were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was "vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him, and 12put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

23 ¶ Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

24 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.

25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

26 T And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O LORD God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

16

29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

30 And Samson said, Let 17me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

Verse 1. Gaza.'-This town was the capital of the most southern of the Philistine principalities, and is situated about thirteen miles w.s.w. of Ascalon, forty-five miles s.w. by w. from Jerusalem, and between two and three miles from the sea. It is always mentioned as an im portant place in the Old Testament. Alexander the Great, after destroying Tyre, laid siege to Gaza, which was at

that time occupied by a Persian garrison, and took it after a siege of two months. Alexander was often repulsed, and twice wounded during the siege; and after the town was taken he avenged himself by the most savage treatment of the brave governor, Betis. He did not destroy the town; but having killed a part of the old inhabitants and sold the rest, he re-peopled it with a new colony, and made

it one of his garrisons. It was afterwards (B.c. 98) destroyed by Alexander Jannæus, the king of the Jews. It lay desolate about forty years, and was rebuilt by Gabinus, the Roman president of Syria. Augustus gave it to Herod the Great, after whose death it was re-annexed to Syria. It was afterwards, according to Josephus, again destroyed by the Jews, with several other towns, to avenge a massacre of their countrymen at Cæsarea. This explains the expression of St. Luke, who, in mentioning Gaza, observes that it was then a desert' (Acts viii. 26). It must, however, soon have been rebuilt or repaired, as it existed in the time of Hadrian, who granted it some important privileges; these were enlarged by Constantine, who gave it the name of Constantia, in honour of his son, and granted it the rank and privileges of a city. This seems to have led to the statement that Gaza was rebuilt by Constantine; but we cannot find good authority for more than we have stated. Jerome says, that the town existing in his time was nearer to the sea than the old town.

Under so many changes, besides others of inferior moment which we have not specified, it is not to be expected that much, if anything, of its more ancient remains should now be found. It seems to have undergone a gradual declension in importance, although its share in the commerce between Egypt and Syria still maintains it as a small town in a condition of comparatively decent prosperity..

Baumgarten, who was at Gaza early in the sixteenth century, describes it as a large place, containing more inhabitants than Jerusalem; but not fortified. He, as well as other old travellers, tells us gravely, that the remains of the temple which Samson pulled down were still shewn, consisting only of a few pillars which were kept standing in memory of the event. To him, and to all subsequent travellers, was shewn, at about a mile from the town, the hill to which Samson carried the gates of Gaza during the night. But the text says that he carried them to the hill which is before Hebron;' and Hebron is about twenty miles from Gaza.-Sandys, who was in this neighbourhood about a century later, gives a rather full account of the place, which is particularly valuable, as the remains of ancient Gaza must have been in a more perfect con

dition 230 years ago than at present. The following is the substance of his account.

It stands upon a hill surrounded with valleys; and those again well-nigh environed with hills, most of them planted with all sorts of delicate fruits. The buildings mean, both of forms and matter; the best but low, of rough stone, arched within, and flat on the top, including a quadrangle: the walls surmounting their roofs, wrought through with potsherds to catch and strike down the refreshing winds, having spouts of the same, in colour, shape, and sight, resembling great ordnance. Others covered with mats and hurdles, some built of mud; amongst all, not any comely or convenient. Yet there are some reliques left, and some impressions, that testify a better condition: for divers simple roofs are supported with goodly pillars of Parian marble, some plain, some curiously carved. A number broken in pieces do serve for thresholds, jambs of doors, and sides of windows. On the north-east corner, and summit of the hill, are the ruins of huge arches, sunk low in the earth, and other foundations of a stately building. From whence the last Sanziack conveyed marble pillars of an incredible bigness; enforced to saw them asunder ere they could be removed: which he employed in adorning a certain mosque below in the valley..... On the west side of the city, out of sight and yet within hearing, is the sea, seven furlongs off' (recent travellers make it more); where they have a decayed and unsafe port, of small avail at this day to the inhabitants. In the valley, on the east side of the

city, are many straggling buildings.' After mentioning the hill to which Samson is said to have carried the gates of the town, as higher than the others in this vicinity, and as having at the top a mosque surrounded with the graves of Mohammedans, he continues:-in the plain between that and the town there stand two high pillars of marble, their tops much worn by the weather: the cause of their erecting unknown, but of great antiquity. South of that, and by the way of Egypt, there is a mighty cisteru, filled only by the fall of rain, and descended into by large stairs of stone: where they wash their clothes, and water their cattle.' Most of this account is still applicable, except

