Although Samson knew that the Philistines hated him, yet he dared again and again tio go among them. He knew their fear of his great strength made them quite harmless.
And, strange as it may seem, the Philistine women pleased Samson more than did the women of his own people. Some time after the cruel death of his wife, Samson met and loved another young woman among the Philistines. Her name was Delilah.
When the rulers of the country heard that Samson was coming often to visit Delilah, they offered to give her much money if she would find out for them the secret of Samson’s great strength. They believed they would then be able, by Delilah’s help, to capture him and put him in prison. Delilah loved pretty things that money can buy. She loved her own people better than she loved the strong man who came often to visit her. And she consented at once to help the rulers in their plan to capture Samson.
When Samson came again to visit at her home, Delilah received him as kindly as at other times. Perhaps she talked to him with flattering words, to please him. Then finally she asked him to tell her whether his great strength could possibly be taken away from him by human hands. Samson replied that if he should be tied securely with seven green twigs his great strength would leave him and he should be powerless, like other men.
Delilah quickly sent a messenger to the rulers, telling what she had learned; and they sent her seven green twigs like those of a willow-tree. With these she bound Samson securely while he lay asleep. Then she called to him in frightened tones, “Wake up, Samson! the Philistines are coming to take you!” But Samson did not seem at all frightened when he found himself tied with the green twigs. He sprang up and broke the twigs as easily as if they had been burned by fire.
Then Delilah was disappointed. She knew Samson was not serious when he told her about the green twigs. She pouted and told him that he was only making fun of her. She asked him again to tell her about the secret of his strength; and Samson pretended to be very serious when he told her that if he should be bound tightly with new ropes, then he should no longer be strong.
Delilah believed he was telling the truth this time, so she sent word again to the rulers, and they came, bringing the new ropes. While Samson slept, they hid near by and waited until Delilah should tie him fast and then waken him, as she had done before. But this time when Samson was awakened, he broke the strong, new ropes as easily as if they had been threads, and ran away.
We should think Samson might know by this time that Delilah was not his friend. But perhaps he thought he was having some fun. So he went again to visit Delilah, and again she coaxed him to tell the secret of his wonderful strength. This time Samson told her that if his hair should be woven like threads in a loom where cloth is made, then he could not free himself. But when Delilah wove his long hair in a loom and fastened it securely to the weaving-frame with a large pin, Samson rose up and tore the frame apart as easily as he had freed himself at other times.
Delilah began to think that she should not be able to get the money that the rulers offered to give to her if she would find out the secret of Samson’s great strength. She felt, very unhappy. Day after day she pleaded with Samson, telling him that surely he did not love her at all. Because Samson did love Delilah he began to feel sorry for her. He did not want to make her so unhappy. Finally he told her the truth—that he was a Nazarite, and that because his long hair had never been cut he was a powerful man. “If I should let my hair be cut short, then the Lord would leave me,” he said, “and then I should become weak and helpless before my enemies.”
Delilah was sure now that Samson had told her all the truth. She sent her messengers secretly to the rulers and told them what Samson had made known to her. And they came again to hide and wait until Delilah should call for them. While Samson slept a man came and shaved off his long hair. Then Delilah called him again and told him that his enemies had come to take him. Samson opened his eyes and saw that the Philistine rulers were already in the room. He sprang up and said, “I will go out as at other times.” But alas! this time he could not go out, for the Lord had departed from him and he was helpless in the hands of his enemies.
The Philistines rejoiced greatly because at last they had gotten hold of Samson. They bound him and took him to Gaza, the city where he once tore down the gates and got away. Now they locked him in a prison, and to make very sure that he would not bother them again they put out his eyes. Then they chained him with fetters and made him turn a heavy millstone to grind grain, just as though he were a beast. Poor, unhappy Samson! At last, when all too late, he realized that Delilah, the woman he loved, was not his friend. He realized that he had made a sad mistake when he kept company with a Philistine woman. He knew she had tempted him to displease God by telling the secret of his wonderful strength. And he had yielded to the temptation. Now he must suffer the remainder of his life, and always be blind. There in the prison he prayed to God and promised again to become a Naza-rite, even though he were blind. And God heard his prayer.
Now the rulers of the Philistines planned to offer a great sacrifice to their god, Dagon, to thank him for giving them power over Samson. So they made a feast in the temple of their god, and many people came to praise Dagon and to rejoice over Samson’s defeat. Finally they brought Samson into the court of the temple, to amuse them. No doubt they thought he looked very funny with his long, shaggy hair and beard, for he had never been shaven in the prison. They may have forgotten that the secret of his great strength lay in his long hair, or they may have supposed that he could no longer do harm because he was blind. Samson knew that the temple was crowded with people. Even on the flat roof three thousand men and women were standing together, looking down into the court where Samson was leaning against a pillar, praying. They did not know that he was asking God to help him once more. They Were laughing at his misery. Then suddenly the roof began to crack and fall in pieces, and the whole temple of Dagon fell down. Samson had asked the boy who led him to take him to the great pillars that supported the roof. And, standing between these pillars, he had placed his arms around them, and had bowed forward with all his might. God had heard his prayer, and had given him back his great strength. And thus Samson died with the Philistines, in the ruins of their temple.
For twenty years Samson had judged his own people. He had been the strongest man of whom, the world had known. And by his great strength he had set his people free from the rule of their enemies. When the news of this great act of Samson’s reached the land of Israel, Samson’s brothers hurried to Gaza and found his body and carried it back to their own land. They buried him in the same place where his father, Manoah, had been buried. And it was known everywhere throughout, the land that Samson killed more Philistines at his death than he had killed during all the years of his life. And perhaps even Delilah, too, died among the others in the temple of Dagon.