After this he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, ‘Coax him, and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we may overpower him, so that we may bind him in order to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’ So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and how you could be bound, so that one could subdue you.’ Samson said to her, ‘If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried out, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.’ Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not dried out, and she bound him with them. While men were lying in wait in an inner chamber, she said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he snapped the bowstrings, as a strand of fibre snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. Then she said to him, ‘How can you say, “I love you”, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me three times now and have not told me what makes your strength so great.’ Finally, after she had nagged him with her words day after day, and pestered him, he was tired to death. So he told her his whole secret, and said to her, ‘A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, then my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be like anyone else.’
When Delilah realized that he had told her his whole secret, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, ‘This time come up, for he has told his whole secret to me.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. She let him fall asleep on her lap; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken, and his strength left him. Then she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him. So the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles; and he ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, ‘Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.’ When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, ‘Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.’ And when their hearts were merry, they said, ‘Call Samson, and let him entertain us.’ So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars; and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the hand, ‘Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.’ Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed.
Then Samson called to the Lord and said, ‘Lord God, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.’ And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Then Samson said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel for twenty years.
Reflection
Samson and Delilah have been portrayed in art, films and songs; and several novels are based on this story-line. However, it’s no love story, nor is Delilah to be understood as a seductress. She’s probably Philistine, or allied with them; and throughout she serves their interests.
Samson appears besotted by Delilah but she doesn’t respond with affection towards him. At the Philistines’ behest, she asks Samson directly to reveal the source of his strength and how he might be subdued. She relays his answer, which three times proves to be a lie. She mocks and nags him until he reveals his Nazirite status and the connection between his uncut hair and his strength. She tells the Philistines, who reward her for the information. She lulls Samson to sleep, like a mother nursing a baby in her lap, summons a barber and Samson’s head is shaved.
This time the Philistines seize him, blind him, and treat him like an animal set to turn a mill-stone. As time passes, his hair regrows. The Philistines praise their god, Dagon, for victory over Samson; and abuse him as an entertainer at their feast, in a manner reminiscent of ‘freak shows’ of times past.
At last Samson calls on God for strength (v.28); but even now it’s to empower revenge for his own blindness, with no thought of delivering Israel from Philistine oppression. His strength returns and Samson literally brings the house down, killing countless Philistines – and himself. His brothers claim his body for burial in the family tomb.
The final words repeat 15.20, perhaps suggesting that chapter 16 is a parallel narrative to chapters 14-15. The 20 year period may link back to words in 13:5 that Manoah’s son would only ‘begin to deliver Israel’. Samson didn’t bring deliverance, nor rest to the land; and no more deliverers were raised up.
A system relying on flawed human individuals as deliverers, rather than God, has failed. A warning that all human institutions are imperfect?
Prayer
Sovereign God, we recognise how susceptible we are to popular interpretations that distort the received biblical text. Forgive us when we fail to read your written word, or grapple with its oft-times unsavoury content.
Open us to Christ, your living Word, and your Spirit’s guidance, that we may find truth for our day in stories such as this.
May we appreciate the fallibility of all political systems and their leaders, as we pray for them and our world, putting our trust in you alone. Amen.