Bible Strands
Judges 16:31
Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative follows Samson’s final act of collapsing the Philistine temple, as his kin retrieve his body for burial and the text records the duration of his leadership.
The words — The verbs וַ/יִּשְׂא֣וּ (va/i.yis.'U) = and they carried and וַֽ/יַּעֲל֣וּ (va/i.ya.'a.Lu) = and they brought [him] up describe the physical retrieval and transport of Samson’s corpse for interment.
The thread — The burial site between Zorah and Eshtaol recalls Judges 13:25 where the Spirit first stirred Samson, while the twenty-year judgeship summarizes Judges 15:20 and grounds his legacy in Judges 13:2.
Why it lands — The text states the facts of Samson’s burial and the length of his service before drawing any conclusion, requiring the reader to weigh his violent end against the institutional continuity of his leadership.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Cross-references
- Judges 15:20 And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
- Judges 13:2 Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.
- Judges 13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
- John 19:39 Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
- Joshua 19:41 The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,