Judges 13:25

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,

And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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 God’ s 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, ,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.

Judges 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 here used; because they were shaken to and fro. In the camp of Dan.] Whence some think he is called Bedan; others quasi Ben Dan, the son of Dan. Agere sive impellere, verberare ut incus, quae nominatur "Pagnain"

(25) The Spirit of the Lord.—Judges 3:10. The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it rightly, “The spirit of courage from Jehovah.” Amos (Amos 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 Jehovah’s very own, consecrated to Him by a wholly special calling” (Ewald). Began to move him.—Literally, to agitate or thrust him (paham, Genesis 41:8; Daniel 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” (Judges 14:6; Judges 15:14; Judges 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 Judges 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.

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 Judges 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 Judges 13:2. Thus God began, from his infancy, to qualify him for the work to which he had called him.

25. the spirit of the Lord] See on Judges 3:13. The superhuman power of Jehovah began to stir him to daring feats against the Philistines; cf. St Mark 1:12 ‘the Spirit driveth him forth.’ The pass, of the verb (in a trans, sense only here) is rendered ‘was troubled’ in Genesis 41:8, Psalms 77:4 etc. Mahaneh-dan] here lies in the heart of the Danite settlements; but according to Judges 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. 1 Chronicles 2:52; 1 Chronicles 2:54, and see above on Judges 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, Judges 16:31. Eshtaol] Generally named with Zorah (Judges 13:2); the two places were evidently close together. Zorah is certainly Ṣ ?ar‘a; and Eshtaol may have stood on the site of Eshû‘ about 1½ m. to the N.E., up the valley which branches off northwards from the W. eṣ ?-Ṣ ?arâr (Sorek). Both places overlook the broad basin of the W. eṣ ?-Ṣ ?arâr near its entrance into the Judaean highlands.

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

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.