Judges 16:29

29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other,

Judges 16:29 in Other Translations

29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.

29 Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands,

29 Then Samson reached out to the two central pillars that held up the building and pushed against them, one with his right arm, the other with his left.

29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars supporting the temple and leaned against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left.

Judges 16:29 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 16:29

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars, upon which the
house stood, and on which it was borne up
Some have objected, that a building so large and so capacious as this was could not be supported by two pillars, and those placed in the middle, and so near to each other that Samson could lay hold on them; on which it has been observed, that the architecture of the ancients is little known to us, and they might have curious and ingenious arts of building, now lost; and several authors have taken notice of two Roman theatres built by Curio, that held abundantly more people than this house did, which were supported only by a single pin or hinge, as Pliny ^F25 relates; and our Westminster hall, which was built by William Rufus, and is two hundred and seventy feet long, and seventy four broad ^F26, and has a roof the largest in all Europe, is supported without any pillars at all; add to all which, that mention being made of the two middle pillars of this house, supposes that there were others in other parts of it, though these were the main and principal ones, on which the weight of the building chiefly lay. Kimchi observes, that the word signifies to incline or bend, as if Samson made the pillars to bend or bow; but it is a better sense that he laid hold of them:

of the one with his right hand, and the other with his left;
and thus he stood with his arms stretched out, as Jesus on the cross, of whom he was a type, as often observed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 15.
F26 Rapin's History of England, vol. 1. p. 188.

Judges 16:29 In-Context

27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform.

28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other,

30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

31 Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.