But Samson slept till midnight, and then rising, he took both the doors of the gate, with the posts thereof and the bolt, and laying them on his shoulders, carried them up to the top of the hill, which looketh towards Hebron.
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֣ב שִׁמְשׁוֹן֮ עַד־חֲצִ֣י הַלַּיְלָה֒ וַיָּ֣קָם ׀ בַּחֲצִ֣י הַלַּ֗יְלָה וַיֶּאֱחֹ֞ז בְּדַלְת֤וֹת שַֽׁעַר־הָעִיר֙ וּבִשְׁתֵּ֣י הַמְּזוּז֔וֹת וַיִּסָּעֵם֙ עִֽם־הַבְּרִ֔יחַ וַיָּ֖שֶׂם עַל־כְּתֵפָ֑יו וַֽיַּעֲלֵם֙ אֶל־רֹ֣אשׁ הָהָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י חֶבְרֽוֹן׃
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Yet he, aware of the plot unfolding against him, took decisive action. At midnight, he embraced the pillars of the house and lifted the entire structure to rest upon his mighty shoulders, bearing it effortlessly to the peak of the tallest mountain near Hebron, the city where the Israelites resided.
When Samson arrived in Gaza, the city inhabited by the Philistines, word quickly spread, and they promptly surrounded the city, stationed guards, believing they had captured Samson's remarkable strength. However, we know how Samson acted. In the dead of night, he lifted the city gates and took them to the mountaintop. Beloved brethren, who else could Samson symbolize but our Savior? What does Gaza represent if not the realm of the dead? And who else do the Philistines signify but the betrayal of the Jews? They, upon realizing that the Lord had died and His body was sealed in a tomb, set watchmen around it (see Matthew 27:62-66). They reveled in the belief that they had confined Him, who is the source of all life, behind the gates of the underworld, just as Samson was held in Gaza.
Yet Samson not only emerged in the darkness but also carried away the city gates, for our Savior, rising before the break of day, not only escaped hell but also shattered its gates. Samson took the gates and ascended to the mountain because our Redeemer has risen, breaking through the gates of hell and ascending to enter the heavenly kingdom.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS