Judges 16:2

And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Gazites	לַֽעַזָּתִ֣ים la.'a.za.Tim	H5841	an Azzathite or inhabitant of Azzah · preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
saying	לֵאמֹ֗ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Samson	שִׁמְשׁוֹן֙ shim.shOn	H8123	Shimshon · proper noun, a man's name
come	בָּ֤א ba'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
in	וַיָּסֹ֛בּוּ vai.ya.So.bu	H5437	to revolve · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
wait	וַיֶּאֶרְבוּ vai.ye.'er.vu-	H693	to lurk · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
night	הַלַּ֖יְלָה ha.Lay.lah	H3915	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
gate	בְּשַׁ֣עַר be.Sha.'ar	H8179	an opening · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
city	הָעִ֑יר ha.'Ir	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
quiet	וַיִּתְחָרְשׁ֤וּ vai.yit.cha.re.Shu	H2790	to scratch · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
night	הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ ha.Lay.lah	H3915	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
morning	הַבֹּ֖קֶר ha.Bo.ker	H1242	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
day	א֥וֹר 'or	H216	illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · verb, qal infinitive construct
kill	וַהֲרְגְנֻֽהוּ va.har.ge.Nu.hu	H2026	to smite with deadly intent · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 118:10-12 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
1 Samuel 23:26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of…
Acts 9:24 But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.
Judges 15:18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shal…
1 Samuel 19:11 Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If tho…
Matthew 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritanc…
Matthew 27:1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
Acts 23:15 Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire somethi…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 16:1-3

Here is, 1. Samson's sin, Jdg 16:1. His taking a Philistine to wife, in the beginning of his time, was in some degree excusable, but to join himself to a harlot that he accidentally saw among them was such a profanation of his honour as an Israelite, as a Nazarite, that we cannot but blush to read it. Tell it not in Gath. This vile impurity makes the graceful visage of this Nazarite blacker than a coal, Lam 4:7, Lam 4:8. We find not that Samson had any business in Gaza; if he went thither in quest of a harlot it would make one willing to hope that, as bad as things were otherwise, there were no prostitutes among the daughters of Israel. Some think he went thither to observe what posture the…

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John Gill on Judges 16:2

And it was told the Gazites,.... The inhabitants of Gaza, the principal ones of it, the magistrates of the city, either by some persons that saw him come in, who knew him, or by the harlot into whose company he fell, to whom he made himself known: saying, Samson is come hither; the man so famous for his strength, and such an enemy to the Philistines; his name was well known for his great exploits, and rung throughout Palestine, and was a terror to the whole country: and they compassed him in; not that they surrounded the house where he was, which perhaps they might not certainly know, but they secured all the avenues and gates of the city, made them fast, and placed guards there, that he m…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 16:1-3

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 Jos 13:3. אל כּוא is used in the same sense as in Gen 6:4 and Gen 38:16. It is not stated in this instance, as in Jdg 14:4, that it was of the Lord. Jdg 16:2 When this was told to the Gazites, they surrounded him (the object to the verb is to be supplied from the following word לו) and laid wait for him all night at the city gate, but they kept themselves quiet during the night, saying, "Till the dawning (אור, infin.) of the morning," sc., we can wait, "then will we kill him." For this construction, see Sa1 1:22…

The Church Fathers

When the men of Gaza knew this they did not dissemble or pass it over, but beset his lodging in haste, and guarded all the doors of the house that he might not escape by night.
— Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19: To Vigilius

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fenced cities — There were in Palestine (1) cities, (2) unwalled villages, and (3) villages with castles or towers (1 Chr. 27:25). Cities, so called, had walls, and were thus fenced. The fortifications consisted of…
Gaza — Called also Azzah, which is its Hebrew name (Deut. 2:23; 1 Kings 4:24; Jer. 25:20), strong, a city on the Mediterranean shore, remarkable for its early importance as the chief centre of a great…
Gazites, The — Inhabitants of Gaza. (Judges 16:2)
Friends · . — .
Gazathites · General references — General references
Samson · Philistines to overcome him — Philistines to overcome him

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 16:1-3

John Gill on Judges 16:2

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 16:1-3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 16:1-3

John Gill on Judges 16:2

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 16:1-3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 16:2