STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS. 147

that lay near, and with it he slew a thousand men. If
they offered to resist, their resistance was vain; but it
is very probable that they were paralyzed by terror at
his wonderful strength, and the suddenness of his attack.
In memory of this achievement, Samson gave a new
name to the place where it happened; he called it
Ramath Lehi, which means the lifting up of the jaw
bone. Lest he should be exalted in his own strength,
and forget the God from whom he derived it all, ‘imme-
diately after this he was made to suffer greatly from
thirst, so that he was like to die for want of water. In
his distress he cried to God, who answered him by
causing a fountain of water to spring up in a hollow
place that was beside. Thankfully he drank of it, and
called the fountain Enhakkore, which means the.well of
him that cried.

The next great feat that Samson performed was in
Gaza, a town which had belonged to the tribe of Judah,
but had fallen into the hands of the Philistines. As
soon as the people of Gaza knew that Samson was in
their town, they locked their gates, and set guards to
seize him when he made an attempt to leave. To the
gates the Danite went, and lifted these strong doors
with their posts and bars ; he put them on his shoulders
and carried them to the top of a hill, where his own
countrymen from Hebron could see them to their com-
fort, and his enemies from Gaza could see them to their
confusion. The Philistines now became convinced that
if they conquered Samson at all it must be by stratagem.