Commentary on Judges Part 4 (No. F007iv)

Chapter 14

Samson’s Marriage

¹Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. ²Then he came up, and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.” ³But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your kinsmen, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me; for she pleases me well.” ⁴His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord; for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. ⁵Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and he came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him; ⁶and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. ⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. ⁸And after a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. ⁹He scraped it out into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion. ¹⁰And his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there; for so the young men used to do. ¹¹And when the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. ¹²And Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you; if you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments; ¹³but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” ¹⁴And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” And they could not in three days tell what the riddle was. ¹⁵On the fourthday they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” ¹⁶And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You only hate me, you do not love me; you have put a riddle to my countrymen, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” ¹⁷She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted; and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her countrymen. ¹⁸And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.” ¹⁹And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ash′kelon and killed thirty men of the town, and took their spoil and gave the festal garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house. ²⁰And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

Intent of Chapter 14

Samson and the Judges (No. 073)

14:1-20 Samson’s brief marriage to a Philistine woman.

vv. 1-4

“Here we have the specific statement that it was the Angel of Yahovah ...who was using Samson to specifically engage and deal with the Philistines. These people represent the Gentiles who were given dominion over Israel from the Babylonian captivity, until the time of the Gentiles was to be completed. As the Angel of the Lord delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistines via Samson, so too will he deliver Israel in the last days through the sequence of judgment of Danite-Ephraim (Jer. 4:15) and the Witnesses (Rev. 11:1-2) which precede his coming as king Messiah (cf. the papers The Warning of the Last Days (No. 044) and The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135)).

v. 3 The Philistines, unlike the Hebrews and most of their neighbours, did not practise circumcision.

v. 4 Had dominion over Israel: The Philistines were a major problem for Israel over this period of Israelite history. The Philistines initially had the advantage because of advanced metalwork in iron and material development (1Sam. 13:19).

vv. 5-11

“The thirty companions are again an allusion to the inner council of the Host. The taking of honey from the body of the lion represents the making clean and edible, that which is unclean of itself. The riddle was posed over the seven days of the feast. The kephir or fully-grown lion cub (from gur, to kephir, to aryeh to labi and then laish) becomes fiercer as it grows older. The custom of having marital festivities for seven days is mentioned in Genesis 29:27, as having been practised in Patriarchal times in Mesopotamia. Jews practise it today, because of rabbinical enactment (see Soncino, p. 271). The feast represents the marriage of the Lamb at the seventh month called Tishri.

14:6 This passage shows the critical importance underlying the Spirit of the lord. (3:10 n.). It endues power above and beyond the normal human capabilities. This was always associated with moral and spiritual power (Psa. 51:11; Ezek. 36:26-27; 1Cor. 2:4).

v. 10 In these days it was customary for the bridegroom to provide the marriage feast.

vv. 12-14

There are a series of possibilities with this text. The garments of the central council are prepared for the replacement elohim. The dead lion is the concept of the newly emergent and warlike rebellion of the Host. Its destruction will result in new garments and the removal of the bitterness of the rebellion. The judge is the steward of the mysteries of God. The elect are given the mysteries, as they are ready, and it is necessary to reveal the plan of salvation. The Gentiles long to understand the mysteries and resort to violence when they cannot understand or control the process. That is why they seek to destroy the bride when they are thwarted.

v. 14 The riddle was unsolvable without the key.

vv. 15-20

The heifer is the nation of Israel, represented also by the bull of Ephraim. The red heifer sanctifies the priesthood (see the paper Messiah and the Red Heifer (No. 216)). The trained heifer of Hosea 10:11 is also likened to Egypt in Jeremiah 46:20. Ephraim and Judah will be put to the yoke according to Hosea 10:11. Israel covenanted themselves to God in the wilderness but turned to the fertility god Baal in Canaan. That is why this text refers to ploughing with the heifer of the Judge. For this reason, Israel is made barren from Hosea 9:11ff.

v. 19 Ashkelon was one of the five principle Philistine cities and not a unified state being a confederation with Ekron, Ashdod, Gaza and Gath.

The obtaining of the mysteries by deceit, of necessity, involves the destruction of one’s own people. The garments of the thirty relate to gifts of God, which cannot be obtained under duress.

