Judges 16:21
But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
This verse belongs to the life story of Samson, whose course was darkened by his associations and marriage among the Philistines. His ruin followed infatuation with a lewd woman and breaking his lifelong Nazarite vow, and her influence separated him from God.
After yielding to sexual temptation and sinful indulgence, he surrendered the secret of his strength and betrayed the strength God had given him into the hands of the Philistines. The Philistines then seized him, put out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, bound him in prison, and forced him to grind and perform hard menial labor. His blindness, captivity, and menial work mark the fall of Israel's former judge, champion, and defense, the man called to serve Israel, who lost strength, reputation, and usefulness and ended in degradation and death under his enemies' power.
His strength was not in his hair itself; his unshaven hair was a sign of loyalty to God as a Nazirite, and when he sacrificed that sign through sinful conduct he forfeited the blessings it represented, and the Lord departed from him. His physical strength could not make up for his failure to govern himself and rely on God, and his blindness to sin led him toward destruction. Satan used the woman and his other agents to destroy Israel's ruler and remove the mysterious power that had intimidated God's enemies, for Samson gave to a woman the love and service due to God, making her his idol, and sacrificed his honor, conscience, and other valuable interests to passion.
In suffering and humiliation he was given time to recognize his weakness and was led to repentance, and as his hair grew it gradually indicated the return of his extraordinary strength, though his captors did not realize it. The verse warns that yielding to temptation leads to ruin, showing the danger of indulging temptation and ignoring warnings. It warns against confusing lust of the flesh with Christlike love, for as Samson was deceived and overcome through Delilah, so another man was likewise blinded by Satan through a woman's charms. It illustrates how a woman's charms can leave a man spiritually blinded and enslaved to lust, as Samson was blinded and brought into bondage after Delilah's betrayal. It warns that, like Samson under Delilah's influence, a man who lets his wife become a snare may be drawn farther from God and lose strength.