About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand. In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form.
The Book of Judges
The Israelites moved into Canaan. They had wars with the groups of people who
lived in Canaan. They won the wars, and most of the other groups of people died
or left Canaan. But some of the other people continued to live in Canaan.
In the book of Joshua, the Israelites obeyed God. They did not worship the other
people's false gods. But in the book of Judges, the Israelites do not always
obey God. Sometimes they worship false gods. Then God punishes them. Other
people come and have wars with the Israelites.
The Israelite judges were leaders. Many of them were leaders of the army. They
led the Israelites to win in wars. This book covers 350 years from the
year 1390 B.C. to 1050 B.C. There were 14 judges in
these years. Some of the judges were Deborah, Gideon, and Samson.
Bible Timeline
Here is a good timeline to see the book of Judges in the history of the Bible
http://www.sundayschoolresources.com/timeline.htm
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Samson went to the place called Gaza.
He saw a prostitute. He went to her house to stay all night.
[1] Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
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An example of a city gate. |
From www.creationism.org |
Someone told the people in Gaza that Samson was
there. They planned to wait all night for him. Then they would
kill him in the morning. They were quiet all night. They were hiding in
the city gate.
[2] And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they
compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and
were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall
kill him.
Samson got up about 12:00 midnight. He picked up the whole city
gate--the doors and the posts (poles). He carried the whole gate on his
shoulders. He carried it up to the top of the hill in the place called Hebron.
[3] And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of
the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all,
and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill
that is before Hebron.
Samson falls in love with a woman named Delilah.
Delilah tries to find out why Samson is strong.
Later, Samson fell in love with a
woman named Delilah. She lived in the place called Sorek.
[4] And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of
Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
From www.creationism.org |
The Philistine leaders came to Delilah. They wanted
Delilah to ask Samson why he was so strong. They wanted to know how they could
tie him up and hurt him. They said they would pay Delilah 1,100 pieces
of silver if she can find out.
[5] And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her,
Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may
prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give
thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
Delilah asked Samson why he was so strong. She asked
him how someone could tie him up.
[6] And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great
strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
Samson told her that if someone tied him up with 7 green bowstrings (strings used
for a bow and arrow), he would be weak. He said he would be the same as any
other man.
[7] And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were
never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
The Philistine men brought 7 green bowstrings. They
gave them to Delilah. Delilah tied up Samson with the strings.
[8] Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs
which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
Some Philistine men hid in a room near Delilah's
room. They planned to catch Samson. Delilah yelled and told Samson that
the Philistines were coming to get him. Samson broke free. He broke the
bowstrings easy like fire burning thread. So no one really knew why
Samson was strong.
[9] Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she
said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs,
as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was
not known.
Delilah was upset with Samson. She told him that he
lied to her. She felt foolish. She asked him again how someone could tie him
up.
[10] And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
Samson said that if someone tied him with new ropes
(ropes that had never been used), he would be weak. He said he would be the same as
any other man.
[11] And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were
occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
Delilah got some new ropes and tied up Samson. The
Philistine men were waiting in the other room again. Then Delilah yelled and
said that the Philistines were coming. Samson broke the ropes off his arms
easy like they were threads.
[12] Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto
him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait
abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
Delilah talked to Samson. She said that he has made her look foolish.
She said he told her lies. She asked him again how he could be tied up.
He said she could weave his 7 long braids of hair in the loom (wood frame with
strings used for weaving).
[13] And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou
weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
Delilah weaves Samson's hair into her loom From the Women in the Bible web site. |
Delilah wove Samson's hair into the loom.
She nailed the loom to the wall. She yelled and said that the
Philistines were coming. Samson woke up. He got up and walked away with
the loom and the wood from the wall.
[14] And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be
upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin
of the beam, and with the web.
Samson tells Delilah the truth about his strength.
Delilah continued to try and learn why Samson was so strong. She said
that Samson told her that he loved her. But he lied to her 3 times. He did not
tell her why he is so strong. Delilah asked him everyday why he was so
strong. Samson couldn't take it anymore.
[15] And she said unto him, 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 thy great strength lieth.
[16] And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged
him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
Finally, Samson told her the truth. He said that his
hair has never been cut. He has been a Nazarite for God since he was born. He
said that if his hair gets cut, he will not be strong anymore. He will
be the same as all other men.
[17] That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not come a
rasor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's
womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become
weak, and be like any other man.
Delilah could see that he was telling her the truth.
She called the Philistine men to come. She told them that Samson finally told
her the truth. The Philistine men came and brought money to her.
[18] And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and
called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he
hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto
her, and brought money in their hand.
Delilah made Samson fall asleep on
her knees. Then she called another man to come. The other man cut off Samson's
hair. Then Samson was not strong anymore.
[19] And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she
caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict
him, and his strength went from him.
Delilah yelled that the Philistines were coming.
Samson woke up, and he started to get up like he did before. He did not know
that he wasn't strong anymore.
[20] And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of
his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself.
And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
"Samson in Prison" |
The Philistines got Samson. They made him blind. Then
they took him to the place called Gaza. They tied him up with brass (metal)
chains. They forced him to work. He walked around and made a big rock grind
corn.
[21] But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down
to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison
house.
God makes Samson strong again, and Samson kills many
Philistines.
Later, Samson's hair began to grow
again.
[22] Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
The Philistine leaders were happy because they caught
Samson. They had a big celebration. They made sacrifices to their false god
named Dagon. They said Dagon helped them catch Samson.
[23] Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a
great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god
hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
When the Philistines saw Samson, they
praised Dagon. They said Dagon helped them catch Samson. In the past, Samson
killed many Philistines.
