Verse 12:[1] And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
[Swear…to me that ye will not kill me, הִשָּׁבְע֣וּ לִ֔י פֶּֽן־תִּפְגְּע֥וּן בִּ֖י אַתֶּֽם׃] Swear unto me, lest perchance ye come against me yourselves (Septuagint, Montanus). Swear to me, for I fear that ye will attack, etc. (Junius and Tremellius). An Ellipsis, concerning which we spoke on Genesis 3:22 (Junius). That Ellipsis was common before the particle פֶּן/lest (Piscator). Swear to me that ye will not rush upon me (Munster, Pagnine, Tigurinus), or, that ye are not going to hurt me (Syriac, similarly the Arabic). Samson was able to withstand his fellow countrymen, but he was unwilling, so that he might render them immune and uninjured by the Philistines. Thus he exposed his life to the danger of death for the sake of the public salvation of his fellow countrymen and Republic. Samson was here a type of Christ, who, having been bound by His fellow countrymen, the Jews, was delivered to Pilate, etc. (Lapide).
Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves: Not that he feared them, or could not as easily have conquered them, as he did the whole host of the Philistines; but because he would be free from all obligation or temptation of doing them any harm, though it were in his own just and necessary defence.
Verse 13:[2] And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
From the rock: that is, From the cave or hole in the rock, in which he had secured himself, out of which he was first brought up, and then carried down from the rock to the plain.
[1] Hebrew: וַיֹּ֤אמְרוּ לוֹ֙ לֶאֱסָרְךָ֣ יָרַ֔דְנוּ לְתִתְּךָ֖ בְּיַד־פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן הִשָּׁבְע֣וּ לִ֔י פֶּֽן־תִּפְגְּע֥וּן בִּ֖י אַתֶּֽם׃
[2] Hebrew: וַיֹּ֧אמְרוּ ל֣וֹ לֵאמֹ֗ר לֹ֚א כִּֽי־אָסֹ֤ר נֶֽאֱסָרְךָ֙ וּנְתַנּ֣וּךָ בְיָדָ֔ם וְהָמֵ֖ת לֹ֣א נְמִיתֶ֑ךָ וַיַּאַסְרֻ֗הוּ בִּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙ עֲבֹתִ֣ים חֲדָשִׁ֔ים וַֽיַּעֲל֖וּהוּ מִן־הַסָּֽלַע׃
Thank you, Doctor Dilday. The reading portion was helpful, as was the link to the hebrew reading group.
Thomas Brooks' Heaven on Earth: 'It is said of Marcellus, the Roman general, that he could not be quiet, nec victor, nec victus, neither conquered, nor conqueror. Such a one is Satan: if he be conquered by faith, yet he will be essaying; if he conquers, yet he will be roaring and triumphing. Satan's great design is eternally to ruin souls; and where he cannot do that, there he will endeavour to discomfit souls by busying them about the secret decrees and counsels of God. If the soul break through his temptations, as David's worthies did break through the hosts of the Philistines, 1 Samuel 23:16, and snap his snares in sunder, as Samson did his cords, Judges 15:13, 14…
Matthew Henry: 'Samson tamely yielding to be bound by his countrymen, and delivered into the hands of his enraged enemies, Judges 15:12, 13. Now easily could he have beaten them off, and kept the top of his rock against these 3000 men, and none of them all could, or durst, have laid hands on him; but he patiently submitted, 1. That he might give an example of great meekness, mixed with great strength and courage; as one that had rule over his own spirit, he knew how to yield as well as how to conquer. 2. That, by being delivered up to the Philistine, he might have an opportunity of making a slaughter among them. 3. That he might b…
Hebrew note: Do you think that there is an ellipsis in verse 12?
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