Judges 16:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And 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."

NIV: When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain."

NASB: When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, 'Our god has handed our enemy over to us, Even the destroyer of our country, Who has killed many of us.'

CSB: When the people saw him, they praised their god and said: Our god has handed over to us our enemy who destroyed our land and who multiplied our dead.

NLT: When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, 'Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!'

KJV: And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

NKJV: When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, The destroyer of our land, And the one who multiplied our dead.”

Samson was the Philistine's public enemy number one. They all praised Dagon—an idol adapted from the Amorites—when they saw that Samson was finally captured and humiliated in his blindness. In this way, the Philistines demonstrate the kind of faithfulness to their false god which the true God of Israel wants to see, in His own people, towards Him. Instead, Israel has repeatedly abandoned Him to take part in the worship of the false gods of Canaan and the surrounding nations.

It's not just Philistines rulers who give credit to the false god Dagon for Samson's capture. His feats of terror against the Philistines (Judges 15:4–5; 14–15; 16:3) have alarmed the populace for years (Judges 15:20). So long as Samson was free, the Philistines in Palestine could not feel safe. This, of course, was the point of God's use of Samson (Judges 13:5; 14:4). Samson's coarse, immoral lifestyle is difficult to understand, but the main purpose of his life was to shatter the complacent oppression wielded by the Philistines. The assembled nobles don't know it yet, but this unique judge (Judges 2:16–19) will once more strike terror into those who harm God's people (Judges 16:30).

Judges 16:23–31 begins with a great Philistine celebration in Gaza. This honors the false god, Dagon, for the capture of Samson. Samson, blind and humiliated, is put on display in the crowded temple for the entertainment of thousands of men and women, including the Philistine lords. He asks to lean against the pillars that support the building and prays to the Lord for one more burst of strength to avenge his eyes. With God's strength, he knocks the pillars down, killing thousands of Philistines and himself. He is buried near his hometown of Zorah.

After escaping an ambush in the Philistine city of Gaza, Samson rips the city gates out and walks away with them. When he falls deeply in love with Delilah, Philistine nobles pay her a fortune to seduce Samson into revealing the secret of his strength. She eventually succeeds, shaving his head while he sleeps. The Philistines gouge out Samson's eyes and put him in prison in Gaza. He is put on display at a celebration for the Philistine idol Dagon. God grants a last moment of supernatural power in response to Samson prayer. Samson collapses the support beams of the temple, crushing himself along with thousands of Philistine leaders.

Samson's story began in chapter 14 and will end here. His time as a judge lasted twenty years (Judges 15:20), but Scripture records only a few major incidents from his life. No specific times are assigned to these events. Samson humiliates Gaza by ripping out the city gates with his bare hands. He then falls for Delilah, who finds out the secret of his strength and betrays him. The Philistines blind Samson and enslave him in a prison near Gaza. They then parade him around during a noblemen's celebration in the temple of Dagon. With power from the Lord, granted as a last request, Samson collapses the temple's support pillars. This kills everyone inside, including himself. This begins the process of Israel's liberation (Judges 13:5), which later men such as Samuel will complete (1 Samuel 7:11–14).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).