Judges 15:12

Jdg 15:12 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.

Ver. 12. We are come down to bind thee.] In these Israelites we have an example of ingratitude: as in Samson, of meekness, and care of his unworthy countrymen. How fitly might he have said to them, as once Themistocles in like case did to his Athenians, "Are ye weary of receiving so many benefits by one man?"

That we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines.] With shame enough they might speak it, like a company of cowards as they were. But he upbraideth them not with their pusillanimity {lack of courage or fortitude} or perfidy; but, as solicitous of their safety, yieldeth to be bound. So did our dear Saviour, &c. Facinus vincere civem Romanum, saith the orator. Let me imitate his gradation, It was much for the Son of God to he bound, more to be beaten, most of all to be slain. Quid dicam, in crucem tolli?

That ye will not fall upon me yourselves.] And so occasion me, in mine own defence, to fall foul again upon you. He made no question of making his party good with the Philistines, though they were an army of them: this showeth the strength of his faith.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 12. That ye will not fall upon me yourselves.] He could not bear the thought of contending with and slaying his own countrymen; for there is no doubt that he could have as easily rescued himself from their hands as from those of the Philistines.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12) Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.—It seems as if Samson were parleying with them from some point of vantage which he could easily have defended for a time.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they said unto him, we are come down to bind thee,.... That is, they were come down into the cave where he was; otherwise more properly they were come up to the top of the rock:

that we may deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines; they own what was their intention in binding him, and what put them upon it was not ill will to him, but fear of the Philistines:

and Samson said unto them, swear unto me that ye will not fall upon me yourselves; which shows he did not fear them, though they were 3000; and that if they attempted to take away his life, he should defend himself, but he chose not to shed the blood of any of them; and rather than they should come into any distress through the Philistines, consented to be bound by them, and delivered into their hands; which he was a type of Christ, who was betrayed by the Jews, and delivered by them into the hands of the Romans; and though he could have delivered himself by his great strength, would not, but suffered himself to be taken and bound, and given into the hands of his enemies, that his own people might go free; see Joh 18:4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Kill me, in a treacherous manner. He was not afraid of them. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Swear unto me — He is willing to risk a combat singlehanded with the Philistines, but would not fight or injure his own countrymen. His work was to smite Philistines, not Israelites.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 12, 13. We are come down to bind thee. There is something very base in this deliberate agreement with their Philistine masters to deliver up Samson bound into their hands. But it is not very unlike the spirit in which the Hebrews looked upon Moses when he first began to work to rescue them from their Egyptian bondage. (Exo_2:14 Act_7:25-28) Samson"s forbearance towards his own countrymen is commendable. Brought him up from the deep ravine or cleft in which he was hid. His place of concealment was probably unknown to the Philistines, or may be they had quite a superstitious fear of Samson from their experience of his prowess.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bind thee - Why not rather, to fight under thy banner? Because sin dispirits men, nay, it infatuates them, and hides from their eyes the things that belong to their peace. Swear - Not that he feared them, or could not as easily have conquered them, as he did the host of the Philistines; but because he would be free from all temptation of doing them harm, though it were in his own defense.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

the hands of the Philistines

Here "hands" refers to power. AT: "the Philistine's control" (See: Metonymy)

hand you over to them

This means to cause someone to be under someone else's control. AT: "give you to the Philistines" (See: Idiom)

up from the rock

This refers to the cave in the cliff of Etam where Samson had gone in Judges 15:8. Here the words "up from" mean that they had brought him away from the cave. AT: "away from the cave in the large rock" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Idiom)

translationWords

Samson

power

Philistines

oath

hand

promise

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.