Delilah Extracts His Secret

15 Then she said to him, “(A)How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” 16 And it came about, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was [a]annoyed to death. 17 So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a (B)Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent word and called the governors of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the governors of the Philistines came up to her and brought up the money in their hands. 19 And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to humble him, and his strength left him. 20 She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that (C)the Lord had departed from him.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:16 Lit impatient to the point of

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’(A) when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time(B) you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.(C) 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17 So he told her everything.(D) “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite(E) dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines(F), “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.(G) 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[a] And his strength left him.(H)

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(I)

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:19 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and he began to weaken