The wife who had been unfaithful, was disposed of in accordance with the laws that had been instituted under the fallen Host, in replacement of God’s laws. The legal code in question was that of the Code of Hammurabi sections 159, 163 and 164. The disposal of this woman was done in accordance with that code. The unfaithful woman was disposed of in accordance with the laws, that had been used to replace the laws of God, and which had subverted the people in the first place. Thus, the traditions of the Gentiles interfere with the calling of the elect. This resulted in the loss of the position of Samson’s first wife, as we see from the next verses.”

Chapter 15

Samson Defeats the Philistines

¹After a while, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a kid; and he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. ²And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Pray take her instead.” ³And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines, when I do them mischief.” ⁴So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches; and he turned them tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. ⁵And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. ⁶Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire. ⁷And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged upon you, and after that I will quit.” ⁸And he smote them hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam. ⁹Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah, and made a raid on Lehi. ¹⁰And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” ¹¹Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” ¹²And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not fall upon me yourselves.” ¹³They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands; we will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. ¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. ¹⁵And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men. ¹⁶And Samson said, “With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.” ¹⁷When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ra′math-le′hi. ¹⁸And he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord and said, “Thou hast granted this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and shall I now die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and there came water from it; and when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkor′e; it is at Lehi to this day. ²⁰And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Intent of Chapter 15

Samson and the Judges (No. 073)

15:1-8 Samson's Revenge

vv. 1-2

v. 1 This appears to represent an ancient type of marriage where the wife continued to live with her parents and the husband came and went with a contribution for the intimacy.

“This sets the scene for the next phase of the activities of the judgment. The marriage of the Gentiles is ongoing. We have here the first instance of the use of the Holy Spirit. This is the first love of the sequence. This is the Ephesian year and cycle – being the first year of the seven-year period and the first cycle of the seven cycles of the Jubilee. The stages of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Samson, follow the stages of the parable of the tree as given by Christ in Luke 13:8.

Luke 13:6-9 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.⁷And he said to the vinedresser, `Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree9 and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ ⁸And he answered him, `Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. ⁹And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (RSV)

The sequence runs for three years. Then the fourth is one of fertilisation and forced growth. The fifth is one of grace and the sixth is one of trial. The seventh is that of the Sabbath rest. The law is then reinforced, and the sequence starts again at a higher level. The seven-year sequence can see the elimination of the candidate, who is therefore called but not chosen. The loss of the first love follows also as a distinct danger of this early process. This sequence was also seen as the seven stages of the Church through the seven Churches of God in Revelation Chs. 2 and 3.

vv. 3-8

Here, we have the same story as Gideon, where the torches are used to destroy the Gentiles. The three hundred foxes are equivalent to the three hundred men with pitchers in the story of Gideon. Here, it is the Holy Spirit in the hands of Christ, using the judge of Dan to prepare them. The reference to the olive orchards concerns the continuing use of the term for the priesthood. The false systems of the Gentiles are consumed by the word of God, in the hands of the elect. That is why the wife of the Judge is persecuted and they are burnt at the stake, as are those who are of their lineage, because of the hidden tribes from which the 144,000 are taken.

v. 8 The origin of the term hip and thigh appears to have been lost.

For this reason, the Gentiles then attack Judah.

vv. 9-13

In this instance the judge of Israel was given up by Judah because they were attacked by the Gentiles, in order to eliminate the tribe from which he would spring. Messiah allowed them to bind and hand him over to be killed. He was, however, restored and returned in power through the Holy Spirit, as he will in the last days as king.

Samson’s Further Vengeance

vv. 14-17

Thus, through this object deliverance was made. The protection of the elect follows from that deliverance. Ramath-le'hi means Hill of the Jawbone. The riddle in v. 16 involves a pun as the word for ass and heaps is the same.

vv. 18-20

Here, we see the process of the judgment established. His judgment of twenty years followed from this sequence. Yet the fall of the Gentiles is occasioned also, through the three hundred as we see from Gideon. This process can be extrapolated to the last days. The process is thus ongoing from the repeated analogy. The allegory of the splitting of the rock at Lehi is also a replication of the activity of Moses. Thus, we are viewing the activity of Messiah, making available the fountain of living waters from the rock which is God (see also 16:1-3 below).

This was a story explaining the name of the place En-Hakkore, literally The spring of him who called.

