Samson slayeth the Philistines. B. C. about 1140. Or, Now shall I be blameless from the Philistines, though, &c. || Or, torches. b ch. 14. 15. c ver. 19. down. d ch. 14. 4. them, "Now shall I be more blame- | took it, and slew a thousand men 4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt | up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. 6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. 9 ¶ Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, B. C. about 1140. 16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, Heb. a heap, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. 18 ¶ And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19 But God clave a hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof || En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. CHAPTER XVI. Samson carrieth away the gates of the city Gaza. 4 Delilah, bribed by the Philistines, enticeth Sam6 Thrice he deceiveth her. 15 At last he revealeth to her the secret of his strength. 21 The Philistines take him, and put out his eyes. 22 His strength returning, he pulleth down the house of Dagon upon the Philistines, and dieth. two heaps. f Lev. 26. 8. Josh. 23. 10. ch. 3. 31. Il That is, The lifting up of the jawbone, or, casting away of the jawbone. & Ps. 3. 7 || Or, Lehi. Gen. 45. 27. Is. 40. 29. That is, The well of him that called, or, cried, Ps. 34. 6. i ch. 13. 1. went Samson to Gaza, and about 1120. Why are ye come up against us? THEN were ta harlot, and went in Heb. a wo And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. 11 Then three thousand men of Ju-ing, Samson is come hither. And they a1 Sam. 23. 26. d + Heb. went dah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. 2 And it was told the Gazites, say Ps. 118. 10, 11, 12. Acts 9. 24. compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, † Heb. silent. In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 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 Heb. with shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron. 10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. 11 And he said unto her, If they + Heb. where- bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. with work hath not been done. c ch. 14. 16. 12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. 13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. 14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. C 15 ¶ And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was + Heb. short-† vexed unto death ; ened. d Mic. 7. 5. Samson's imprisonment. had told her all his heart, she sent B. C. about 1120. 27. 19 f And she made him sleep upon f Prov. 7. 26, her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go g Num. 14. 9, out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. g 42, 43. 1 Sam. 16. 14. 2 Chr. 15. 2. out. 21 ¶ But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought † Heb. bored him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. 22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was Or, as when shaven. 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. 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 k Deut. 22. 8. 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. 17 That he told her all his heart, 1 Jer. 15. 15. || Or, he leaned on them. + Heb. my soul. m ch. 13. 25. about 1406. 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 m buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine is with me; I took it. Spies sent out by Dan. B. C. comest thou? And he said unto him, 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah 'consecrated the Le- | 1 ver. 5. vite; and the young man m became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. CHAPTER XVIII. The Danites send five men to seek out an inheritance. a m ch. 18. 30. a ch. 17. 6. & N those days there was no king ears, behold, the silver is wid, I In that and the those days the 121-25. 19. 47. Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. с 4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a house d 30. Hos. 3. 4. of gods, and made an ephod, and † Heb. filled e teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. the hand, Ex. 29. 9. 1 Kings 13. 33. 6 In those days there was no king f ch. 18. 1. & 19. in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 1. & 21. 25. Deut. 33. 5. g Deut. 12. 8. h See Josh. 19. Ruth 1. 1. 2. 6. 7 ¶ And there was a young man out of h Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath f hired me, and I am his priest. 5 And they said unto him, Ask 1 Kings 22. counsel, we pray thee, hof God, that we may know whether our way which h See ch. 17.5. we go shall be prosperous. 8 And the man departed out of the 6 And the priest said unto them, city from Beth-lehem-judah to so-Go in peace: before the LORD is journ where he could find a place: your way wherein ye go. and he came to mount Ephraim to + Heb. in mak- the house of Micah, as he journeyed. & ver. 14. 1 Kings 22. 6. k Josh. 19. 47, Leshem. ver. 27, 28. They rob Micah of his idols. B. C. about 1406. † Heb. possess or, or, heir of restraint. m ver. 2. n Num. 13.30. Josh. 2. 23, 24. JUDGES. the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. 8 And they came unto their brethren tom Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? 9 And they said, "Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it 01 Kings 22.3. is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. p ver. 7, 27. q Deut. 8. 9. 10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people Psecure, and to a large land for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. 11 ¶ And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hun† Heb. girded. dred men appointed with weapons of war. S 12 And they went up, and pitched r Josh. 15. 60. in "Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. s ch. 13, 25. 13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. X 14 ¶ "Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to about 1406. us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? 20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. 22 ¶ And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, † that thou comest with such a company? 24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? 25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. 26 And the children of Dan went their way and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. 15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and † saluted him. 16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. a 17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. 18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? 19 And they said unto him, Hold 28 And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and f ver. 7. they had no business with any man ; and it was in the valley that lieth by 8 Num. 13. 21. Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. i 2 Sam. 10. 6. h Josh. 19. 47. Gen. 14. 14. ch. 20. 1. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dani their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city 29, 30. & 15. was Laish at the first. 20. |