Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her.
Parallel translations
- KJV Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
- BSB One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.
- NKJV Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.
- NASB Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and had relations with her.
- NLT One day Samson went to the Philistine town of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Samson goes to Gaza and visits a prostitute there. His moral weakness reasserts itself among Israel's enemies.
Overview
Entering deep into Philistine territory and indulging sexual sin, Samson again disregards his Nazirite calling and consecration to God. The episode marks the beginning of his downfall, showing that physical strength cannot compensate for spiritual and moral compromise. His unchecked appetites foreshadow the more fatal entanglement with Delilah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Josh 15:47Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the brook of Egypt, and the great sea with its coastline.
- Gen 38:16–18He turned to her by the way, and said, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he didn’t know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”
- Ezra 9:1–2Now when these things were done, the princes came near to me, saying, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, following their abominations, even those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
- Gen 10:19The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon — as you go toward Gerar — to Gaza — as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim — to Lasha.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 16:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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