Day 62: November 18, 2025 – Judges 16-21

We find ourselves in the middle of the story of Samson and it is where he finds his wife Delilah. From the moment that they met, it seems, she has been trying to find out what it is that makes him strong. As readers on the outside we can see clearly that she only wants to destroy him so that she can reap the material benefits that would come from his destruction. Somehow, he doesn’t see it. The final story of him tearing down the building and so killing more Philistines in that one act than he did his entire life isn’t lost on me. But that is in some ways the last story of a judge that would reign over Israel. Everyone else that comes up isn’t really a judge, and the stories are a bit strange.

We find a lot of slaughter and bloodshed in these stories. We see the almost total destruction of the tribe of Benjamin because of their horrific act against a woman who was under the protection of an Israelite. Keep in mind that the Benjaminites were the beloved people of the tribe of Israel, but it seems as if they had lost their way. That is to say nothing of the virgin daughter and the concubine being offered as an appeasement to the men of the city. That was not right either. There is a lot that takes place in these verses that leaves us scratching our head and wondering what exactly were people thinking and why didn’t God intervene. We leave the book of Judges with that one recurring phrase which we would be good not to forget: “ In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.“