[It was told] the Gazites, saying, Samson is come here. They compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, [Let be] until morning light, then we will kill him.
"As the gates of ancient cities were often nail-studded and covered with metal to prevent them from being burnt during an attack, the weight may have been greater than that of the timber itself." [Note: Cundall and Morris, p. 174. For a diagram of a typical city gate complex and a discussion of the difficulty of removing the gates undetected, see Block, Judges . . ., p. 450.] 