STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS. 145

raised up by God to punish the Philistines for the injuries
they had inflicted upon Israel ; his connection with them
was permitted, that he might injure them the more.
After this Samson being much displeased with the con-
duct of his new relations, went home to his father’s house
for some’ time. When he came again to see his wife he
brought a kid to her, as a token that there was to be
peace between them. His father-in-law refused to let
him see her, telling him that she had got another husband,
and that he could take her younger sister if he liked.
Thus a cause was given to Samson for doing harm to the
Philistines, and he took a strange way of injuring them.
He took three hundred foxes and fastened them in couples,
tail to tail, and put a firebrand between each pair of
tails. When he let them go, they ran in among the
Philistines’ corn and set it on fire, both what had been
cut and what was still standing. It was in the time of
wheat harvest, so that all the corn was ripe, and would
be quite dry. Besides burning the corn, the firebrands
set on fire the vines and olive trees. Samson was moved
to do this by God, for the Philistines deserved this, and
more than this, because they had so long abused the
good gifts of the Almighty in giving them as offerings to
their false gods. The Philistines did not dare to revenge
this injury upon Samson himself, but they seized his wife
and father-in-law, and burnt them to death. Thus
strangely did the very death she had sinned to avoid
come upon this wife of Samson. Her fate teaches us
that we ought on no account to do what is wrong, even
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