THEOSISAmbrose of Milan
Samson not only refrained from living with the woman who had betrayed him, but he also returned to his homeland. The young woman, in her fear of the anger of the man she had wronged and concerned that his wrath might be directed toward her, agreed to marry another—a man whom Samson considered a close ally, referred to as his friend in marriage. Despite the justification placed upon this new union, she was not spared from the threat of his fury. When it became known that he had been denied the chance to see his wife, due to her father’s claim of her new marriage, which included a proposal for him to wed her sister if he wished, Samson, deeply wounded by this deceit, schemed a plan for revenge against the entire nation, tormented by his personal grievance.
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He captured three hundred foxes at the tail end of the summer harvest, using the ripe grain fields as his backdrop, and attached torches to their tails, securing them tightly. To exact vengeance, he released the foxes into the unharvested fields of the Philistines. The animals, frantic with fire, spread flames wherever they dashed, consuming the stacks of grain and the unharvested crops. Alarmed by the devastation, since their entire harvest had been destroyed, the owners of the fields reported the loss to their leaders. They sent messengers to the woman of Phimnatha, now married to multiple husbands, addressing her home and family. They proclaimed that she was the instigator of this calamity and warned that it was unjust for an aggrieved husband to enact vengeance upon an entire nation.
Samson’s actions in tying torches to the tails of the foxes serve as a metaphor for those who seek to ignite discord among others, making more noise than sense, as those who reject the Word are left without true speech. While their mouths may be unrestrained now, they will ultimately face judgment, with the torches they carry symbolizing their fated consumption by fire in the end.