:16 – eating 1Sa 31:9 – to publish 2Sa 1:20 – Tell 1Ch 10:4 – abuse 1Ch 10:9 – tidings Isa 44:11 – let them all Isa 45:11 – command Eze 31:11 – delivered Dan 1:2 – and he Dan 3:2 – sent Dan 5:4 – praised Dan 5:23 – hast praised Hos 2:5 – give Amo 6:13 – which Jam 5:13 – any merry Rev 11:10 – rejoice
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 16:23. To offer a great sacrifice They assembled to render honour to their idol, for their triumph over a man who as much detested their idolatry as he did their barbarous oppression of his countrymen. Unto Dagon their god Whose image is supposed to have been, in the upper part, of the human form, and in the lower part like a fish; probably one of the sea-gods of the heathen. The Philistines foolishly attributed to this idol what had come to pass by the will of the God of Israel, to punish Samson for his sins.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jdg 16:23-31. The Death of Samson.Dagon, the god of the Philistines, had been worshipped in the Maritime Plain long before their coming. They adopted the god of the district, just as many Israelites learned to worship the Baals of Canaan. One of the Amarna letter-writers was called Dagon-takala. There is still a Beit Dajan near Joppa, and another near Nbls.
Jdg 16:24. In the Heb. the words Our god . . . many of us form a rhymed five-line song, each short line ending in n.
Jdg 16:25. The blind giant apparently made sport by harmless exhibitions of his strength.
Jdg 16:27. And all the lords . . . women is probably a later insertion to heighten the effect. Codex B of the LXX has 70 instead of 3000.
Jdg 16:28. In the Heb., Samson prays, with grim humour, for strength to avenge himself for one of his two eyes. The Eng. trans. follows the VSS.
Jdg 16:30. Lit. Let my soul die with the Philistines. The soul was not immortal; when a man died his soul died; after death he still existed, but only as a shade, not as a soul. The chapter ends with a note by D. [A discussion of the narrative is given in R. A. S. Macalisters Bible Side-Lights from the Mound of Gezer, pp. 127138. It is argued there that Samson performed his feats in front of the temple. The lords were in a large deep portico, the crowd on the roof of the portico. Samson was brought within the portico to rest in the shade. The pillars were wooden, and what Samson did was to push them off their stone bases, so that the lords in the portico and the crowd on its roof were killed, but not those on the roof of the temple itself, except such as might be killed in the panic.A. S. P.]