The people of Gaza carefully planned how to capture Samson, but they were no match for him, as he carried out a series of quick, decisive actions. Not only did he escape unnoticed from the prostitute’s house, he also stripped the town of its defenses and walked calmly away from their threat. Exactly how Samson managed to remove the gates and escape without anyone noticing is not explained. The emphasis is on the way Samson tricked the people of Gaza. There are links back to the Ehud story, since yet again, a single Israelite outsmarts many foreigners.

But Samson lay till midnight: But is a good rendering of the Hebrew waw conjunction since it expresses the ironic contrast between the townspeople waiting outside in the night and Samson lying asleep in his bed. Lay means “lay [in bed],” supposedly asleep, but elsewhere in the Old Testament and in this context, the Hebrew verb here also has sexual overtones. We may say “stayed in bed” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) or even “stayed with the woman.” Till midnight is literally “until the middle of the night.” This phrase seems to make fun of the Philistines. They had planned to wait “all night” and catch Samson early in the morning. In the meantime Samson is already planning his escape. He only stays at the prostitute’s house until midnight. Languages have many different ways to express midnight and a natural equivalent can be used here. New International Version says “But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night,” highlighting how Samson was always several steps ahead of the Philistines.

And at midnight he arose is literally “and he arose in the middle of the night.” There is no indication that Samson knew about the people’s plan, but he still outwits them. The repetition of the word midnight seems to mock the Philistines. The key Hebrew verb rendered arose (qum) has its regular meaning here: “get out of bed,” but of course, here it is very ironic, since it is the same verb used throughout this book to mark the beginning of each judge’s saving act (see comments on verse 2.16). Here along with its literal meaning, it indicates another occasion when an Israelite hero “arises” to outwit Israel’s enemies.

And took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts means Samson grabbed these structures with his two hands. The narrator leaves out a step in the narration, and some will want to make explicit that “Samson went to the city gate and took hold….” The doors of the gate may seem an unusual phrase, since in some languages doors and gate may refer to the same thing. The gate of the city refers to a large area, including the entrance, the doors, and an open area or court, where there could also be guard rooms (see verse 9.35). The doors were made of thick wooden planks and were fixed at the outer side of the gate area. They were closed each evening. Often a bar was placed across the two doors to secure them. The locked doors prevented anyone from going in or out of the city. In many languages it may be easier to speak either of the doors or the gate. Good News Translation, for example, says “and took hold of the city gate….” The two posts refers to the posts at either side of the entrance that supported the doors.

And pulled them up, bar and all: This is clearly a superhuman feat, since Samson takes hold of this entire structure, yanking up even the posts that fixed the doors in place. While many languages will express this upward movement with a word such as up, some languages may say, Samson “pulled them out.” Bar and all is a dynamic rendering of the Hebrew, which is literally “with the bar.” The bar refers to a heavy beam of wood that stretched from one doorpost to the other, preventing the doors from being pushed open. When Samson picked up the doors and their posts, the bar came away with them. Good News Translation says “lock,” which is not a good rendering. We might say “he picked up the doors, along with the posts holding them in place and the wood that kept them shut.” Contemporary English Version leaves the word bar untranslated, which is another possible option, but all these details add to the overall impression that this was a truly superhuman feat.

And put them on his shoulders: Samson apparently picks up the doors, the posts, and the bar as though they were a light burden. The Hebrew verb rendered put (sim) is a very common word in this book, which in this context might be translated “lifted” (New International Version) or “hoisted” (Revised English Bible). On his shoulders specifies how he carried these heavy items. This detail is certainly why many illustrators picture Samson as a big man with wide shoulders.

And carried them: After hoisting the doors on his shoulders, Samson carries them off. In some languages this clause may be combined with the previous one, for example, “and carried them away on his shoulders.” However, in Hebrew the use of multiple verbs is a way of heightening the action in the story.

To the top of the hill that is before Hebron: Not only does Samson carry off the heavy doors, but he walks with them about 60 kilometers (40 miles) and carries them up a mountain! This feat adds to Samson’s renown. To the top of the hill is literally “to the head of the mountain.” This mountain was before Hebron (literally “on the face of Hebron”). New International Version is fairly literal with “faces Hebron,” but we could also say “near Hebron” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “across from Hebron” (New Living Translation), or “opposite Hebron” (New American Bible). The Hebrew prepositional phrase rendered before often means “to the east of,” so Revised English Bible says “east of Hebron.” Hebron, an ancient city associated with Abraham and a current city in Palestine, is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Jerusalem. During the period of the judges, it was located in the territory of Judah, on the crest of the mountains that ran north and south (see verse 1.10). The distance from Gaza to Hebron was approximately 60 kilometers (40 miles). This information could be put in a footnote or translators can assert the length of this trek by saying, for example, “all the way to the top of the hill that overlooks Hebron” (Contemporary English Version).

At the end of this verse the Septuagint adds “and placed them there,” but Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives the Hebrew text here an {A} rating, so it can be followed.

The main concern of the storyteller is to highlight Samson’s incredible feat of strength and endurance, as well as to underline the result of his act: the important sea town of Gaza is now utterly defenseless!

A translation model for this verse is:

• But Samson slept until the middle of the night. Then he got up, went to the city gate, and pulled out its doors, including their posts and the bar that closed them. He hoisted them up on his shoulders and walked all the way to the top of the hill, across from the town of Hebron.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .