Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. So he had judged Israel for twenty years.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then his brothers 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 burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.
- KJV 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 buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
- BSB Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.
- NKJV And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.
- NLT Later his brothers and other relatives went down to get his body. They took him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, where his father, Manoah, was buried. Samson had judged Israel for twenty years.
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's family recovers his body and buries him in his father's tomb; he had judged Israel twenty years. His turbulent life and judgeship come to an end.
Overview
The dignified burial in Manoah's tomb honors the deliverer despite his failures. The repeated twenty-year summary closes the Samson cycle (cf. 15:20). His story ends with only a beginning of deliverance from the Philistines (13:5), leaving Israel still in need of a faithful and complete Savior.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Judg 15:20He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
- John 19:39–42Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.
- Judg 13:25Yahweh’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
- Judg 13:2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.
- Josh 19:41The border of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtaol, Irshemesh,
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 16:31 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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