It is the acts of injustice by the Philistines that are the main cause of the escalation of violence in the account and that justly culminate in the destruction of Gaza’s temple, the Philistine rulers, and their subjects. Samson’s retaliations prove that he is operating on the same principle as they are. Working backward, Polzin summarizes that the Philistines want Samson for slaughtering their own people; but he had done this because they had killed his wife and father-in-law; but they had done this because he had burned their fields; but he had done this because his father-in-law had given
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