Strength and Weakness

Samson’s parents do not know that God is at work in his infatuation with a Philistine woman. But does Samson know? Matthew Henry believes he does, and so is able to convince his godly parents to accompany him to Timnah to negotiate marriage arrangements.

It is during this journey that Samson first learns the possibilities of his great strength. He apparently is alone as they approach Timnah, perhaps having left the road or fallen behind his parents, when a ferocious young lion attacks him. But faster than the lion moves the Spirit of God, coming upon Samson and filling him with such strength that he rips the lion apart with his hands as easily as he might dismember a tender young goat. We can only imagine his astonishment at this sudden, startling infusion of power, an astonishment that leads him to revisit the carcass of the lion on a subsequent journey, perhaps to convince himself that it really happened. He says nothing to his parents about it, likely pondering it within his heart, but he surely comes away with a new appreciation for what God can do through him.

However, there are troubling undercurrents to these episodes. The text is very clear that Samson’s encounter with the lion takes place in the vicinity of a vineyard. Is he apart from his parents because he has wandered off the road and away from the “straight and narrow path” proscribed by his Nazirite vows in order to satisfy his hunger with grapes (Num. 6:3)? The text does not say. Furthermore, it is possible that his taking of the honey from the carcass of the lion also is a violation of his Nazirite status, which prohibited contact with the dead (Num. 6:6). Commentators are divided over whether this prohibition included animal carcasses as well as human bodies. Some say that the Angel’s instruction to his mother explicitly obligates him only to refrain from cutting his hair (Judg. 13:5), which he scrupulously does (16:17). But the Angel said “ ‘the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb,’ ” apparently obligating Samson to full observance of the whole vow for his entire life. Thus, the events of this passage cause us to wonder whether his fleshly lusts (already exhibited in his infatuation with a Philistine woman) lead him into violation of his vow as a Nazirite. How ironic that the revelation of Samson’s great strength should come amid possible demonstrations of pitiful weaknesses.