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Mga Hukom 15

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1 Nguni't nangyari pagkatapos ng sangdaling panahon, sa panahon ng pagaani ng trigo, na dumalaw si Samson na may dalang isang anak ng kambing sa kaniyang asawa; at kaniyang sinabi, Aking papasukin ang aking asawa sa loob ng silid. Nguni't ayaw papasukin siya ng kaniyang biyanang lalake.

2 At sinabi ng kaniyang biyanang lalake, Aking tunay na inisip na iyong lubos na kinapootan siya; kaya't aking ibinigay siya sa iyong kasama: di ba ang kaniyang kapatid na bata ay maganda kay sa kaniya? Isinasamo ko sa iyo na kunin mong kahalili niya.

3 At sinabi ni Samson sa kanila, Ngayon ay wala akong ipagkakasala sa mga Filisteo, kung gawan ko man sila ng kasamaan.

4 At yumaon si Samson at humuli ng tatlong daang zorra at kumuha ng mga sigsig at pinag-kabitkabit ang mga buntot, at nilagyan ng isang sigsig sa gitna ng pagitan ng bawa't dalawang buntot.

5 At nang kaniyang masulsulan ang mga sigsig, ay kaniyang binitiwan sa nakatayong trigo ng mga Filisteo at sinunog kapuwa ang mga mangdala at ang nakatayong trigo, at gayon din ang mga olibohan.

6 Nang magkagayo'y sinabi ng mga Filisteo, Sinong gumawa nito? At kanilang sinabi, Si Samson na manugang ni Timnateo, sapagka't kaniyang kinuha ang asawa niya at ibinigay sa kaniyang kasama. At sumampa ang mga Filisteo, at sinunog ang babae at ang kaniyang ama.

7 At sinabi ni Samson sa kanila, Kung ginawa ninyo ang ganito ay walang pagsalang aking igaganti sa inyo; at pagkatapos ay magtitigil ako.

8 At sinaktan niya sila, sa hita at sasapnan ng di kawasang pagpatay: at siya'y bumaba at tumahan sa isang guwang ng bato ng Etam.

9 Nang magkagayo'y nagsisampa ang mga Filisteo, at humantong sa Juda, at nagsikalat sa Lehi.

10 At sinabi ng mga lalake sa Juda, Bakit kayo nagsisampa laban sa amin? At kanilang sinabi, Upang gapusin si Samson kung kaya't kami ay nagsisampa upang gawin sa kaniya ang gaya ng ginawa niya sa amin.

11 Nang magkagayo'y ang tatlong libong lalake sa Juda ay nagsilusong sa guwang ng bato ng Etam, at sinabi kay Samson, Hindi mo ba nalalaman na ang mga Filisteo ay nagpupuno sa atin? ano nga itong ginawa mo sa amin? At sinabi niya sa kanila, Kung paano ang ginawa nila sa akin ay gayon ang ginawa ko sa kanila.

12 At sinabi nila sa kaniya, Kami ay nagsilusong upang gapusin ka, upang maibigay ka namin sa kamay ng mga Filisteo. At sinabi ni Samson sa kanila, Sumumpa kayo sa akin, na hindi kayo ang dadaluhong sa akin.

13 At sinalita nila sa kaniya, Hindi kundi gagapusin ka lamang namin, at ibibigay sa kanilang kamay: nguni't tunay na hindi ka namin papatayin. At kanilang ginapos siya ng dalawang bagong lubid, at iniahon mula sa bato.

14 Nang siya'y dumating sa Lehi, ang mga Filisteo ay naghihiyawan samantalang sinasalubong nila siya: at ang Espiritu ng Panginoon ay makapangyarihang sumakaniya, at ang mga lubid na nasa kaniyang mga bisig ay naging parang lino na nasupok sa apoy, at ang kaniyang mga tali ay nalaglag sa kaniyang mga kamay.

15 At siya'y nakasumpong ng isang bagong panga ng asno, at iniunat ang kaniyang kamay, at kinuha, at ipinanakit sa isang libong lalake.

