In the first few verses of this chapter, Samson's sexual passions again overcame him. He journeyed from his home in Zorah to the Philistine stronghold of Gaza. When he arrived, he immediately engaged in the services of a Philistine prostitute. The townspeople heard he was there and plotted to kill Samson in the morning.
Something in Samson alerted him to the impending danger. He got up and headed out of the city at midnight, but he took a little souvenir with him: Gaza's city gates. There is no mention of the Spirit of God overcoming him at that moment which causes me to conclude Samson acted using his own strength to pick up these gates made of wood and iron. He then carried them off on his shoulders. Samson was an extremely strong man even without the occasional special anointing of God with super-natural ability. Perhaps one way we can recognize a direct impulse from God upon Samson to do a certain action (as opposed to Samson just doing his own thing) was when we read the Spirit of God came upon Samson.
We must not lose sight that Samson was created for the purpose of causing discord between Israel and the Philistines and to undo all the efforts on both sides to affect a peaceful co-existence. In general we see God merely allowing Samson to do his own fleshly desires and evil inclinations. However, Samson acted in such a way which advanced God's agenda.
2. (Judges 16:4-5) Delilah agrees to betray Samson
After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Entice them, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."
After this it came about that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek: After throwing the Gaza gates off a hillside on the road to Hebron, Samson returns home. Verse four tell us after some undefined time, Samson returns back to the Philistine territory for the same reason he always seems to come: women. And more specifically, Philistine women. While the four chapters which form the story of Samson in the Book of Judges is not a comprehensive history of Samson's life and deeds, it apparently is representative. Everything which is documented about Samson has to do with his love/hate relationship with the pagan world. More specifically, it is a love of pagan (Philistine women) and hate of pagan (Philistine) people in general. This is another of the many ironies of Samson, his behavior and his thought process. But is it not the same with the church today?
On one hand, we want to be different and separate from the world, and yet on the other hand we do all we can to hang on to it with all our might. We want unbelievers to see us as different, but not too different such that we are seen as intolerant or offensive. There are things about the world we like and there are things which we hate. And even the parts we like are not necessarily godly in any way. Basically, these worldly things call to us like a cold glass of water on a hot day. There are so important to us, we cannot imagine giving them up. And more often than not, it is these worldly things which regularly trip us up and cause us pain. They keep us from turning our faith into faithfulness to the LORD. We can resist for long periods of time when we really put our mind to it, but eventually, our memories fade and we are back for another try. We attempt to rationalize and harmonize our fleshly wants and desires with the ways of God's. Ultimately, we fall right back into the world's ways.
Delilah: Samson has fallen in love with a devastatingly seductive Philistine woman named Delilah who lived in the Sorek Valley. This was only a short distance from the village of Timnah, where Samson aborted his attempt to another Philistine girl occurred. Some like to point to Delilah's name as her destiny. But there is not consensus as to what Delilah's name means. Some say it means weak, others say it simply means hair and others say it means delicate or uprooted. There are a few who claim that it had to be a Philistine name because she was a Philistine. It is quite likely Delilah was not her real name, but it was rather a title or nickname given to her (by the Hebrews) well after the Samson affair. This is a common occurrence in the Bible. Without a doubt, Delilah is a derogatory title.
Delilah was a worshiper of the god Dagan and was fully loyal to the Philistines. Samson's affair with Delilah had apparently become fairly well known. The five kings of the five main Philistine cities (Gaza, Gath, Ashdod, Ekron, and Ashkelon) decided this might be an opportunity to finally do something about this one-man wrecking crew which had spoiled their hope of peace with Israel for almost 20 years. These Philistine kings were smart and pragmatic men. They figured since no amount of force had ever worked to subdue Samson; the only remaining avenue was deception and trickery.
By now, Samson's insatiable desire for beautiful Philistine girls was common knowledge and so what was a better trap than to lure Samson with the bait of his latest female friend.
Entice him and see where his great strength lies: The Philistine kings go to Delilah and tell her they need to know the secret of Samson's strength. It was obvious to them that Samson's power was magical. Thus, it would take a magical solution to deprive him of his great strength. They recognized that size and muscle alone could not possibly allow for Samson's seeming invulnerability. So they offer Delilah 1100 pieces of silver EACH if Delilah can pry from Samson the means of his great strength. With 5,500 pieces of silver at stake (truly a king's ransom), Delilah enthusiastically undertakes the task, thus revealing her cold and calculating nature.
3. (Judges 16:6-9) Samson lies to Delilah about the source of his strength
So Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you." Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man." Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had men lying in an inner room. And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered.
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength is": One day Delilah casually asks Samson the big question, where does his strength lie. With too much self-confidence, Samson toys with her. Undoubtedly, Delilah approached the subject matter carefully and at just the right moment so as to not appear too eager or conspiring. But Samson liked playing games. So he approached her inquiry as a game, not realizing the deadly wager which awaited the eventual winner.
Samson said, "If they bind me with seven fresh cords": Samson being Samson, he invents a lie and tells her that the magical power which can defeat him is in seven fresh bow strings. If he is tied up with those, he will be as weak as any normal human.
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords: Delilah tells this story to her benefactors. They supply her with the seven bow strings. She binds Samson with them. But Delilah is a clever woman and was not particularly convinced that Samson was being honest with her. So she had some men waiting in a nearby room to assist her. As a test, she shouted, "The Philistines are upon you." Samson reacted instantly, and the bow strings snapped like they were nothing but single pieces of straw.
We must understand Delilah was not naive. The possibility that seven bow strings were the secret to Samson's strength was plausible. Seven was seen as a magical number in that era. Further, a fresh bow string was quite strong. Bow strings in that age were usually made from the tendon of an animal. The fresher the tendon, the stronger they were. As they dried out, they broke rather easily. No human could have been bound with seven fresh bow strings and simply broke them at will.
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