Now the house was full of men and women
Within it, who were gathered together from all parts of the city, and perhaps from other places on this occasion:
and all the lords of the Philistines were there;
their five lords, the lords of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron:
and there were upon the roof three thousand men and women;
it being a flat roof, as the houses in Canaan and Phoenicia, and the places adjacent, were; see ( Deuteronomy 22:8 ) and there might be some openings or windows in several parts of it, through which the people might see who were below them, and were within the house, and what was doing there, and particularly could have a sight of Samson through them as follows:
that beheld while Samson made sport;
or was made a sport of; while he was buffeted and used in a ludicrous manner.