And the Philistines seized him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters; and he became a grinder in the prison (וַיֹּאחֲזוּ הַפְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיְנַקְּרוּ אֶת־עֵינָיו וַיּוֹרִדוּ אוֹתוֹ עַזָּה וַיַּאַסְרוּ אוֹתוֹ בְנַחֻשְׁתַּיִם וַיְהִי טוֹחֵן בְּבֵית־הַסּוּר) — the Philistines' retaliation is systematic and humiliating. They blind him (נַקְּרוּ אֶת־עֵינָיו), destroying his ability to see and navigate the world. They bring him to Gaza, the Philistine city he had earlier breached (16:1-3), creating a circular closure to his Philistine encounters. The bronze fetters (נַחֻשְׁתַּיִם) restrain him physically, though he now has no strength to break them. Most degradingly, they make him a grinder (טוֹחֵן) in the prison house, reducing the great deliverer to a beast of burden. The verb טוֹחֵן (tohen, to grind grain) suggests repetitive, mindless labor suitable for draft animals. Samson has been stripped of sight, freedom, strength, and dignity—a complete inversion of his former status. The narrative suggests that this is not merely military defeat but cosmic justice: the man who spurned the covenant through his actions is now imprisoned.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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