[24] And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our
god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country,
which slew many of us.
Later in the party, they wanted Samson to come out.
They wanted to make fun of him. They brought Samson from prison and made
him stand between the pillars (poles that support the building).
[25] And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call
for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the
prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
A boy was holding Samson's hand and leading him.
Samson asked the boy to lead him by the pillars. Samson wanted to touch the
pillars and lean against them.
[26] And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I
may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
The building was full of men and women. The
Philistine leaders were all there. About 3,000 people were sitting on the
roof. They all watched Samson and made fun of him.
[27] Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the
Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men
and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
Samson prayed to God. He asked God to remember him.
He prayed for God to make him strong again one more time. He wanted to punish
the Philistines for making him blind.
[28] And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I
pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may
be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Samson took a pillar in each hand. They were the
pillars that supported the building.
[29] And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house
stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of
the other with his left.
The Story of the Bible by Charles
Foster (Illustrations by F.B. Schell and others) |
Samson prayed that he would die with
the Philistines. He pulled on the pillars as hard as he could. They building
fell down and killed all of the Philistine leaders and people. Samson died,
too. More Philistines died that day than before. Samson killed more
Philistines when he died than when he was alive.
[30] And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself
with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people
that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they
which he slew in his life.
Samson's brothers and the rest of his family came and
took his body. They buried him in his father's tomb (cemetery). This was
located between the areas of Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson was Israel's judge for
20 years.
[31] Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took
him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the
burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Levites were descendants of Jacob's son, Levi. God picked this tribe to serve as priests. |
The tribe of Dan attacks the city of Laish and the men steal Micah's statues
and priest.
The 5 men from Dan left Micah's house. They traveled to the city named Laish.
The people in Laish were not Israelites. They were Zidonians. This city
was far away from the other Zidonian cities. The people in Laish did not have
any other city to help them. They did not worry. They did not think any other
people would attack them.
[7] Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that
were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians,
quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them
to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no
business with any man.
The 5 men from Dan went back to their
homes in Zorah and Eshtaol. The people in the tribe wanted to know what
they found.
[8] And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren
said unto them, What say ye?
The 5 men said they found some good
land. They said it was time for the tribe to go and get the land.
[9] And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the
land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go,
and to enter to possess the land.
The 5 men told them about the city of Laish. They told them that the people in
Laish were not ready for a war. They
said that God was giving them the city and the land. They said it is good land with
everything they need.
[10] When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for
God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing
that is in the earth.
The tribe of Dan sent 600 soldiers to go attack the
city of Laish. They first camped in a place in Judah. The place was near
Kirjath-jearim. They named the place where they camped Mahaneh-dan.
[11] And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and
out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
[12] And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they
called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is behind
Kirjath-jearim.
The army passed Micah's home at Mt. Ephraim.
[13] And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of
Micah.
The 5 men who visited Micah's house before talked.
They told the other men in the army about Micah's ephod (priest's vest) and
Micah's statue. They asked them what they should do about it.
[14] Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and
said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod,
and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider
what ye have to do.
The 5 men went to the young Levite priest's house and
Micah's house. The other 600 men waited by the gate.
[15] And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the
Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
[16] And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were
of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
The 5 men went into the houses and stole the statues
and priest's vest. The priest was by the gate with the 600 men. He asked
the 5 men what they were doing.
[17] And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in
thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the
molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six
hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
[18] And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the
ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them,
What do ye?
The 5 men told him to be quiet. They wanted him to go
with them. They wanted him to be their priest. They asked him if it was better
to be the priest for one family or to be the priest for a whole tribe of
people.
[19] And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth,
and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to
be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe
and a family in Israel?
The priest was happy. He decided to go with them.
[20] And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim,
and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
They all left Micah's house. They had children,
cattle, and carriages (carts holding their things). They put all of them in
the front.
[21] So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and
the carriage before them.
Micah and his men chased the Dan army. When the army
was far from Micah's house, Micah and his army caught them. They yelled, and
the Dan army turned around and looked at them. They asked Micah why he was
chasing them with a large group of his men.
[22] And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were
in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the
children of Dan.
[23] And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and
said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
Micah said they knew why he was chasing them. They
stole his statues and the priest and ran away.
[24] And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and
ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me,
What aileth thee?
The army of Dan told Micah to be
quiet. They said if he was not quiet, some of them would get mad and kill him
and his family.
[25] And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among
us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives
of thy household.
Micah could see that the army of Dan was too big and
strong. He knew he could not defeat them. He turned around and went back home.
[26] And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were
too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
The army of Dan continued to the city of Laish. They
had Micah's statues, and the priest was with them. The people in Laish thought
they were safe. They were not ready for a war. The army of Dan killed them and
burned the city.
[27] And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he
had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and
they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
No one came to help the people of Laish. They were far from
the other Zidonian cities. They didn't have other people who could warn them
or protect them. Laish was in the valley near the place called Beth-rehob. The
tribe of Dan took the city. They built the city again. They named the city
Dan. This was the name of Jacob's son who was the first one of their tribe.
[28] And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had
no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob.
And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
[29] And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their
father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at
the first.
People who study the Bible have different opinions about the priest, Jonathan. Some people think that "Manasseh" really means Moses. So they think Jonathan is Moses' grandson. But other people think it may be a different person named Manasseh. |
God's house was in a different place.
It was at the place called
Shiloh. But the tribe of Dan set up Micah's statues in their land. Jonathan
and his sons were the priests. Jonathan's father's name was Gershom. His
grandfather's name was Manasseh.
[30] And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of
Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan
until the day of the captivity of the land.
[31] And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time
that the house of God was in Shiloh.