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SamsonAid to Bible Understanding
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Sometime later Samson, accompanied by his parents, went to Timnah to bring his betrothed home. On the way there he turned aside from the road to look at the corpse of the lion that he had killed earlier and found a swarm of bees and honey inside. Samson ate some of the honey and, upon rejoining his parents, offered honey to them. At the wedding banquet he made this incident an object of a riddle and propounded it to thirty Philistine groomsmen. Further developments centering around this riddle provided the occasion for Samson to kill thirty Philistines at Ashkelon.—Judg. 14:8-19.
When the father of his betrothed gave her to another man and did not permit Samson to see her, Samson was furnished with yet another opportunity to act against the Philistines. Using three hundred foxes, he set the grainfields, vineyards and olive groves of the Philistines on fire. The enraged Philistines therefore burned Samson’s betrothed and her father, the Philistines’ loss having resulted from his treatment of Samson. By this act the Philistines once more gave Samson reason for avenging himself upon them. He slew many of them, “piling legs upon thighs.”—Judg. 14:20–15:8.
Seeking revenge against Samson, the Philistines came to Lehi. Three thousand fearful men of Judah then prevailed upon Samson at the crag Etam to surrender, thereafter binding him with two new ropes and leading him to the Philistines. Exultantly, the Philistines prepared to receive Samson. But “Jehovah’s spirit became operative upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms came to be like linen threads that have been scorched with fire, so that his fetters melted off his hands.” Taking the moist jawbone of a male ass, Samson struck down a thousand men, after which he ascribed this victory to Jehovah. On that occasion Jehovah, in answer to Samson’s request, miraculously provided water to relieve his thirst.—Judg. 15:9-19.
Another time Samson went to the home of a prostitute in the Philistine city of Gaza. Hearing of this, the Philistines laid in wait for him, intending to kill him in the morning. But at midnight Samson got up and ripped the city gate and its side posts and bar from the wall of Gaza, and carried them “up to the top of the mountain that is in front of Hebron.” (Judg. 16:1-3) This was a great humiliation for the Philistines, as it left Gaza weak and unprotected from intruders. The fact that Samson was able to accomplish this amazing feat indicates that he still had God’s spirit. This would argue against his having gone to the house of the prostitute for immoral purposes. On this point commentator Paulus Cassel observes: “Samson did not come to Gaza for the purpose of visiting a harlot: for it is said that [‘Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute woman there and came in to her’]. But when he wished to remain there [at Gaza] over night, there was nothing for him, the national enemy, but to abide with the [prostitute]. . . . His stay is spoken of in language not different from that employed with reference to the abode of the spies in the house of Rahab. The words, [‘saw a prostitute’], only indicate that when he saw a woman of her class, he knew where he could find shelter for the night.” (A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures by J. P. Lange and translated by Philip Schaff, The Book of Judges, p. 212) It should also be noted that the account reads “Samson kept lying till midnight” and not ‘Samson kept lying with her till midnight.’
By going into enemy territory Samson demonstrated his fearlessness. It may well be that he went to Gaza to ‘look for an opportunity against the Philistines,’ as had been the case earlier when he sought a wife among them. (Judg. 14:4) If so, Samson apparently intended to turn any effort directed against him into an occasion for inflicting injury upon the Philistines.
BETRAYED BY DELILAH
It was after this that Samson fell in love with Delilah. (See DELILAH.) For material gain she sought to learn the secret of Samson’s strength. Three times he gave her misleading answers. But, on account of her persistent pestering, he finally gave in and revealed to her that his strength lay in his being a Nazirite from birth. She then got in touch with the Philistines to get the reward for turning him over to them. While Samson was sleeping on her knees, Delilah had his hair shaved off. Upon awakening, he no longer had Jehovah’s spirit, for he had allowed himself to get into a position that led to the termination of his Naziriteship. Not the hair itself, but what it stood for, that is, Samson’s special relationship to Jehovah as a Nazirite, was the source of his strength. With the end of that relationship, Samson was no different from any other man. Therefore, the Philistines were able to blind him, bind him with copper fetters and put him to work as a grinder in the prison house.—Judg. 16:4-21.
While Samson languished in prison the Philistines arranged for a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, to whom they attributed their success in having captured Samson. Great throngs, including all the axis lords, were assembled in the house used for Dagon worship. On the roof alone there were 3,000 men and women. The merry Philistines had Samson, whose hair had meanwhile grown luxuriantly, brought out of prison to provide amusement for them. Upon his arrival, Samson asked the boy who was leading him to let him feel the pillars that supported the structure. He then prayed to Jehovah: “Remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, just this once, O you the true God, and let me avenge myself upon the Philistines with vengeance for one of my two eyes.” (Judg. 16:22-28) It may be that he prayed to avenge himself for only one of his eyes because of recognizing that the loss of them had come about partly through his own failure. Or, it may be that he felt it would be impossible to avenge himself completely as Jehovah’s representative.
