Judges 16:15-17

16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? ¹  Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16:16 She nagged him ²  every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it. ³  16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ⁴  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ⁵  for I have been dedicated to God ⁶  from the time I was conceived. ⁷  If my head ⁸  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

[16:15]  ¹ tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”

[16:16]  ² tn Heb “forced him with her words.”

[16:16]  ³ tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”

[16:17]  ³ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17]  ⁵ 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”).

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).