Judges 16:1

Then went Samson to Gaza,.... One of the five principalities of the Philistines, which was ten miles from Ashkelon, as Sandys (q) says; who also describes (r) it as standing upon an hill environed

Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

JUDGES CHAPTER 16 Samson goeth in to a harlot; is hemmed in; riseth at midnight; taketh the city gates, posts, and bars on his shoulders, and carrieth them up into a mountain, . Is in love with Delilah; she enticeth him to discover wherein his strength lay; is thrice deceived; at last she overcomes him, . They put out his eyes, and cast him into prison, . His hair grows again, . The lords of the Philistines and the people gather together to make sport with him to the honor of their idols; and sacrifice, . Samson getteth them to place his hands on the two pillars of the house; he prays to God; pulls down the house; and dieth: but more slain at his death than in his life, . He is buried, . Samson went to Gaza, a chief city, to make some new attempt upon the Philistines, whom he feared not either in their cities or in their camps, having had such large experience of his own strength, and of God’ s assistance; possibly he came in thither by night, unknown and unobserved till afterwards. Saw there an harlot; going into a house of public entertainment to refresh himself, as the manner was, . He there saw this harlot; which implies that he did not go thither upon so evil a design, but accidentally saw her there, and by giving way to lustful looks upon her, was ensnared by her.

Judges 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.Ver. 1. Then went Samson to Gaza.] Not by a call from God, but of his own mind, as some think, presuming upon his strength, and therefore justly deserted and foiled. Or if by some weighty occasion, as others hold, yet not purposely to see and have this harlot; for that had been to "make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof," which scarce befalleth a godly man to do. But accidentally casting his eyes upon this Circe, he was enchanted by her, finding her fair face to be like a glass, wherein, while larks gaze, they are taken in a day-net. “ Quid facies faciem Veneris cum veneris ante! Non sedeas, sed eas: non pereas per eas. ” And went in unto her.] Carried away by human infirmity, forgetting God and his high calling, this Iudex et Senex falleth into the foul sin of fornication. “ Laenam non potuit, potuit superare leaenam: Quem fera non potuit vincere, vicit hera. ”

(1) Then went Samson to Gaza.—Rather, And Samson, &c. The narrative is brief and detached. Gaza is near the sea, and was the chief town of the Philistines, in the very heart of their country. It is useless to inquire how Samson could venture there in safety, or whether he went in disguise, or what was his object in going there; to such side-questions the narrative gives us no reply.

CHAPTER XVI Samson comes to Gaza; they lay wait for him; he rises by night, and carries away the city gates, 1-3. Falls in love with Delilah, 4. The lords of the Philistines promise her money if she will obtain from Samson the secret in which his strength lay, 5. By various artifices she at last obtains this; and communicates it to the Philistines, who seize and bind him, put out his eyes, and cause him to grind in the prison-house, 6-21. At a public festival to Dagon he is brought out to make sport; when, being weary, he requests to be placed between the two pillars which supported the roof of the house, on which three thousand men and women were stationed to see him make sport, 22-27. He prays to God to strengthen him, and pulls down the pillars; by which (the house falling) both himself, the lords of the Philistines, and a vast multitude of the people, are slain, 28-30. His relatives come and take away his body, and bury it, 31. NOTES ON CHAP. XVI Verse 1. Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot] The Chaldee, as in the former case, renders the clause thus: Samson saw there a woman, an inn-keeper. Perhaps the word זונה zonah is to be taken here in its double sense; one who keeps a house for the entertainment of travellers, and who also prostitutes her person. Gaza was situated near the Mediterranean Sea, and was one of the most southern cities of Palestine. It has been supposed by some to have derived its name from the treasures deposited there by Cambyses, king of the Persians; because they say Gaza, in Persian, signifies treasure; so Pomponius Mela and others. But it is more likely to be a Hebrew word, and that this city derived its name, עזה azzah, from עזז azaz, to be strong, it being a strong or well fortified place. The Hebrew ע ain in this word is, by the Septuagint, the Arabic, and the Vulgate, rendered G; hence instead of azzah, with a strong guttural breathing, we have Gaza, a name by which this town could not be recognized by an ancient Hebrew.

Ch. Judges 16:1-3. Samson at Gaza 1. Gaza] The most southerly of the Philistine cities, and far from the scene of Samson’s other adventures. Long before the Philistines arrived Gaza is mentioned in Egyptian lists (e.g. in the time of Thothmes III), and in the Amarna letters. As it lay at the meeting-point of the caravan-routes from Egypt and the Arabian desert, it was always an important centre; the kind of place where bad characters might be found. In Hebr. the name is ‘Azza, with the hard ‘ayin represented in Assyr. by ḫ ? (hence Ḫ ?azzatu), in Greek by g (hence Gaza); now Ghazze or Razze.

Gaza - About 8 hours from Eleutheropolis, and one of the chief strong-holds of the Philistines.

SAMSON’S EXPLOIT AT GAZA, Judges 16:1-3. 1. Gaza — A very ancient city, mentioned as early as Genesis 10:19, and situated in the extreme southern portion of the Philistine plain.