Chapter 16

Samson and Delilah

¹Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a harlot, and he went in to her. ²The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here,” and they surrounded the place and lay in wait 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.” ³But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron. ⁴After this he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Deli′lah. ⁵And the lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” ⁶And Deli′lah said to Samson, “Please tell me wherein your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” ⁷And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings which have not been dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ⁸Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹Now she had men lying in wait in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a string of tow snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. ¹⁰And Deli′lah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies; please tell me how you might be bound.” ¹¹And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ¹²So Deli′lah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in wait were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. ¹³And Deli′lah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me, and told me lies; tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and make it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ¹⁴So while he slept, Deli′lah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web.^[^a^]And she made them tight with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web. ¹⁵And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me wherein your great strength lies.” ¹⁶And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death ¹⁷And he told her all his mind, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I be shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ¹⁸When Deli′lah saw that he had told her all his mind, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this once, for he has told me all his mind.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. ¹⁹She made him sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. ²⁰And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” And he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze fetters; and he ground at the mill in the prison. ²²But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. ²³Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” ²⁴And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has slain many of us.” ²⁵And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may make sport for us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he made sport before them. They made him stand between the pillars; ²⁶and Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” ²⁷Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson made sport. ²⁸Then Samson called to 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 avenged upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes.” ²⁹And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and he leaned his weight upon them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. ³⁰And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain during his life. ³¹Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Esh′ta-ol in the tomb of Mano′ah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Intent of Chapter 16

Samson and the Judges (No. 073)

Samson eludes the Philistines at Gaza (see 1:18 n. 14:19).

vv. 1-3

v. 3 Hebron is almost 40 miles (60 KM) east of Gaza.

The story of Samson and Delilah is well known yet the least understood. The fall of Samson took place at the end of his period as Judge of Israel, when theoretically he should have been stronger through growth in the Holy Spirit. His twentieth year was in fact the third year of trial under the Jubilee system. The process commenced from the nineteenth year. The story, however, takes a complete cycle to develop. In the first phase he was thrown into an idolatrous relationship with a heathen. This relationship was commenced under the direction of the Holy Spirit, as was the first. The purpose was to bring down the entire edifice of the house of the Gentiles. This is exactly the same process as will be experienced at the end of the twenty Jubilees of the Millennium (Rev. Ch. 20 (F066v)), when Satan is again released and the nations are subverted by the rebel Host, again establishing the false system. The representation also deals with the Church in the last days as it is subverted by the rebel Host again establishing the false system (see also #080). The representation also deals with the Church in the last days as it is subverted by the whore.” (Rev. Ch. 3).

The process is developed from bow strings to ropes. The trial becomes harder as it progresses. Seven is the number of completeness. There are seven cycles of the Jubilee in which this process is repeated.

Delilah's Betrayal of Samson

vv. 4-12

v. 4 The valley of Sorek led into the north end of the Philistine plain.

Here, the process is getting nearer to the truth. The three trials that he undertook were under divine protection. Samson was beginning to become confident, that the power he possessed was his own and not that of the Angel of the Lord, who is Messiah, controlling the Holy Spirit within him. This process takes up the four years of growth and dung. The first year of marriage under the law prevents a person from going to war.

The fifth year of grace prepares the person for the sixth year of trial. However, the trial process begins in the Year of Grace and ends with the double harvests of the sixth year feasts. In the Year of Grace the sins of our folly are pointed out and God uses this year to commence the trials and the rectification or justification of the individual. Each year this process commences and leads up to the Passover season, and the Lord’s Supper, the Foot-washing, and Passover Sacraments in which our sins are forgiven for another year. However, the Fifth Year of the cycle is particularly serious and many people are tested in this process. The sins that have been overlooked to date are brought to a head and, in many cases, many individuals are removed entirely from the Church of God over serious and unrepented sins.

God will also deal with people in aspects that are critical in the Sabbatical cycle and which He does not wish to leave uncorrected for the next cycle. The seven locks of Samson’s head symbolised the sequence of the seven cycles and the angels of the seven Churches on the head which is Christ.

vv. 13-20

v. 13 The web and the pin were parts of a loom.

This last phrase is the key. He did not know that the Lord had left him indicates that the awareness of the condition of our own spirituality is largely lacking in the elect. The Lord left Samson to establish in Samson’s mind quite firmly, that only through the power of God in the Holy Spirit could Samson survive against the Gentiles. The secret of the power is kept in a mystery until the last days. It is revealed in order to test the elect and to judge the Gentiles and to bring their system down. The Gentiles took power over the judge of Israel and, hence, the embodiment of the Holy Spirit. They put out his eyes that he might not see, as was done to Judah and the majority of the nation, until the 144,000 were taken in and the multitude were tested in the great tribulation. The beast power is an extension of this process.

