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Judges 16:4-22
Lexham English Bible

4 After this he fell in love with a woman in the wadi[a] of Sorek, and her name was Delilah. 5 And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and said, “Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?” 7 Samson said to her, “If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else.” 8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that were not dried up, and she tied him up with them. 9 The ambush was sitting in wait for her in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you Samson!” And he snapped the bowstrings just as flax fiber snaps when it comes close to fire. And the secret of his strength remained unknown. 10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you can be bound.” 11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, I will become weak and be like everyone else.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” (The ambush was sitting in an inner room.) But he snapped them from his arms like thread.

13 And Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told lies to me. Tell me how you can be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave seven locks of my head with warp-threads.”[b] 14 She fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And Samson woke up from his sleep and tore loose the loom pin of the web and the warp-threads.[c]

15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me how your strength is so great.” 16 And because she nagged him day after day with her words, and pestered him, his soul grew impatient to the point of death.[d] 17 So he confided everything to her,[e] and he said to her, “A razor has never touched[f] my head, for I am a Nazirite of God[g] from birth.[h] If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.

18 Delilah realized that he had confided in her,[i] so she sent and called the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up one more time, for he has confided in me.”[j] And the rulers of the Philistines came up, and they brought the money with them.[k] 19 And she put him to sleep on her lap; then she called the men[l] and shaved off seven locks of his head. Then she began to subdue him,[m] and his strength went away from him. 20 And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he woke up from his sleep and said, “I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free,” but he did not know that Yahweh had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him, gouged his eyes, and brought him to Gaza. They tied him up with bronze shackles, and he became a grinder in the prison.[n] 22 But the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved off.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:4 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  2. Judges 16:13 Many modern translations include an additional phrase found in the Greek translation: “and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like everyone else. So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them”
  3. Judges 16:14 Hebrew “warp-thread”
  4. Judges 16:16 Literally “his inner self grew tired/impatient to death”
  5. Judges 16:17 Literally “he told her all his heart”
  6. Judges 16:17 Literally “has never gone up”
  7. Judges 16:17 Literally “consecrated of God” or “devoted of God”
  8. Judges 16:17 Literally “from the womb of my mother”
  9. Judges 16:18 Literally “he had told her all his heart”
  10. Judges 16:18 Literally “he has told me all his heart”
  11. Judges 16:18 Literally “in their hand”
  12. Judges 16:19 Hebrew “man”
  13. Judges 16:19 Or “humiliate him”
  14. Judges 16:21 Literally “in the house of the prisoners”
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Judges 16:4-22
New English Translation

4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate[a] him. Each one of us will give you 1,100 silver pieces.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”[b] 7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh[c] bowstrings[d] that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 They hid[e] in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here,[f] Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire.[g] The secret of his strength was not discovered.[h]

10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived[i] me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used,[j] I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[k] Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.)[l] But he tore the ropes[m] from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair[n] into the fabric on the loom[o] and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[p] Samson!”[q] He woke up[r] and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me?[s] Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16 She nagged him[t] every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it.[u] 17 Finally he told her his secret.[v] He said to her, “My hair has never been cut,[w] for I have been dedicated to God[x] from the time I was conceived.[y] If my head[z] were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak and be just like all other men.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret,[aa] she sent for[ab] the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me[ac] his secret.”[ad] So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 19 She made him go to sleep on her lap[ae] and then called a man in to shave off[af] the seven braids of his hair.[ag] She made him vulnerable[ah] and his strength left him. 20 She said, “The Philistines are here,[ai] Samson!” He woke up[aj] and thought,[ak] “I will do as I did before[al] and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 21 The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 22 His hair[am] began to grow back after it had been shaved off.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:5 tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”
  2. Judges 16:6 tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”
  3. Judges 16:7 tn Or “moist.”
  4. Judges 16:7 tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.
  5. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vehaʾorev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).
  6. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  7. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “when it smells fire.”
  8. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “His strength was not known.”
  9. Judges 16:10 tn See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II תָּלַל, talal), which also occurs in v. 13.
  10. Judges 16:11 tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”
  11. Judges 16:12 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  12. Judges 16:12 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”
  13. Judges 16:12 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. Judges 16:13 tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.
  15. Judges 16:13 tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.
  16. Judges 16:14 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  17. Judges 16:14 tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.
  18. Judges 16:14 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  19. Judges 16:15 tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”
  20. Judges 16:16 tn Heb “forced him with her words.”
  21. Judges 16:16 tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”
  22. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “all his heart.”
  23. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”
  24. Judges 16:17 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
  25. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”
  26. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).
  27. Judges 16:18 tn Heb “all his heart.”
  28. Judges 16:18 tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”
  29. Judges 16:18 tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).
  30. Judges 16:18 tn Heb “all his heart.”
  31. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.
  32. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.
  33. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.
  34. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.
  35. Judges 16:20 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  36. Judges 16:20 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  37. Judges 16:20 tn Heb “and said.”
  38. Judges 16:20 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
  39. Judges 16:22 tn Heb “the hair of his head.”
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