What does Judges 16:30 mean?
Samson's last words to the Lord are a request to die along with an entire building full of the most powerful and influential of all the Philistines. Thousands and men and women are gathered in this temple in Gaza (Judges 16:23–27), including the governors of the five major Philistine cities (Joshua 13:3). Three thousand are above him, perhaps standing in attached balconies, the roof, and other elevated parts of the temple. Samson has prayed for the power to obtain revenge one final time on his hated enemies (Judges 16:28–29). What he's asking for is not "suicide," where his death is the primary goal. Rather, Samson realizes the opportunity he would have—if he were strong enough—to bring down the temple, and he is willing to die to accomplish that goal.Samson has been standing with one hand on each of the two main pillars supporting the entire building. After this final prayer, he pushes both columns with all the effort he can muster. That he "bent" implies that he stretched or contorted as he pushed, possibly wedging himself between the pillars and pushing them apart with his entire body. God grants Samson's last request, giving him the superhuman strength to collapse the columns, bringing the entire building down in a catastrophic collapse. In a single moment, Samson kills more Philistines than he'd slain during his previous twenty years as a judge (Judges 15:20).
God's purpose for Samson's life was to disrupt the Philistines' sense of comfortable oppression over Israel (Judges 13:5; 14:4). While he acted as a judge, Samson was an agent of chaos against Israel's enemies (Judges 13:1). When he was captured, the Philistines believed they'd ended the threat—only to be caught off guard by their worst defeat, yet. God has used Samson—a deeply flawed, complicated man—to prove a point. Even without using armies, even without a saintly servant, the Lord can bring destruction against Israel's enemies. The Philistines thought their false god Dagon had won a victory, but God used a captive slave to obliterate the entire temple.