An appropriate punishment. Samson’s unsanctified desire to gaze upon the beauties of unholy women had lured him on from one unhallowed experience to another, and finally became the immediate cause of his capture by the Philistines.

The Philistines chose to spare Samson’s life, evidently to sustain their vanity at their great achievement. Yet they feared that at any time Samson’s tremendous strength might return. To be safe in such event, they put out his eyes, probably by burning them with a hot iron or by puncturing them with a sharp instrument. Both methods were used in antiquity.

They made him turn a heavy mill, probably such as usually was turned by an ox or an ass.