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href="../judges/15-20.htm" title="Judges 15:20">◄</a> Judges 16:1 <a href="../judges/16-2.htm" title="Judges 16:2">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/judges/16.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/judges/16.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/judges/16.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/judges/16.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/judges/16.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/judges/16.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/judges/16.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English 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Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/judges/16.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/judges/16.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(1) <span class= "bld">Then went Samson to Gaza.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">And Samson, &c. </span>The narrative is brief and detached. Gaza is near the sea, and was the chief town of the Philistines, in the very heart of their country. It is useless to inquire how Samson could venture there in safety, or whether he went in disguise, or what was his object in going there; to such side-questions the narrative gives us no reply.<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/judges/16.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/judges/16-1.htm" title="Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in to her.">Jdg 16:1</a></span>. <span class="ital">And saw there a harlot — </span>Although the Hebrew word <span class="greekheb">זונה</span>, <span class="ital">zoneh, </span>here rendered <span class="ital">harlot, </span>also means a woman that keeps an inn, it seems evident, on the face of the story, that this woman really was what our translators have taken her to have been, a harlot. Samson, it seems, going into a house of public entertainment to refresh himself, saw there this woman, and by giving way to look upon her was insnared.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/judges/16.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>16:1-3 Hitherto Samson's character has appeared glorious, though uncommon. In this chapter we find him behaving in so wicked a manner, that many question whether or not he were a godly man. But the apostle has determined this, Heb 11:32. By adverting to the doctrines and examples of Scripture, the artifices of Satan, the deceitfulness of the human heart, and the methods in which the Lord frequently deals with his people, we may learn useful lessons from this history, at which some needlessly stumble, while others cavil and object. The peculiar time in which Samson lived may account for many things, which, if done in our time, and without the special appointment of Heaven, would be highly criminal. And there might have been in him many exercises of piety, which, if recorded, would have reflected a different light upon his character. Observe Samson's danger. Oh that all who indulge their sensual appetites in drunkenness, or any fleshly lusts, would see themselves thus surrounded, way-laid, and marked for ruin by their spiritual enemies! The faster they sleep, the more secure they feel, the greater their danger. We hope it was with a pious resolution not to return to his sin, that he rose under a fear of the danger he was in. Can I be safe under this guilt? It was bad that he lay down without such checks; but it would have been worse, if he had laid still under them.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/judges/16.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Gaza - About 8 hours from Eleutheropolis, and one of the chief strong-holds of the Philistines. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/judges/16.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>CHAPTER 16<p>Jud 16:1-3. Samson Carries Away the Gates of Gaza.<p>1, 2. Gaza—now Guzzah, the capital of the largest of the five Philistine principal cities, about fifteen miles southwest of Ashkelon. The object of this visit to this city is not recorded, and unless he had gone in disguise, it was a perilous exposure of his life in one of the enemy's strongholds. It soon became known that he was there; and it was immediately resolved to secure him. But deeming themselves certain of their prey, the Gazites deferred the execution of their measure till the morning.Samson goeth in to a harlot; is hemmed in; riseth at midnight; taketh the city gates, posts, and bars on his shoulders, and carrieth them up into a mountain, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/context/judges/16-1.htm" title="Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in to her....">Judges 16:1-3</a></span>. Is in love with Delilah; she enticeth him to discover wherein his strength lay; is thrice deceived; at last she overcomes him, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/context/judges/16-4.htm" title="And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah....">Judges 16:4-20</a></span>. They put out his eyes, and cast him into prison, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/judges/16-21.htm" title="But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.">Judges 16:21</a></span>. His hair grows again, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/judges/16-22.htm" title="However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.">Judges 16:22</a></span>. The lords of the Philistines and the people gather together to make sport with him to the honor of their idols; and sacrifice, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/context/judges/16-23.htm" title="Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand....">Judges 16:23-25</a></span>. Samson getteth them to place his hands on the two pillars of the house; he prays to God; pulls down the house; and dieth: but more slain at his death than in his life, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/context/judges/16-26.htm" title="And Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house stands, that I may lean on them....">Judges 16:26-30</a></span>. He is buried, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/judges/16-31.htm" title="Then his brothers 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 burial plot of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.">Judges 16:31</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="bld">Samson went to Gaza, </span> a chief city, to make some new attempt upon the Philistines, whom he feared not either in their cities or in their camps, having had such large experience of his own strength, and of God’s assistance; possibly he came in thither by night, unknown and unobserved till afterwards. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Saw there an harlot; </span> going into a house of public entertainment to refresh himself, as the manner was, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/joshua/2-1.htm" title="And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.">Joshua 2:1</a></span>. He there saw this harlot; which implies that he did not go thither upon so evil a design, but accidentally saw her there, and by giving way to lustful looks upon her, was ensnared by her. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/judges/16.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>Then went Samson to Gaza,.... One of the five principalities of the Philistines, which was ten miles from Ashkelon, as Sandys (q) says; who also describes (r) it as standing upon an hill environed with valleys, and these again well nigh enclosed with hills, most of them planted with all sorts of delicate fruits; and, according to Bunting (s), forty two miles from Ramathlehi, the place where we last hear of him; see Gill on <a href="http://biblehub.com/amos/1-6.htm">Amos 1:6</a>, <a href="/zephaniah/2-4.htm">Zephaniah 2:4</a> what he went hither for is not easy to say; it showed great boldness and courage, after he had made such a slaughter of the Philistines, to venture himself in one of their strongest cities, where he must expect to be exposed to danger; though it is highly probable this was a long time after his last encounter with them: <p>and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her; the Targum renders it an innkeeper, one that kept a victualling house; so Kimchi, Ben Gersom, and Ben Melech interpret it; into whose house he went for entertainment and lodging, and very probably in the dusk of the evening; and the woman that kept this house might herself be an harlot, or, however, Samson saw one in her house, with whom he was captivated, and went in unto her, or had criminal conversation with her; it seems as if he did not turn in thither with any such wicked design, but on sight of the person was ensnared to commit lewdness with her; and, as Lyra says, there were many hostesses in some places, and so here, who too easily prostituted themselves to their guests. <p>(q) Travels, l. 3. p. 118. (r) Travels, l. 3. p. 116. (s) Ut supra. (Travels, l. 3. p. 118.) <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/judges/16.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">Then went Samson to <span class="cverse3">{a}</span> Gaza, and saw there an harlot, <span class="cverse3">{b}</span> and went in unto her.</span><p>(a) One of the five chief cities of the Philistines.<p>(b) That is, he lodged with her.</div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/judges/16.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div>Ch. <a href="/context/judges/16-1.htm" title="Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in to her....">Jdg 16:1-3</a>. <span class="ital">Samson at Gaza<span class="p"><br /><br /></span></span><span class="bld">1</span><span class="ital">.</span> <span class="ital">Gaza</span>] The most southerly of the Philistine cities, and far from the scene of Samson’s other adventures. Long before the Philistines arrived Gaza is mentioned in Egyptian lists (e.g. in the time of Thothmes III), and in the Amarna letters. As it lay at the meeting-point of the caravan-routes from Egypt and the Arabian desert, it was always an important centre; the kind of place where bad characters might be found. In Hebr. the name is ‘Azza, with the hard <span class="ital">‘ayin</span> represented in Assyr. by <span class="ital">ḫ</span> (hence Ḫazzatu), in Greek by <span class="ital">g</span> (hence Gaza); now Ghazze or Razze.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/judges/16.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Then</span>. It should be and. There is nothing to show when the incident occurred. It may have been many years after his victory at hal-Lechi, towards the latter part of his twenty years' judgeship. <span class="cmt_word">Gaza</span>, now <span class="accented">Ghuzzeh</span>, one of the five chief cities of the Philistines, once a strong place, but now a large open town. It was the last town in South-West Palestine on the road from Jerusalem to Egypt (<a href="/acts/8-26.htm">Acts 8:26, 27</a>). It played an important part in history in all ages - in the times, of the Pharaohs, the Seleucidae, the Maccabees, the Romans, the Khalifs, and the Crusaders. It was within the limits of the tribe of Judah (<a href="/joshua/15-47.htm">Joshua 15:47</a>). It is first mentioned in <a href="/genesis/10-19.htm">Genesis 10:19</a>, as the south-west border of the Canaanites. Its real transliteration from the Hebrew is Azzah, as it is actually expressed in the A.V. of <a href="/deuteronomy/2-23.htm">Deuteronomy 2:23</a>, and <a href="/1_kings/4-24.htm">1 Kings 4:24</a>. Gaza is the Greek form. Judges 16:1<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/judges/16.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>His Heroic Deed at Gaza. - Samson went to Gaza in the full consciousness of his superiority in strength to the Philistines, and there went in unto a harlot whom he saw. For Gaza, see <a href="/joshua/13-3.htm">Joshua 13:3</a>. אל כּוא is used in the same sense as in <a href="/genesis/6-4.htm">Genesis 6:4</a> and <a href="/genesis/38-16.htm">Genesis 38:16</a>. It is not stated in this instance, as in <a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/14-4.htm">Judges 14:4</a>, that it was of the Lord.<div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/judges/16-1.htm">Judges 16:1 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../judges/15-20.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Judges 15:20"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Judges 15:20" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../judges/16-2.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Judges 16:2"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Judges 16:2" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>