But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
The Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, х wayªnaqruw (H5365), they dug out]. To this cruel privation prisoners of rank and consequence have commonly been subjected in the East, and the punishment is inflicted in various ways-by piercing the eye, or destroying the sight by holding a red-hot iron before the eyes, or by scooping out the eye-balls, which was the punishment inflicted on rebels and formidable enemies.
And brought him down to Gaza. They chose it, probably, as their strongest fortress, though the most distant from the valley of Sorek, where he was entrapped, experience having taught them that he was a dangerous foe; and the greatest precautions were needed for the confinement of so important a captive. His security was made doubly sure by his being bound with fetters of brass (copper), not of leather, like other captives.
Did grind in the prison house. This grinding with hand millstones being the employment of menials, he was set to it as the deepest degradation.