The power of Almighty God was evidenced in this process of the renewal of the Holy Spirit, which was symbolised by the hair. Thus, through a blind man who was once able to see, the world empires will be brought down. That is why the last era of the Church, the Laodicean, is poor pitiable, blind and naked. It is mocked by the Gentiles because it is taken captive through its own lust and avarice. Yet out of that weak apostate system, there will be a few chosen that will bring down the GOD of the Philistines and break their power, so that the kingship might be established. The idolatry of the house of God in Shiloh, under its apostate priesthood, will be replaced by Messiah’s new Temple at Jerusalem.

vv. 21-31 Samsons Final Act of Vengeance.

v. 23 Dagon was an ancient Semitic deity adapted by the Philistines after their settlement in the land (1Sam. 5:2 n.). The priestly mitres are symbols of the fish god to this day (see also re Dercato).

The Jubilee and the seven-year cycles at the time of the end.

We can see the relationship of the seven-year cycles in Samson, as applied to the individual person under Jesus Christ and as the Church under Christ and the Holy Spirit. The individual goes through a cycle of development over the fifty years of his or her life, as expressed as a Jubilee. Thus, the individual is an adult at twenty and goes to seventy years or one full Jubilee.

The Church is regulated as a body under Jesus Christ. This body is regulated according to the sequence of the forty Jubilees in the wilderness. We know when the Jubilee system is from the Bible texts (see the papers The Meaning of Ezekiel's Vision (No. 108); Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250)). The seventh years of the cycle are in 1998, 2005, 2012, 2019, 2026 with the Jubilee in 2027/28 and the first year of the next cycle being the sacred year 2028/29.

It therefore follows, that the years of trial for the Church run from and include the fifth to the sixth years of the cycle and the Sabbaths form the Sabbath rest and the Reading of the Law. Thus each Church is tested and pruned and each nation is tested on a Sabbath cycle basis. So the years 1996/97/98, 2003/04/05, 2010/11/12, 2017/18/19 and 2024/25/26 were or are years of trial and pruning for the Church and the nations. With the subsequent readings of the law each new cycle will see the tightening of judgment and consequence for Church and nation, with an ever increasing tribulation until the world is completely crushed in 2025, 2026 and 2027. By that period, all nations should be placed under Messianic judgment and brought into total captivity to Messiah. The first year of the new Jubilee is 2028/29. Messiah will rule a new world order from Jerusalem, under the laws of God from the restoration.

Dagon will be fallen on its face and the Synagogue of Satan will be prostrate in worship before the elect. The elect will be pillars in the Temple of their God and they will no more go out of it. They will bear the name of God and the name of the City of God and the new name of Christ. Hold on to what you have that no man may steal your crown (cf. Rev. 3:8-13).

The story of Samson in the temple of Dagon is the last phase of Samson’s story, where he is removed through his own vanity, overcome and subdued within the Temple. The story is actually the story of the Sardis and Laodicean churches in the last days. It reflects the recovery of those within its ranks who reform in the Holy Spirit, to bring down the Beast system. That restoration occurs in the last days when the church is overcome and those of the elect (as Daniel says) are overcome by the Beast system. However, the church reforms and out of that structure Christ comes to save those who eagerly wait for him. The Temple of Dagon is the false system of this world, and that whole system is brought down and destroyed.

Samson’s seven locks of the seven spirits of God and the seven eras of the churches, in his sequence of development, goes to the point where he is poor, pitiable, blind and naked, captured by the Philistines (the God of this world), overcome and brought in to make sport before them in the Temple of Dagon (Jdg. 16:25). It is that last, lowest phase of the Church that the Church in the strength of the Holy Spirit, brings down and destroys the God of this earth and the entire religious system that phases or tries to destroy it.”

Chapter 17

Micah and the Levite

¹There was a man of the hill country of E′phraim, whose name was Micah. ²And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” ³And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, “I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it to you.” ⁴So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a graven image and a molten image; and it was in the house of Micah. ⁵And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest. ⁶In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. ⁷Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. ⁸And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live where he could find a place; and as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of E′phraim to the house of Micah. ⁹And Micah said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” ¹⁰And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and a suit of apparel, and your living.”¹¹And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons. ¹²And Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. ¹³Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

Intent of Chapter 17

The two tales of Chs. 17-21 are not concerned with judges but relate to the same period. The story in Chs. 17-18 relates to Micah whose mother expiated the removal of a large amount of silver from her by him by erecting a family shrine containing silver images. Israel under the law was forbidden the use of graven and molten images (Ex. 20:4,23; 34:17). When Israel entered the Promised Land they were corrupted by the Canaanites, Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites and Midianites.

