Judges 16:29 (LSB)

Passage

Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house was established and supported himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:27 Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And about 3,000 men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them.

Judges 16:28 Then Samson called to Yahweh and said, “O Lord Yahweh, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.”

Judges 16:29 Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house was established and supported himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.

Judges 16:30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with his strength so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he put to death by his death were more than those whom he put to death in his life.

Judges 16:31 Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down, carried him, brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of Manoah his father. Thus he had judged Israel twenty years.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samson", "grasped", "middle", "pillars", "house", "established", "supported", and "himself". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "samson" and "grasped", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "Then Samson called to Yahweh and said..." into verse 30's "And Samson said Let me die with...", so "samson" and "grasped" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "samson" and "grasped" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.