Judges 16:7

Context
16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh¹ bowstrings² that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Judges 16:13

Context

16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair³ into the fabric on the loom⁴ and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

Judges 16:15-17

Context

16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me?⁵ Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16:16 She nagged him⁶ every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it.⁷ 16:17 Finally he told her his secret.⁸ He said to her, “My hair has never been cut,⁹ for I have been dedicated to God¹⁰ from the time I was conceived.¹¹ If my head¹² were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

[16:7] ¹tn Or “moist.”

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

[16:13] ³tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.

[16:13] ⁴tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.

[16:15] ⁵tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”

[16:16] ⁶tn Heb “forced him with her words.”

[16:16] ⁷tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”

[16:17] ⁸tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17] ⁹tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17] ¹⁰tn 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] ¹¹tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17] ¹²tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).