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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Judges 16:4 - 16:21
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Samson and Delilah
v. 4. And it came to pass afterward, some time after this exploit, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. This was not very far from his home place, and he entered into an unlawful union with this woman, whose name is purposely mentioned, for she, by her sinful fascination, debilitated his strength.
v. 5. And the lords of the Philistines, well acquainted with the power of voluptuousness, came up unto her and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, by making use of every possible allurement she was to find out the secret of his great strength, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, to get him into their power and permanently to subdue him; and we will give thee, everyone of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver, a sum totaling between 3,000 and 3,500 dollars, frankly bribe money. As a true daughter of Philistia the woman agreed to sell the man who trusted her so foolishly.
v. 6. And Delilah said to Samson, feigning a flattering reverence for his great strength, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee, so that some one might get him into his power.
v. 7. And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withes, seven cords of animal tendons not yet stretched, that were never dried, then shall I be weak and be as another man, endowed with only the normal strength of the average man.
v. 8. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, ropes made of fresh tendons, and she bound him with them, very likely with an air of playfulness.
v. 9. Now there were men lying in wait, in ambush, abiding with her in the chamber, for she had permitted a Philistine spy to conceal himself in the inner apartment. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he, momentarily brought back to his senses by her cry of treason, brake the withes as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire, when it is brought near enough to feel the fire's heat. So his strength was not known.
v. 10. And Delilah said unto Samson, "with the brazen effrontery characteristic of women whose charms are great and whose hearts are bad," Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies; now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
v. 11. And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, that had never been used for any kind of work, then shall I be weak and be as another man.
v. 12. Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him therewith, again as unconcerned as possible, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers-in-wait abiding in the chamber; she had again permitted a Philistine spy to conceal himself in the inner apartment. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
v. 13. And Delilah said unto Samson, her avarice and vexation goading her on, Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies; tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. She is past cajolery and now demands to know. And he said unto her, coming ever nearer to the full truth, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web, namely, that on the loom standing in her apartment, as common, in those days, as a spinning-wheel was at later periods in other countries.
v. 14. And she, acting upon his suggestion, wove the long hair of his head into her web as woof, and then fastened it with the pin, the batten which is used to beat up the weft, thus clamping his hair securely to the loom, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, for he had fallen asleep while she was operating the loom, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web, he wrenched his hair loose and left the disappointed woman with her loom.
v. 15. And she said unto him, at his next visit, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? She reproached him with the insincerity of his regard for her, since real affection would have no secrets from her. Thou hast mocked me these three times and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
v. 16. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, ceaselessly teasing and boring him to death, so that his soul was vexed unto death, plagued with impatience with her and so weary that the freshness and keenness of his mind were gone from him,
v. 17. that he told her all his heart, he unfolded to her the innnermost secrets of his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.
v. 18. And when Delilah saw, judging from his entire attitude, that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, who had evidently become doubtful as to results, saying, Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand, for Delilah would undoubtedly not have gone ahead with her betrayal of her lover unless she had had the definite assurance that the money which she coveted would be forthcoming.
v. 19. And she made him, Samson, sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, one of those concealed in ambush in her apartment, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, she, the weak woman, was strong enough to manage him, and his strength went from him.
v. 20. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself, thus freeing himself from the fetters and from the hands of the Philistines. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him, with the clipping of his hair, with the end of his Nazarite state, Jehovah had gone from him.
v. 21. But the Philistines took him, laid hold on him in avenging hatred, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass, as a safeguard against his escaping; and he did grind in the prison-house, condemned to the lowest work of female slaves. That is the invariable result if men love the lusts of the world, especially such sins against the Sixth Commandment. He who yields to the temptation several times will become weaker with every attack made upon him, until he becomes a slave of sin.