Judges 16

One day Samson went to the city of Gaza. He saw a prostitute there, and he went in to sleep with her.

1Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

NoteGaza was one of the five main Philistine cities, on the coastal plain well inside enemy territory, a long way from Samson's home in the hill country border villages. The Philistines were a people settled along the coast who dominated this part of the land in Samson's time.

2The people of Gaza were told, "Samson has come here." So they surrounded the place and waited in hiding for him all night at the city gate. They stayed quiet all night, saying, "When morning comes and it is light, we will kill him."

2And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

NoteA walled town had one or two gateways, shut and barred at night. A man inside after dark could not get out, so posting men at the gate was how you sealed the city and guaranteed a prisoner by morning.

3But Samson only lay there until midnight. At midnight he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts, and pulled them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

3And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

NoteThe gate doors, their two posts and the bar that locked them formed the whole locking assembly, set into the wall, carrying them off left the city standing open. Hebron lies roughly forty miles inland from Gaza and thousands of feet higher; "the hill that faces Hebron" may mean the hill overlooking the town itself or a height on the road toward it. Either way the distance is the point of the story.

4Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman who lived in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah.

4And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

NoteThe Valley of Sorek runs between the Israelite hill country and the Philistine plain, border ground where the two peoples met. The text never says whether Delilah was an Israelite or a Philistine.

5The rulers of the Philistines came to her and said, "Coax him, and find out what makes him so strong and how we can overpower him, so we can tie him up and break him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."

5And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

Note"Rulers" translates a special Philistine title used in the Bible only for the heads of their five cities; they act here as a council. Silver was not yet minted as coins but weighed out in pieces (shekels), so eleven hundred pieces from each of the five is an enormous sum, elsewhere in Judges a hired priest works for ten pieces of silver a year.

6So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong, and what could be used to tie you up and break your strength."

6And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

7Samson told her, "If they tie me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried out, I will be weak, like any other man."

7And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

NoteBowstrings were made from animal sinew or gut. Fresh and still undried, they are at their toughest and most elastic, so seven of them would be the strongest binding to hand. Seven recurs through this episode (seven bowstrings, seven braids) a number that carried a sense of completeness.

8So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried out, and she tied him up with them.

8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9Now men were hiding in the inner room with her. She called out to him, "Samson, the Philistines are on you!" But he snapped the bowstrings the way a strand of fiber snaps when it touches fire. So no one learned the secret of his strength.

9Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

Note"The Philistines are on you" is a shout of alarm, the equivalent of "they're here, they're coming for you", not a statement that they have already seized him.

10Then Delilah said to Samson, "Look, you have made a fool of me and told me lies. Now please tell me what could be used to tie you up."

10And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.

11He said to her, "If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have never been used, I will be weak, like any other man."

11And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

12So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then she called out to him, "Samson, the Philistines are on you!" Men were hiding in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like threads.

12Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

13Then Delilah said to Samson, "Up to now you have made a fool of me and told me lies. Tell me what could be used to tie you up." He said to her, "If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the cloth on a loom."

13And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

NoteWeaving was done on an upright loom: the "web" is the cloth being formed on it, and the pin is the peg or beater that holds the threads tight. Samson's hair is to be woven in among the threads as though it were part of the fabric. The Hebrew text of this verse is unusually short: it gives Samson's instruction but not the promised result, and ancient Greek manuscripts preserve a longer form that also supplies the missing "then I will be weak, like any other man."

14So she fastened the cloth tight with the pin and called out to him, "Samson, the Philistines are on you!" But he woke up from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the cloth.

14And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

15She said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? Three times now you have made a fool of me, and you have not told me what makes you so strong."

15And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16She kept pressing him with her words day after day and kept begging him, until he was worn out and sick of it, tired to death.

16And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17So he told her everything in his heart. He said, "No razor has ever touched my head, because I have been set apart to God as a Nazirite from the day I was born. If my head is shaved, my strength will leave me. I will become weak, like any other man."

17That he told her all 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.

NoteA Nazirite was someone under a particular vow, described in Numbers 6: no wine or anything from the grapevine, no cutting of the hair, and no going near a dead body. It was normally taken for a set period; Samson's applied from birth and for life. The uncut hair was the outward, visible sign of the vow, which is why cutting it matters.

18Delilah saw that he had told her everything in his heart. She sent word to the rulers of the Philistines: "Come up one more time, because he has told me everything in his heart." So the rulers of the Philistines came up to her, bringing the money with them.

18And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19She lulled him to sleep on her lap. Then she called for a man and had him shave off the seven braids of Samson's hair. In this way she began to break him, and his strength left him.

19And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20She called out, "Samson, the Philistines are on you!" He woke up from his sleep and thought, "I will get free as I did the other times, and shake myself loose." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

20And 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. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.

21The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They took him down to Gaza, tied him with bronze chains, and put him to work grinding grain in the prison.

21But 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.

NoteBlinding was a standard way of making a dangerous captive harmless. Grinding grain by hand at a millstone was heavy, endless labor normally assigned to women and slaves, so the sentence describes a deliberate degradation as much as a punishment.

22But the hair on his head began to grow back after it was shaved off.

22Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

23The rulers of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, "Our god has handed Samson our enemy over to us."

23Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

NoteDagon was a god worshiped widely across the region and associated with grain; the Philistines had temples to him at Gaza and elsewhere. A "great sacrifice" meant a public animal offering followed by a feast on the meat, which is why the celebration in the next verses is a drinking party.

24When the people saw him, they praised their god. They said, "Our god has handed over to us our enemy, the man who ruined our land and killed so many of us."

24And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

25When they were feeling good from the celebration, they said, "Call for Samson, so he can entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They stood him between the pillars.

25And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

NoteThe word rendered "entertain" can mean to perform or play, or to be laughed at. Samson may be being made to caper and show off his strength, or simply paraded as an object of mockery; the text does not settle which.

26Samson said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars that hold up the building, so I can lean on them."

26And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

27Now the building was full of men and women. All the rulers of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof, watching Samson entertain them.

27Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

NotePhilistine temples excavated in this region had roofs carried on two main wooden pillars set on stone bases, spaced closely enough that one man could reach both. The flat roof served as extra standing room for spectators looking down into the hall below.

28Then Samson called out to the LORD. He said, "Lord GOD, please remember me. Please make me strong just this one time, God, so that with one blow I can pay the Philistines back for my two eyes."

28And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

NoteWhere this rendering prints LORD or GOD in capitals, it stands for God's personal name, Yahweh, which the King James translators represented that way rather than spelling out. "Lord GOD" here combines the ordinary word for a master with that name.

29Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that the building rested on and was held up by. He braced his right hand against one and his left hand against the other.

29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

30Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." He pushed with all his strength, and the building fell on the rulers and on all the people inside. So the number he killed at his death was greater than the number he had killed during his life.

30And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

31Then his brothers and his father's whole family came down, took his body, and carried it back. They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had led Israel as judge for twenty years.

31Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

NoteA "judge" in this book is a leader raised up in a crisis to rescue and then govern the people, not primarily an official who hears legal cases. Zorah and Eshtaol are the small border towns where Samson was born and where the story of his life began, so he is buried where he started.