Justin Houtz

Judges 16, 1 Peter 5

DateVersionReading Plan
August 15, 2025ESV (2016)OT/NT Plan 2025 – 2027

Judges 16

Observation & Interpretation

Judges 16:1-3 – Following his defeat of the Philistines with a jawbone and drinking the water that come out of the hollow place at Lehi, Samson went to Gaza and went into a prostitute he saw there. The Gazites were told that Samson was there and set an ambush. It is then described how Samson arose at midnight and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and two posts and carried them to the top of the hill in front of Hebron.

  • It seems an odd story to place here. No battle or conflict is explicitly depicted between Samson and the Gazites within this section.
  • Toward the end of his rule, Samson’s unbridled lust led him to the house of a harlot in the Philistine city of Gaza. The men of the city thought that at last they had trapped their enemy. But Samson…arose at midnight and carried off the doors of the gate of the city, as well as the two gateposts, to the top of the hill that faces Hebron, a distance of almost forty miles. (BBC)
  • Here there is no mention of God’s Spirit coming upon him; he simply picks up the gate…However, the narrative in vv. 1-22 consistently assumes Samson’s strength comes from God, even though it does not explicitly state that God empowers him each time (vv. 9, 12, 14). Once Samson’s hair has been cut, he loses his strength and the narrative explains that Yahweh had left him (v. 20). (FSB)

1 Peter 5

Observation & Interpretation

1 Peter 5:1 – Peter referred to himself as a “fellow elder”.

  • Peter’s appeal was based on the fact that he was a fellow elder and witness to Christ’s sufferings. This helped him identify fully with the elders he was addressing and gave added support for his plea. (CSB Notes)

1 Peter 5:3 – Peter tells the shepherds to not be domineering over those in their charge, but examples to the flock

  • Elders should be examples, no dictators. They should be walking out in front of the flock, not driving them from behind. They should not treat the flock as if it belonged to them. This strikes at the very heart of authoritarianism! (BBC)

1 Peter 5:13 – Peter references a “she” at Babylon in his final greeting

  • It is impossible to state with certainty who or what is meant by [”she”]. (BBC)
  • The “she” who sends her greetings is not Peter’s wife but the Christian congregation as a whole that is present with Peter as he writes. (ESVEC – Comment)

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