Judges 16:29

29 And he took both [the] pillars, on which the house stood, and he held the one of those in his right hand, and the tother in his left hand; (And he took hold of both of the pillars, on which the house stood, and he held onto one of them with his right hand, and the other one with his left hand;)

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 And the house was full of men and of women, and (all) the princes of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand of men and of women (and also about three thousand men and women), beholding from the roof, and from the solar, (while) Samson (was) playing.

28 And he called inwardly the Lord, and said, My Lord God, have mind on me, and my God, yield thou now to me the former strength, that I venge me of mine enemies, and that I take one vengeance for the loss of my two eyes. (And he inwardly called upon the Lord, and said, Lord my God, remember me, and my God, yield thou now to me the former strength, so that I can avenge myself on my enemies, and so that I can now take one vengeance for the loss of my two eyes.)

29 And he took both [the] pillars, on which the house stood, and he held the one of those in his right hand, and the tother in his left hand; (And he took hold of both of the pillars, on which the house stood, and he held onto one of them with his right hand, and the other one with his left hand;)

30 and he said, My life die with the(se) Philistines! And when the pillars were shaken (al)together strongly, the house felled upon all the princes, and upon the multitude that was there; and Samson dying killed many more, than he alive had slain before. (and he said, Let me die with these Philistines! And when the pillars were altogether strongly shaken, the house fell on all the rulers, and on all the multitude of people who were there; and in dying, Samson killed many more than he had killed when he was alive.)

31 And his brethren and all his kindred came down, and took his body, and they buried it betwixt Zorah and Eshtaol, in the sepulchre of Manoah, his father; and he deemed Israel twenty years. (And his brothers and all his kindred came down, and took away his body, and they buried it between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of his father Manoah; and he had ruled Israel for twenty years.)