שופטים, פרק ט״ז, פסוק כ״א

Samson’s tragic fall transforms him from an invincible leader into a humiliated, helpless prisoner. Once the secret of his supernatural strength is exposed and leaves him, he is reduced to an ordinary man, allowing the Philistines to easily overpower him [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Immediately after capturing him, his enemies cruelly gouge out his eyes [מצודת ציון]. This brutal punishment is not a random act of violence. According to the Sages, Samson was led astray by his eyes when he pursued Philistine women, and therefore he suffers a measure-for-measure consequence. Another perspective views this injury as a spiritual correction, suggesting he indirectly caused the blindness of the biblical patriarch Isaac [חומת אנך].

Following his blinding, Samson is taken down to Gaza. This journey is more than just a change of location; it represents a symbolic closing of a circle, as Gaza is the very place where his moral decline first began [רש"י]. There, he is bound in heavy copper chains and shackles [מצודת ציון, רד"ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

In the prison, Samson is sentenced to hard labor at the millstone. The primary approach among commentators understands this literally as grueling and degrading physical work [מצודת דוד]. It was standard practice at the time to place millstones inside prisons so that chained inmates could work to sustain themselves [רד"ק]. Given his large physical stature, even without his supernatural power, Samson may have been forced to push a massive millstone typically turned by beasts of burden. This monotonous, circular labor was uniquely suited for him, as it did not require eyesight [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Conversely, a tradition from the Sages understands this prison labor in a completely different light. According to this view, the Philistines brought their wives to the prison hoping they would conceive from Samson and give birth to mighty warriors like him [רש"י]. While some commentators reject this idea, arguing it defies logic since Samson had already lost his extraordinary strength [רד"ק], others resolve the tradition in a unique way. They explain that the Philistines did not actually force Samson to be with their wives. Instead, the husbands would have relations with their own wives in his presence, believing that if the women simply looked at Samson during the act, they would produce strong, resilient children [אלשיך].