Judges 16:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, Samson’s sin (Judges 16:1). His marrying a Philistine woman at the start of his story was in some measure understandable, but joining himself to a prostitute he happened to see there was a shameful misuse of his honor as an Israelite and as a Nazirite, that is, a man specially set apart for God. We can hardly read it without shame. This ugly sin darkens the bright face of this Nazirite, as Lamentations 4:7-8 says.

We are not told that Samson had any proper business in Gaza. If he went there looking for a prostitute, then we may be thankful that, bad as things were in general, there were no such women among the daughters of Israel. Some think he went there to watch the Philistines and look for an opening against them. If so, he forgot his real task and let himself fall into this trap. His sin began with his eyes, which he should have kept under control. He saw a woman dressed like a prostitute, and the desire that was stirred up brought forth sin, and he went in to her.

Next comes Samson’s danger. Notice was sent to the rulers of Gaza, perhaps by the unfaithful woman herself, that Samson was in the city (Judges 16:2). He likely came in disguise, or after dark, and went into an inn or public house that happened to be run by this woman. Then the city gates were shut, guards were posted, and everything was kept quiet so Samson would suspect nothing. They thought they had trapped him and were sure they would kill him in the morning.

Oh, that all who give themselves to drunkenness, sexual sin, and other fleshly desires would see how they are surrounded and marked out for ruin by their spiritual enemies! The more securely they sleep, and the more careless they feel, the greater their danger really is.

Then we see Samson’s escape (Judges 16:3). He rose at midnight, perhaps awakened by a dream, or by the warning of his own conscience, or by God’s care over him. We hope he rose with a penitent hatred of the sin he was committing, and of himself because of it, and with a sincere resolve not to return to it. He also rose with a sense of the danger around him, as if he were asleep on the top of a mast. He may have thought, “Is this a bed fit for a Nazirite? Should God’s temple be polluted like this? Can I be safe while I carry this guilt?”

It was bad that he lay down without such warnings, but it would have been worse if he had stayed in that state. He went straight to the city gate. He probably found the guards asleep, or else he would have made them sleep forever. He did not stop to force the gates open. Instead, he pulled up the posts, took the gates, the bar, and everything with them, and carried all of it on his back for several miles to the top of a hill.

By doing this, he showed how little he cared for their attempt to hold him with gates and bars. He also made himself more feared by the Philistines and more useful to his own people. In this, he gave proof of the great strength God had given him, and he also gave a picture of Christ’s victory over death and the grave. Christ did not only roll away the stone from the tomb and come out himself, he also carried away the gates of the grave, bar and all, and left it forever an open prison for all who belong to him. Death will not, and cannot, keep them forever. “O death, where is your sting? Where are your gates?” Thanks be to him who did not only win the victory for himself, but gives us the victory too.