17:5, 6 an Ephod and Teraphim are cult objects (8:27; 2Kgs 23:24). They appear to have been used for divination (Ezek. 21:21).

v. 6 the verse reflects the idolatrous anarchy of the times.

17:7-13 Levites had a priestly status and were used in tribal homes. Others appear to have taken up priestly duties also. However Levites were appointed as priests and received the tithe under the Law at the Tabernacle.

v. 7 Bethlehem the city 5 miles south of Jerusalem which was the birthplace of David and later the Messiah.

Bullinger’s Notes on Chapters 14-17 (for KJV)

Chapter 14

Verse 3

take a wife of, &c. An unlawful connection. Compare Exodus 34:16 . Deuteronomy 7:3 , with Joshua 23:12 .

pleaseth me well. Hebrew is right in mine eyes.

Verse 4

occasion = opportunity.

Verse 5

a young lion. Lions once abounded in Palestine. Hence names Lebaoth (Joshua 15:32 ; Joshua 19:6 ). Arieh (2 Kings 15:25 ). Laish (Judges 18:7 ). See also 1 Samuel 17:36 . 1 Kings 13:24 , &c).

against him = at meeting him.

Verse 6

the Spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

Verse 11

when they saw him: i.e. saw what sort of man he was. Note emphasis on "him".

Verse 12

I will = Let me.

sheets = linen wraps, or shirts.

Verse 15

seventh. The Septuagint reads "fourth".

is it not so? The italics reveal the uncertainty of Authorized Version. Many codices read "hither", which yields better sense. Hebrew text reads simply "not".

Verse 16

children = sons.

Verse 18

What. ? Figure of speech Anteisagoge. App-6 .

If. Figure of speech Paroemia. App-6 .

Verse 19

men. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .

Verse 20

his friend This was strictly in accordance with the laws of Khammurabi, 159, 163, 164.

Chapter 15

Verse 1

kid = kid of the goats.

I will go in = Let me come in.

Verse 3

concerning = to.

Now = this once.

Verse 4

foxes = jackals These go in packs, foxes go alone.

firebrands = torches.

Verse 6

burnt her and her father. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Septuagint, and Syriac, read "burned the house of her father".

Verse 7

this = like [this]: i.e. on this wise.

Verse 8

went down. Some codices, with one early printed edition, and Syriac, read "went".

top = cleft.

Verse 9

pitched = camped.

Verse 10

men. Hebrew. 'ish . App-14 .

as = according as.

Verse 14

against = at meeting him, or to meet him. the Spirit. Hebrew. ruach . No art. here.

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 15

jawbone of an ass. One of the seven "weak things" in Judges. See note on Judges 3:21 .

Verse 16

With. Note the alternation of four lines. Another pointing of the second line given in Septuagint is, chamor chamartlm = "destroying I destroyed them", which by Figure of speech Polyptoton ( App-6 ) = I utterly destroyed them. There is also the Figure of speech Antanaclasis in the words chamor, "ass", and "destroyed".

Verse 17

Bamath-lehi = the uplifting of the jawbone.

Verse 19

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 . Not Jehovah. A sign of distant or withdrawn relationship. in Judges 13:24 , Judges 13:25 , and Judges 14:4 , Judges 14:6 , we have Jehovah, but not again in Samson's history till he is humbled, Judges 16:20 ; then he prays to Jehovah, Jdg 15:28 .

clave an hollow place that was in the jaw = clave open the hollow that is in Lehi.

spirit = courage. Hebrew. ru ac h . App-9 .

En-hakkore = the Caller's Fount.

Verse 20

twenty. See note on Judges 13:24 .

Chapter 16

Verse 1

Then = and.

Gaza. About thirty-five miles south of his native place.

an harlot. He could rend a lion, but not his lusts. He could break his bonds, but not his habits. He could conquer the Philistines, but not his passions. Now Ghuzzeh.

Verse 3

took the doors: i.e. unhinged both leaves. Compare Isaiah 45:1 .

an hill = the hill.

before = over against.