that some of the ancient remains of columns, etc., have now disappeared. The substructions and columns of the ruin in the centre of the town, scattered pillars of grey granite, and fragments of old marble columns and statues appearing in the buildings of the town, are all that is now noticed. The hill on which Gaza stands is about two miles in circumference at the base, and appears to have been wholly enclosed within the ancient fortifications. The town, being surrounded by and interspersed with gardens and plantations of olive and date trees, has a picturesque appearance, to which its numerous minarets, raising their elegant forms, not a little contribute; and as the buildings are mostly of stone, and the streets moderately broad, the interior disappoints expectation rather less than that of most other towns of Syria; and both the town and the people upon the whole seem comfortable, and in every kind of accommodation far superior to the Egyptians. The suburbs, however, are composed of miserable mud huts; but all travellers concur with Sandys in admiring the richness and variety of the vegetable productions, both wild and cultivated, of the environs. The population of Gaza has been usually much understated. It is really equal, if not superior, to that of Jerusalem, if correctly estimated by Dr. Robinson at fifteen or sixteen thousand. They have manufactures of cotton and soap; but derive their principal support from the commerce between Egypt and Syria, which must all pass this way. They also traffic with Suez for Indian goods brought from Jidda; and they send a caravan with supplies of pro

[B.C. 1120. visions (which they sell on very advantageous terms) to the pilgrims on their way to Mecca. The Arabs also make it the mart for the sale of their plunder and all these sources of prosperity render Gaza a very thriving place for the country in which it is found. See further in Wittman's Travels in Turkey; Richardson's Travels along the Mediterranean; Irby and Mangles' Travels in Egypt, etc.; and Jolliffe's Letters from Palestine; Robinson's Researches; Narrative of the Scottish Deputation.

5. We will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.-These pieces of silver were probably shekels; and the shekel being worth about half-a-crown, the total 5500 pieces of silver from the five lords of the Philistines would amount to 6877. 10s.-a vast bribe for the time and country.

7. Seven green withs.'-This is an interesting indication that the ropes in use among the Hebrews were of crude vegetable tendrils, pliable rods, fibres, or leaves. As the word translated withs' ( jeter) is a general word for a rope or cord, we should not have known this, were it not that the epithet'green' is here employed. Withs' is too restricted a term. 'Green ropes,' as distinguished from dry ropes,' is the proper meaning, the peculiarity being in the greenness, not in the material. It may imply any kind of crude vegetable commonly used for ropes, without restricting it to withs, or tough and pliable rods twisted into a rope. It is true that such ropes are used in the East, and, while they remain green, are stronger than any other; and, so far, the probability is that such are here

particularly intended. In India, the legs of wild elephants and buffaloes newly caught are commonly bound with ropes of this sort. Josephus says that the ropes which bound Samson were made with the tendrils of the vine. At the present time ropes in the East are rarely made of hemp or flax. Except some that are made with hair or leather, they are generally formed with the tough fibres of trees (particularly the palm-tree) and roots, with grasses, and with reeds and rushes. These are in general tolerably strong; but in no degree comparable to our hempen ropes. They are very light in comparison, and, wanting compactness, those required for given purposes are always incomparably thicker than such as are employed for similar uses by ourselves. In most cases they are also rough and coarse to the eye. The praise which travellers bestow on ropes of this sort, must not be understood as putting them in comparison with our own; but perhaps in comparison with the bands of hay which our

place to enter into the peculiarities of Oriental weaving: but it may help, to the better understanding of this transaction, to remark that, firstly, the looms of Palestine were extremely simple, probably not unlike those that are still used in many parts of Asia and Africa; secondly, that they were worked by women; thirdly, that the web was narrow; fourthly, that the woof was driven into the warp, not by a reed, but by a wooden spatula; fifthly, that the end of the web was fastened to a pin or stake, fixed probably in the wall, or driven into the ground; sixthly, that Samson was probably sleeping, with his head in Delilah's lap, when she wove his hair into the web. The annexed engraving of Hindoo weaving will illustrate some of the details, and will in particular render it clear how easy it was for Delilah to weave in the long hair of Samson while his head lay on her lap. Comp. v. 19.

19. She made him sleep upon her knees.'-Probably in a relative position, such as is still often seen in the East, where one person sitting cross-legged on a mat or carpet which covers the floor (which is the usual sitting posture), another extended at length or reclining, rests his head on the lap of the former, as on a pillow.

She called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head.'-That a man should be able not only to cut, but to shave off the hair on which, during all Samson's life, razor had never before come, implies either that Samson slept very soundly, or that the man was very dexterous in his craft. In fact, the Oriental barbers do their work with so much case as to render the shaving of the head (the head is usually shaven in the East) rather gratifying than unpleasant. The most delicate sleeper would scarcely be awakened by it; and even those who are awake are scarcely sensible of the operation which they are undergoing.

21. Bound him with fetters of brass,' or rather, probably, of copper. This seems another proof that, although iron was at this time pretty well known, it had not yet come into general use. If it had, we should expect to find Samson bound with fetters of that metal rather than of brass, which is not thought of for such a purpose in countries where iron is common. The emphasis is here on brass, not as distinguished from any other metal, but to shew that his fetters were of metal, and that he was, not like the common race of offenders, bound with ropes or thongs of leather.

He did grind in the prison house.'-Of course, with millstones worked by the hands, this being still the usual method of grinding corn in the East. This is an employment which usually devolves on women; and to assign it therefore to such a man as Samson, was doubtless with a view to reduce him to the lowest state of degradation and dishonour. To grind corn for others, was, even for a woman, a proverbial term expressing a degraded and oppressed condition; and how much more for Samson, who seems to have been made the general grinder for the 'prison-house!'

To him, the great pang of his condition must have been to feel that all this misery and degradation had been the obvious result of his own weak and dissolute conduct, which had rendered all but entirely abortive the high promise of his birth. It was probably more through this than anything else, that he did not deliver Israel; but, as the angel had foretold, only began to deliver, Much as we may blame the backwardness of the Hebrews to enter into the great struggle to which Samson would have led them, it must not be forgotten that the hero's private character does not seem to have been calculated to inspire them with confidence. Had his obedience to the Divine

law been greater, and his discretion more apparent, the history of Samson would probably have been very different.

22. The hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.'-Reading this in connection with verse 17, the force of the allusion is clear. The letting the hair grow was a prominent circumstance in the condition of a Nazarite; and the extraordinary strength of Samson was not a matter of thews and sinews, but was vested in him as an extraordinary gift from God, on condition of his remaining in the state of Nazariteship. The loss of his hair did not in itself deprive him of strength; but the loss of his hair involved the loss of his strength, because it took him out of the condition of a Nazarite, with which it had pleased God to connect the extraordinary physical powers with which he was invested. So now, if we find Samson again strong after the renewed growth of his hair, we are bound to believe that it was not because his hair grew; but that the hero, in his debased condition, was moved to repentance for his past misconduct; and that, renewing his vow of Nazariteship, including the consecration of his hair, God saw proper to accept his vow, and in token of that acceptance re-invested him, as his hair grew, with the powers with which he had before so wilfully trifled.

The history of every nation boasts of some hero, whose exploits, being far beyond the ordinary range of human power, bear more or less resemblance to those of Samson. Such was the Hercules of classical antiquity, the Rama of India, the Rustam of Persia, and the Antar of Arabia,not to mention others; and many writers have undertaken to shew, that the histories of those famous personages are based on traditions concerning the doings of the Hebrew champion. We indicate this opinion without feeling it necessary to register its results, or to trace the analogies which it offers.

27. There were upon the roof about three thousand men and women.'-It seems that the house or temple itself was full of the principal people; and that about three thousand, apparently of the lower orders, had established themselves on the roof. Against this statement there have been two cavils. One is, how 3000 persons could stand on the roof of a building; and how persons thus placed could' behold while Samson made sport below.' Both may be answered in one statement. In the first place, it is evident that the temple or place of public entertainment (for it is not certain that it was the temple to which Samson was conducted) consisted of an inclosure, quadrangular or oblong, surrounded with walls and buildings, the principal building (the house properly so called) occupying that side of the inclosure opposite to the entrance. The other sides may be composed of dead walls, or cloisters, or offices, and therefore may or may not have a roof; but the part we have indicated is always the main building, whether in a modern oriental palace, house, mosque, or other structure. This also was the arrangement of many ancient temples of Egypt, and even of Greece and Rome. If we suppose, as every probability warrants, that the present house was of this construction, we have only to suppose that Samson exhibited his feats of strength (which were probably the sports' in question) in the open court or area, while the spectators were crowded in the interior of the building, which, being very open in front, afforded a full view of the area to every person seated within, and upon the roof above. This is in fact the usual process at the present day, when fights, wrestlings, and other feats are performed before a great personage, and a large body of persons. As to the number on the roof, we are not sure whether the objection which, merely from want of knowledge, has been taken, applies to the presumed inadequacy of a roof to support the weight of so many