Judges 16:1-10

Context

Samson’s Downfall

16:1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her.¹ 16:2 The Gazites were told,² “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town³ and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave.⁴ They relaxed⁵ all night, thinking,⁶ “He will not leave⁷ until morning comes;⁸ then we will kill him!” 16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left.⁹ He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all.¹⁰ He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.¹¹

16:4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 16:5 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 humiliate¹² him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”¹³ 16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh¹⁴ bowstrings¹⁵ that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they tied him up with them. 16:9 They hid¹⁶ in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here,¹⁷ Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire.¹⁸ The secret of his strength was not discovered.¹⁹

16:10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived²⁰ me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.”

[16:1] ¹tn Heb “and he went in to her.” The idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations.

[16:2] ²tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”

[16:2] ³tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.

[16:2] ⁴tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”

[16:2] ⁵tn Heb “were silent.”

[16:2] ⁶tn Heb “saying.”

[16:2] ⁷tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[16:2] ⁸tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

[16:3] ⁹tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”

[16:3] ¹⁰tn Heb “with the bar.”

[16:3] ¹¹tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”

[16:5] ¹²tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”

[16:6] ¹³tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”

[16:7] ¹⁴tn Or “moist.”

[16:7] ¹⁵tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.

[16:9] ¹⁶tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vÿha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).

[16:9] ¹⁷tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:9] ¹⁸tn Heb “when it smells fire.”

[16:9] ¹⁹tn Heb “His strength was not known.”

[16:10] ²⁰tn 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.