Samson braced himself against the two supporting pillars and “bent himself with power,” causing the house to collapse. This resulted in his own death and that of more Philistines than he had killed in his entire lifetime. Relatives buried him “between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial place of Manoah his father.” Thus Samson died faithful to Jehovah after having judged Israel for twenty years. Therefore his name rightly appears among men who, through faith, were made powerful.—Judg. 15:20; 16:29-31; Heb. 11:32-34.
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SamuelAid to Bible Understanding
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SAMUEL
(Samʹu·el) [name of God].
A prominent prophet and judge (Acts 3:24; 13:20), traditionally credited with the writership of the Bible books of Judges, Ruth and part of First Samuel. (Compare 1 Samuel 10:25; 1 Chronicles 29:29.) His father Elkanah was a Levite of the nonpriestly family of Kohath. (1 Chron. 6:27, 28, 33-38) Samuel came to have three full brothers and two full sisters.—1 Sam. 2:21.
Promised to the service of Jehovah as a Nazirite by his mother Hannah before conception (1 Sam. 1:11), Samuel was taken to the tabernacle at Shiloh upon being weaned (perhaps at the age of three years at least; compare 2 Chronicles 31:16) and left there in the charge of High Priest Eli. (1 Sam. 1:24-28) Thus Samuel, having a linen ephod girded on, ‘ministered to Jehovah’ as a boy. Annually his mother visited him and brought him a new sleeveless coat. (1 Sam. 2:18, 19) As he grew, Samuel became “more likable both from Jehovah’s standpoint and from that of men.”—1 Sam. 2:26.
BECOMES PROPHET AT AN EARLY AGE
At night Samuel slept in the “temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was,” and his first assignment in the morning appears to have been to open the “doors of Jehovahs house.” (1 Sam. 3:3, 15) Evidently the words “where the ark of God was” apply to the tabernacle area and are not to be understood as signifying that Samuel slept in the Most Holy. As a Kohathite Levite he was not entitled to see the Ark or any of the other sacred furnishings inside the sanctuary. (Num. 4:17-20) The only part of the house of Jehovah to which Samuel had access was the tabernacle courtyard. Therefore, he must have opened the doors leading into the courtyard, and it must have been there that he slept. During the period that the tabernacle was permanently located at Shiloh, various structures were likely erected, and one of these could have served as Samuel’s sleeping place.
One night, after having retired, Samuel heard a voice calling him by name. Imagining the speaker to be High Priest Eli, he ran to see him. After this occurred three times, Eli discerned that Jehovah was calling Samuel and instructed him accordingly. Jehovah then made known to Samuel his judgment against Eli’s house. Fearful, Samuel did not volunteer any information concerning the word of Jehovah until requested to do so by Eli. Thus began Samuel’s prophetic work, and all Israel eventually became aware that he was indeed Jehovah’s prophet.—1 Sam. 3:2-21.
LEADS ISRAEL IN TRUE WORSHIP
Over twenty years later, at Samuel’s exhortation, the Israelites abandoned idolatrous worship and began serving Jehovah alone. Subsequently, Samuel had the Israelites assemble at Mizpah. Taking advantage of the situation, the Philistines invaded. Becoming fearful, the sons of Israel requested that Samuel call to Jehovah for aid. He did so and also offered up a sucking lamb in sacrifice. (1 Sam. 7:2-9) Of course, as a nonpriestly Kohathite Levite, Samuel was not authorized to officiate at the sanctuary altar (Num. 18:2, 3, 6, 7), and there is no record that he ever did so. However, as Jehovah’s representative and prophet, he could sacrifice at other places in compliance with divine direction, as did Gideon (Judg. 6:25-28) and Elijah. (1 Ki. 18:36-38) Jehovah answered Samuel’s prayer, throwing the Philistines into confusion and thereby enabling the Israelites to gain a decisive victory. To commemorate this, Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Jeshanah and called it Ebenezer (“the stone of help”). (1 Sam. 7:10-12) Doubtless from the spoils of this and other wars Samuel set aside things as holy to maintain the tabernacle.—1 Chron. 26:27, 28.
