Judges 16:4-6

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 humiliate ¹  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.” ² 

Judges 16:15-21

16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? ³  Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16:16 She nagged him ⁴  every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it. ⁵  16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ⁶  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ⁷  for I have been dedicated to God ⁸  from the time I was conceived. ⁹  If my head ¹⁰  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.” 16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, ¹¹  she sent for ¹²  the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me ¹³  his secret.” ¹⁴  So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap ¹⁵  and then called a man in to shave off ¹⁶  the seven braids of his hair. ¹⁷  She made him vulnerable ¹⁸  and his strength left him. 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, ¹⁹  Samson!” He woke up ²⁰  and thought, ²¹  “I will do as I did before ²²  and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 16:21 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.

[16:5]  ¹ tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”

[16:6]  ² tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”

[16:15]  ³ tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”

[16:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “forced him with her words.”

[16:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

[16:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:18]  ¹² tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”

[16:18]  ¹³ tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).

[16:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

[16:19]  ¹⁶ 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.

[16:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

[16:19]  ¹⁸ 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.

[16:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:20]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “and said.”

[16:20]  ²² tn Heb “I will go out as before.”