What does Judges 16:25 mean?

A huge celebration is going on in Gaza. The rulers of the Philistines have come from their five cities (Joshua 13:3). These nobles, and presumably the wealthiest and most influential of their people, have gathered for a party in honor of their false god Dagon (Judges 16:23–24). The dreaded and feared Israelite Samson has finally been captured, drained of his supernatural strength, and blinded. As far as they know, the brutal threat posed by Samson has ended.

When the party really gets going, people call for Samson to be brought out to entertain them. The expression that "their hearts were merry" is sometimes associated with drunkenness (1 Samuel 25:36; Esther 1:10). Instead of keeping Samson tightly bound in slave labor (Judges 16:21), they want to mock him in public. Samson is brought into the temple building and made to stand before them all between the two central pillars of the building.

The way in which Samson is made to "entertain" the Philistines is not described. Perhaps it was simply the opportunity to look at Samson in his current pathetic condition. Perhaps he was made to navigate obstacles in his blindness. It's also possible, but not as likely, that they knew his strength had returned (Judges 16:22) and made him demonstrate it in some controlled way. That Samson is about to pray for great strength seems to contradict that possibility, as well (Judges 16:28). Whatever was done to him, the once fearsome Samson was joyfully mocked by thousands of Philistines. This decision will not end well for the oppressors of Israel (Judges 13:1, 5; 16:30).