Samuel’s judgeship witnessed additional reverses for the Philistines (1 Sam. 7:13, 14) and proved to be a period marked by outstanding Passover celebrations. (2 Chron. 35:18) Samuel also seems to have worked out some arrangement for the Levite gatekeepers, and his arrangement may have served as a basis for the organization put into operation by David. (1 Chron. 9:22) From his home at Ramah in the mountainous region of Ephraim, Samuel annually made a circuit of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah, judging Israel at all these places. (1 Sam. 7:15-17) Never did he abuse his position as judge. His record was without blame. (1 Sam. 12:2-5) But his sons, Joel and Abijah, perverted justice.—1 Sam. 8:2, 3.
ANOINTS SAUL AS KING
The unfaithfulness of Samuel’s sons, coupled with the threat of warfare with the Ammonites, prompted the older men of Israel to request that Samuel appoint a king over them. (1 Sam. 8:4, 5; 12:12) Jehovah’s answer to Samuel’s prayer concerning this was that, though the request of the people showed lack of faith in Jehovah’s kingship, nevertheless, the prophet should accede to it and advise them what the rightful due of the king involved. Though informed by Samuel that the monarchy would result in the loss of certain liberties, they still insisted on having a king. After Samuel dismissed the men of Israel, Jehovah directed matters so that Samuel anointed the Benjamite Saul as king. (1 Sam. 8:6–10:1) Thereafter Samuel arranged for the Israelites to assemble at Mizpah and there Saul was designated by lot as king. (1 Sam. 10:17-24) Again Samuel spoke about the rightful due of the kingship, and also made a written record thereof.—1 Sam. 10:25.
Following Saul’s victory over the Ammonites, Samuel directed that the Israelites come to Gilgal to confirm the kingship anew. On that occasion Samuel reviewed his own record as well as Israel’s past history, and showed that obedience to Jehovah by the king and the people was needed to maintain divine approval. To impress upon them the seriousness of having rejected Jehovah as King, Samuel prayed for an unseasonal thunderstorm. Jehovah’s answering that petition motivated the people to acknowledge their serious transgression.—1 Sam. 11:14–12:25.
On two occasions thereafter Samuel had to censure Saul for disobedience to divine direction. In the first instance, Samuel announced that Saul’s kingship would not last because he had presumptuously gone ahead in making a sacrifice instead of waiting as he had been commanded. (1 Sam. 13:10-14) Rejection by Jehovah of Saul himself as king was the second condemnatory message that Samuel delivered to Saul for disobediently preserving alive King Agag and the best of the Amalekite flock and herd. In response to Saul’s plea, Samuel appeared with him before the older men of Israel and the people. After that Samuel commanded that Agag be brought to him and then “went hacking [him] to pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal.”—1 Sam. 15:10-33.
ANOINTS DAVID
When the two men parted, they had no further association. Samuel, however, went into mourning for Saul. But Jehovah God interrupted his mourning, commissioning him to go to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as Israel’s future king. To avoid any suspicion on Saul’s part that might result in Samuel’s death, Jehovah directed that Samuel take along a cow for sacrifice. Perhaps fearing that Samuel had come to reprove or punish some wrongdoing, the older men of Bethlehem trembled. But he assured them that his coming meant peace and then arranged for Jesse and his sons to share in a sacrificial meal. Impressed by the appearance of Jesse’s firstborn Eliab, Samuel reasoned that this son must surely be Jehovah’s choice for the kingship. But neither Eliab nor any of the other six sons of Jesse present had been chosen by Jehovah. Therefore, at Samuel’s insistence, the youngest son, David, was called from pasturing the sheep and then anointed in the midst of his brothers.—1 Sam. 15:34–16:13.
Later, after King Saul had made several attempts on his life, David fled to Samuel at Ramah. The two men then went to Naioth, and David remained there until Saul personally came to look for him. (1 Sam. 19:18–20:1) During the time David was still under restriction because of Saul, “Samuel died; and all Israel proceeded to collect together and bewail him and bury him at his house in Ramah.” (1 Sam. 25:1) Thus Samuel died as an approved servant of Jehovah God after a lifetime of faithful service. (Ps. 99:6; Jer. 15:1; Heb. 11:32) He had demonstrated persistence in fulfilling his commission (1 Sam. 16:6, 11), devotion to true worship (1 Sam. 7:3-6), honesty in his dealings (1 Sam. 12:3), and courage and firmness in announcing and upholding Jehovah’s judgments and decisions.—1 Sam. 10:24; 13:13; 15:32, 33.
Regarding the account of Saul’s request for the spirit medium at En-dor to bring up Samuel for him, see SAUL No. 1.
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Samuel, Books ofAid to Bible Understanding
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SAMUEL, BOOKS OF
Two books of the Hebrew Scriptures that apparently were not divided in the original Hebrew canon. Indicative of this is a note in the Masora showing that words in First Samuel, chapter 28 (one of the concluding chapters of First Samuel), were in the middle of the book.
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