Judges 16:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”

NIV: The people of Gaza were told, 'Samson is here!' So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, 'At dawn we'll kill him.'

NASB: When it was reported to the Gazites, saying, 'Samson has come here,' they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, 'Let’s wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.'

CSB: When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, saying, "Let's wait until dawn; then we will kill him."

NLT: Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the town gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, 'When the light of morning comes, we will kill him.'

KJV: And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

NKJV: When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.”

The Philistines in Gaza realize Samson—the Israelite who killed so many of their people (Judges 14:19; 15:8, 15)—was in town. Unbelievably, he was spending the night with a prostitute, giving his enemies ample time to react. The Philistines saw an opportunity to finally put an end to Samson.

Obviously, there are large gaps in Samson's overall story; most of his life is not described in the Bible. The same is true of this incident. It may have been years since he killed many hundreds of Philistine soldiers with a jawbone. We're not told how the people in Gaza (Joshua 13:3), far from Samson's home, know who he was. Thanks to his earlier adventures, it's not difficult to imagine reasons he would be recognizable throughout the territory. It would only require one person to identify him. Other questions are also left unanswered. Why was he in Gaza now? Was he looking to have a good time in a new place? Was he on some specific mission? None of this is revealed.

All that matters, for the sake of the story, is that the Philistines are preparing an ambush. The fear inspired by Samson's reputation might be reflected in that very fact. They don't rush into the room while he's engaged with the prostitute. Instead, they seem intent on waiting until he comes out, most likely the moment he arrives at the city gates. These would have been secured overnight, so Samson would not suspect anything if they were still closed in the morning. They assume he will pass by on his way out of town. Then they can corner him in the open and attack as a mob. As did the army who confronted him at Ramath-lehi (Judges 15:16–17), they intend to kill their enemy. Once again, they will fail.

Judges 16:1–3 provides another example of Samson's persistent immorality. This happens some unspecified time after he'd insisted on marrying a Philistine woman in defiance of his parents and common sense (Judges 14:1–4). That led to an escalating cycle of vengeance and a literal pile of Philistine corpses (Judges 15:14–17). When Samson solicits a prostitute, his enemies see it an opportunity for an ambush. Instead, he rips the city gates out of the ground with his bare hands and escapes.

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).