:
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.
Previous
Next
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Judges 16:10-17
This having failed, Delilah, as if she had been mocked began with complaints to renew her arts and to require a pledge of his love. Samson, still firm of purpose, intimated to her that, if he were bound by seven ropes which had never been used, he would fall into the hands of the enemy, but this also was in vain. The third time he disclosed part of the secret, and now drawing nearer to his fall, told her that, if the seven locks of his head were unfastened and woven to about a cubit's length, his strength would depart from him. But herein also he deluded those who were plotting against his life.

But last of all the wanton woman complaining that she had been so often deceived, and grieving that her lover deemed her unworthy to be entrusted with his secret, and that under her pretext of succour her treacherous purpose was suspected, won his confidence by her tears. By this means, and because also it was ordained that this man of hitherto unshaken fortitude should fall into calamity, Samson was touched and opened to her his heart. He told her that he possessed within him the power of God, that he was sanctified to the Lord, and that by His command he let his hair grow, and that if it were shorn, he would cease to be a Nazarite, and lose the use of his strength. The Philistines having discoverd through her means the man's weakness, bring her the reward of her perfidy, thus binding her to the commission of the crime.

Source: Letter 19
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Judges 16:10-17
He was faced with a third battle: he had lost everything he had, that is, his inheritance with his sons; his flesh was enduring wounds; he remained to conquer the temptations of words. No ordinary battle. Adam was deceived by speech, Samson was overcome by words. For nothing penetrates the soul like deceitful speech, and nothing bites as hard as harsh words. Many, after overcoming physical torment, could not endure the harshness of words.

Source: The Prayer of Job and David 2.3.8
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Judges 16:10-17
Is that, then, Samson who broke ropes twisted with thongs, and new cords like weak threads? Is that Samson who did not feel the bonds of his hair fastened to the beam, so long as he had the grace of the Spirit? He, I say, after the Spirit of God departed from him, was greatly changed from that Samson Who returned clothed in the spoils of the aliens, but fallen from his greatness on the knees of a woman, caressed and deceived, is shorn of his hair.

Was, then, the hair of his head of such importance that, so long as it remained, his strength should endure unconquered, but when his head was shorn the man should suddenly lose all his strength? It is not so, nor may we think that the hair of his head has such power. There is the hair of religion and faith; the hair of the Nazarite perfect in the Law, consecrated in sparingness and abstinence, with which she (a type of the Church), who poured ointment on the feet of the Lord, wiped the feet of the heavenly Word, for then she knew Christ also after the flesh. That hair it is of which it is said: "Thy hair is as flocks of goats," growing on that head of which it is said: "The head of the man is Christ," and in another place: "His head is as fine gold, and his locks like black pine-trees."

And so, also, in the Gospel our Lord, pointing out that some hairs are seen and known, says: "But even the hairs of your head are all numbered," implying, indeed, acts of spiritual virtues, for God does not take care for our hair. Though, indeed, it is not absurd to believe that literally, seeing that according to His divine Majesty nothing can be hidden from Him.

But what does it profit me, if God Himself knows all my hairs? That rather abounds and profits me, if the watchful witness of good works reward me with the gift of eternal life. And, in fine, Samson himself, declaring that these hairs are not mystical, says: "If I be shorn my strength will depart from me."

Source: On the Holy Spirit 2, Introduction 13-16
[AD 431] Paulinus of Nola on Judges 16:10-17
Like the famed Samson, whose power lay in the strength of his hair, whose locks were endowed with sacred might, he must throttle and bring low the lion by means of the strong arms of prayers and pluck the sweet fruit of notable victory from its dead mouth.But this triumph must be a lesson to him not to make alliances with foreigners. That woman of another race I interpret as the law of the flesh, so wily with its alluring nets. If this law proves stronger than the law of the mind, it will drag him into the dominion of sin. The evil counsel of its pleasant words weakens with its deceitful guile the male spirit. It blinds the eyes of the mind and shaves the head; it plunders and disarms faith. I would not have our boy a Samson in this respect, becoming involved in a love encounter immediately followed by captivity, enervation and blindness, even though the strong Samson later recovered his strength when his hair grew again. For he was led by the hand from the mill to be the sport of the vaunting enemy, and though physically blind he used his mind’s eye and summoned God to take vengeance. Then, when his hair restored his strength, he brought down that house of the enemy. Once his hands, more powerful than any stone, gripped the pillars of the house in their fierce embrace, the roof collapsed upon him when its props were torn from the earth. Yet even in his death God’s powerful hero involved the foe in destruction, and by a glorious death [he] avenged the disgrace of his life as a slave. He had lived a life of subservience under an exultant foe, but even as he fell he conquered the eclipsed enemy, destroying more thousands at his death than he had killed in his life.
I pray that our son may imitate Samson’s death by his own, that while remaining in the flesh he may conquer that flesh and live for God, subduing the sins of the flesh. I would not have him devoting his heart in enslavement to the flesh’s joys as to the wiles of that criminal woman, to become subsequently the property of the foe, stripped of the strength of grace.

Source: POEM 24.529-581
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Judges 16:10-17
What was the meaning of Samson? If I say he signified Christ, it seems to me that I speak the truth. However, the thought immediately occurs to anyone who reflects: Was Christ overcome by the flattery of a woman? How is Christ understood to have gone in to a prostitute? Then, again, when did Christ have his head uncovered or his hair shaved, himself robbed of courage, bound, blinded and mocked? Watch, faithful soul. Notice why it is Christ, not only what Christ did, but also what he suffered. What did he do? He worked as a strong man and suffered as a weak one. In the one person I understand both qualities; I see the strength of the Son of God and the weakness of the Son of man. Moreover, when the Scriptures extol him, Christ is entire, both head and body. Just as Christ is the head of the church, so the church is his body; and in order that it might not be alone, it is the whole Christ with the head. Now the church contains within itself both strong and weak members. It has some who are fed on bread alone, and others who must still be nourished with milk. There is a further fact which must be admitted: in association at the sacraments, the imparting of baptism or participation at the altar, the church has both just and unjust people. At present the body of Christ is a threshing floor, as you know, but afterwards it will be a granary. While it is a threshing floor, it does not refuse to tolerate chaff, but when the time of storage comes it will separate the wheat from the chaff. Thus, some things Samson did as the head and others as the body, but all in the person of Christ. Inasmuch as Samson performed virtues and miracles, he prefigured Christ, the head of the church. When he acted prudently, he was an image of those who live justly in the church, but when he was overtaken and acted carelessly, he represented those who are sinners in the church. The prostitute whom Samson married is the church which committed fornication with idols before knowing one God, but which Christ afterwards united to himself. However, when she was enlightened and received faith from him, she even merited to learn the mysteries of salvation through him, and he further revealed to her the mysteries of heavenly secrets.

Source: SERMON 118.3
Previous
Next