She said: ``The Philistines are upon you, Samson!'' And he woke from his sleep and thought: ``I will go out as at other times and shake myself free''; but he did not know that the LORD had left him (וַתֹּאמֶר הַפְּלִשְׁתִּים עָלֶיךָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַיִּקִּץ מִשְׁנָתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵצֵא כַּפְּעָמִים הַקּוֹדְמוֹת וְנִנְעוֹרָה נַפְשִׁי וְהוּא לֹא־יָדַע כִּי יְהוָה סָר מֵעָלָיו) — Samson's blindness is complete and final. The alarm ``The Philistines are upon you!'' is now real, yet Samson responds with the false confidence of someone who has escaped the trap three times. He thinks he will ``shake himself free'' (נִנְעוֹרָה נַפְשִׁי, literally ``shake my soul loose'') as he has before, not recognizing that his situation has fundamentally changed. The phrase ``he did not know that the LORD had left him'' (לֹא־יָדַע כִּי יְהוָה סָר מֵעָלָיו) is theologically devastating: Samson has lost not merely physical strength but divine presence and empowerment. His habitual confidence in his strength is no longer justified because the God who granted it has withdrawn. The narrative suggests that Samson's ignorance of God's departure is even more dangerous than the loss itself—he acts as though nothing has changed, only to discover that everything has.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse