Samson
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revenge. Their enemy was shut safely within the walls of the most
strongly fortified of all their cities; they felt sure of their prey, and
only waited till the morning to complete their triumph. At midnight
Samson was aroused. The accusing voice of conscience filled him with
remorse, as he remembered that he had broken his vow as a Nazarite.
But notwithstanding his sin, God’s mercy had not forsaken him. His
prodigious strength again served to deliver him. Going to the city gate,
he wrenched it from its place and carried it, with its posts and bars, to
the top of a hill on the way to Hebron.
But even this narrow escape did not stay his evil course. He did
not again venture among the Philistines, but he continued to seek those
sensuous pleasures that were luring him to ruin. “He loved a woman
in the valley of Sorek,” not far from his own birthplace. Her name
was Delilah, “the consumer.” The vale of Sorek was celebrated for its
vineyards; these also had a temptation for the wavering Nazarite, who
had already indulged in the use of wine, thus breaking another tie that
bound him to purity and to God. The Philistines kept a vigilant watch
over the movements of their enemy, and when he degraded himself by
this new attachment, they determined, through Delilah, to accomplish
his ruin.
A deputation consisting of one leading man from each of the
Philistine provinces was sent to the vale of Sorek. They dared not
attempt to seize him while in possession of his great strength, but it
was their purpose to learn, if possible, the secret of his power. They
therefore bribed Delilah to discover and reveal it.
As the betrayer plied Samson with her questions, he deceived her
by declaring that the weakness of other men would come upon him
if certain processes were tried. When she put the matter to the test,
the cheat was discovered. Then she accused him of falsehood, saying,
“How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?
Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein
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thy great strength lieth.” Three times Samson had the clearest evidence
that the Philistines had leagued with his charmer to destroy him; but
when her purpose failed, she treated the matter as a jest, and he blindly
banished fear.
Day by day Delilah urged him, until “his soul was vexed unto
death;” yet a subtle power kept him by her side. Overcome at last,
Samson made known the secret: “There hath not come a razor upon