16 At sinabi ni Samson, Sa pamamagitan ng panga ng isang asno, ay nagkabuntonbunton, Sa pamamagitan ng panga ng isang asno ay nanakit ako ng isang libong lalake.

17 At nangyari, pagkatapos niyang makapagsalita, na kaniyang inihagis ang panga na nasa kaniyang kamay, at ang dakong yao'y tinawag na Ramath-lehi.

18 At siya'y nauhaw na mainam at tumawag sa Panginoon, at sinabi, Iyong ibinigay itong dakilang kaligtasan sa kamay ng iyong lingkod: at ngayo'y mamamatay ako dahil sa uhaw at mahuhulog sa kamay ng mga hindi tuli.

19 Nguni't binuksan ng Dios ang isang guwang na nasa Lehi, at nilabasan ng tubig yaon; at nang siya'y makainom, ang kaniyang diwa ay nanumbalik, at siya'y nabuhay: kaya't ang pangalan niyaon ay tinawag na En-haccore, na nasa Lehi hanggang sa araw na ito.

20 At siya'y naghukom sa Israel sa mga kaarawan ng mga Filisteo, ng dalawang pung taon.

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Judges 15

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Julian Duckworth

Judges 15: Samson defeats the Philistines.

At the beginning of this chapter, we learn that the one who gave Samson’s wife to another man was his father-in-law, who thought that Samson truly hated her. He then offered Samson her younger sister instead, saying, “Is she not better? Take her.”

Samson, enraged, took three-hundred foxes and tied them tail-to-tail in pairs, with a lit torch between them. He then released them in the Philistines’ standing grain, vineyards and olive groves to burn up their crops, as revenge for the loss of his wife. In retaliation, the Philistines went and burned her and her father. In a final act of vengeance, Samson killed very many of the Philistines, then went to dwell in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

The Philistines went to Judah, stating their intent to arrest Samson, and the men of Judah passed on the message to him. Samson made the Judeans promise not to kill him themselves, but only to bind him with two new ropes before giving him to the Philistines as a prisoner.

When the Philistines came, Samson broke apart the ropes, and killed a thousand of them with the jawbone of a donkey. Then he threw the jawbone away, and complained to the Lord that he was thirsty. The Lord answered his cry for help by splitting the ground where the jawbone fell, so that Samson could drink the water that flowed from it.

The final verse of this chapter tells us that Samson judged Israel twenty years.

*****

Samson’s marriage to a Philistine woman speaks to the appealing, or even enticing, nature of ‘faith alone’ spirituality, represented by the Philistines. We must stay on our guard, to ensure that we are not caught up in thinking that faith alone will save us. The father offers Samson his wife’s younger sister, saying she is even better, but Samson had already learned to be wary by that point.

The foxes, tied together with their tails lit on fire, vividly describes the twisted and destructive nature of faith alone, and the way it consumes our potential to lead a fruitful life. The Word often depicts the state of a nation or religion through a story illustrating its true nature (True Christian Religion 130)

The cycle of revenge between Samson and the Philistines represents our personal struggles during temptation and our wish to regenerate. Our whole effort during regeneration is to resist sins that might lure us in, and to maintain our intention to live the Word (see Swedenborg’s work, Divine Providence 83[6]). The men of Judah who bind Samson represent our love for the Lord and for everything of the Lord, although this seems contradictory on a surface level. In this case, being ‘bound up’ means to be bound in our commitment to the Lord, so that we are restrained from doing evil (see Swedenborg’s work, Heaven and Hell 577[4]).

Samson stands for the power of the Word acting in our lives to assert what is true, to protect what must be upheld, and to defend against evils. He uses the jawbone of a donkey because a jawbone allows us to eat food (spiritually, nourishment from the Word), and also to proclaim the Lord’s truths. This gives us the power to expose and reject the belief that spirituality consists of faith alone (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 9049[6]).

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Judges 15

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1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

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.

13 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.

14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi.

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 shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.