Verse 5

lords. See note on Joshua 13:3 .

afflict = humble.

eleven hundred. One of the two occurrences of this number. Eleven = the number of defective administration (= 12 - 1. See App-10 ). Compare Judges 17:2 , where similar want of rule is seen. This 1,100 ruined them politically; the other (Judges 17:2 ) ruined them religiously.

Verse 7

green withs = green twigs. Anglo-Saxon, a willow, because of its twining and flexibility.

man. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 .

Verse 9

brake = snapped.

as = according as.

tow. Old English. Coarse flax or hemp for spinning or twining. Occurs only here and Isaiah 1:31 . Very inflammable.

toucheth = smelleth (before it toucheth).

Verse 10

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .

Verse 13

tell me. Some codices, with one early printed edition, and Septuagint add "I Pray thee".

with the web. Note the Homoeoteleuton. In the primitive text these words were probably followed by "and fasten them with a pin". For the Septuagint adds "I shall be as another man. And it came to pass that when he was asleep that Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them with the web, and she fastened them with a pin". Ginsburg suggests that some ancient scribe, in copying the first words, "fasten them with a pin", carried his eye back to these last words, and omitted the whole of this clause, which has been preserved in the Septuagint.

Verse 14

out of his sleep: i.e. the sleep mentioned in the Homoeoteleuton above.

Verse 15

How . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

Verse 16

soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

vexed. Became impatient, or grieved.

unto death = to make him die.

Verse 17

a Nazarite unto God = separate unto God.

Verse 20

wist not = knew not. See note on Exodus 34:29 .

the LORD.

Verse 21

fetters of brass. Hebrew "two brasses". Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), for the two fetters made of brass. App-6 .

grind. The work of women and slaves. Denotes the condition to which he was reduced. Compare Exodus 11:5 .Isaiah 47:2 .

Verse 23

offer. Hebrew "slay". See App-43 .

to rejoice. Figure of speech Antimereia (of Noun). App-6 . Noun "rejoicing", put for verb "to rejoice" = for a rejoicing

Verse 25

make us sport. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "make sport before us".

them sport = sport before them.

Verse 26

Suffer me that = Let me alone that, &c.

Verse 28

Lord GOD = Adonai Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 29

the two middle pillars. Recent excavations at Gaza have laid bare two smooth stone bases close together in the centre, on (not in) which these two pillars stood. On these the main beams rested, and by which the whole house was sustained. Samson had only to pull these pillars out of the perpendicular, to effect his object.

Verse 30

me = my soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

Verse 31

his brethren. Probably his parents were now dead.

up: i.e. from Gaza, Judges 16:21 .

between Zorah and Eshtaol. Where the Spirit had first come upon him, Judges 13:25 .

judged Israel. But he only began to deliver Israel. See Judges 13:5 .

Chapter 17

Verse 1

mount = hill country of Ephraim, where Joshua dwelt and was buried (Joshua 24:30 ).

Verse 2

eleven hundred. See note on Judges 16:5 .

taken. Idolatry in Israel commenced with dishonesty.

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 3

wholly dedicated. Figure of speech Polyptoton ( App-6). Hebrew "dedicating I had dedicated it".

Verse 4

money = silver (Judges 17:2 ).

Verse 5

house of gods. The true house of God was neglected, and as hard to find as it is to-day (Judges 21:19 ); and, when found, dancing was the prominent feature, not sacrifice or worship (Judges 21:21-23 ).

ephod. In imitation of Aaron's. Exodus 25:7 ; Exodus 28:4 .

consecrated. See note on Exodus 28:41 .Leviticus 9:17 .

his priest. Not Jehovah's, but "made with hands".

Verse 6

no king. First occurrence of four, See Judges 18:1 ; Judges 19:1 ; Judges 21:25 . Two conform to the structure here; and two in chs. Judges 19:1 , and Judges 21:25 .

Verse 7

a young man. See note on Judges 18:30 .

Beth-lehem-Judah. To distinguish it from Beth-le-hem in Zebulun (Joshua 19:15 ).

Verse 8

to sojourn. True worship neglected. Priests and Levites unemployed. Idolaters busy making idols and dancing.

Verse 12

his priest. Not Jehovah's; see on Judges 17:5 .

Verse 13

do me good. The "good" (as in all such cases) never came. For Micah is afterward robbed both of his idols and his priest.

PO Box 369, WODEN ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA