Judges 6:14

6:14 Then the Lord himself ¹  turned to him and said, “You have the strength. ²  Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! ³  Have I not sent you?”

Judges 16:6

16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.” ⁴ 

Judges 16:19

16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap ⁵  and then called a man in to shave off ⁶  the seven braids of his hair. ⁷  She made him vulnerable ⁸  and his strength left him.

[6:14]  ¹ sn Some interpreters equate the Lord and the messenger in this story, but they are more likely distinct. In vv. 22-23 the Lord and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21).

[6:14]  ² tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”

[6:14]  ³ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

[16:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”

[16:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

[16:19]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

[16:19]  ¹⁰ 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.