CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Judges 16
Chapter 16 of 21
Chapter Overview
What happens in Judges 16
Samson's weakness for women leads to his downfall. After escaping a trap in Gaza, he falls in love with Delilah, who is bribed by the Philistines to discover the secret of his strength. He finally tells her about his Nazirite vow, and she betrays him. Blinded and imprisoned, Samson calls on God one last time and brings down the Philistine temple.
Scripture
Judges 16
Samson at Gaza
Study note
Samson went to Gaza, a major Philistine city, and visited a prostitute. The Gazites surrounded the city gate, planning to kill him at dawn. But Samson got up at midnight, pulled up the massive city gates along with the posts and crossbar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of a hill near Hebron, about 40 miles away. This demonstrated his incredible strength but also his reckless behavior.
1 Samson traveled to the Philistine city of Gaza. While he was there, he saw a prostitute and spent the night with her. Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
2 Word spread quickly through Gaza: "Samson is in town!" The people surrounded the area and waited at the city gate all through the night. They stayed quiet, planning to kill him when the sun came up. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 But Samson only stayed until midnight. He got up, grabbed the doors of the city gate along with both gateposts, and ripped the whole thing out of the ground, crossbar and all. He hoisted everything onto his shoulders and hauled it all the way to the top of the hill that overlooks Hebron. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
Delilah's Three Failed Attempts
Study note
Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah in the Valley of Sorek. The five Philistine rulers each offered her 1,100 pieces of silver to discover the secret of his strength. Three times Delilah asked, and three times Samson gave her false answers: fresh bowstrings, new ropes, and weaving his hair into a loom. Each time she tried to subdue him and called the Philistines, but Samson easily broke free. Despite this obvious pattern of betrayal, Samson kept coming back.
4 After that, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 The Philistine rulers went to Delilah and said, "Find out what makes him so exceedingly strong. Figure out how we can overpower him and tie him up so he cannot escape. If you do, each one of us will pay you eleven hundred pieces of silver." And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
6 So Delilah asked Samson, "Please tell me, what is the secret behind your amazing strength? How could anyone possibly tie you up and control you?" And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7 Samson made up a lie. He said, "Tie me with seven fresh cords that are not dried yet. Then I will lose my strength. I will be just like any other man." And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
8 The Philistine rulers gave Delilah seven fresh bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 She had soldiers hiding in another room the whole time. Then she shouted, "Samson! The Philistines are coming for you!" But he snapped those bowstrings apart as easily as a piece of string burns up when it touches a flame. His strength remained a mystery. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
10 Delilah scolded him, "You tricked me and told me a lie! Come on, tell me for real how you can be tied up." And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 He told her, "Tie me tight with new ropes. They must never have been used. Then I will be as weak as any other person." And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
12 So Delilah got new ropes and tied him up. Meanwhile, soldiers were hiding in the room again. She yelled, "Samson! The Philistines are coming for you!" But he broke those ropes off his arms like they were nothing but thin thread. Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
13 Delilah complained, "You keep lying to me and making a fool of me! Tell me the truth about how you can be tied up." He said, "Take the seven braids of my hair and weave them into a loom, then pin them tight. That will make me weak." And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
14 While he was sleeping, she wove his hair into the loom and pinned it tight. Then she yelled, "Samson! The Philistines are coming for you!" He woke up and yanked the pin and loom right out, pulling his hair free. And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
Samson Reveals His Secret and Is Captured
Study note
Delilah pressured Samson daily, accusing him of not truly loving her. Eventually, worn down, he told her the truth: no razor had ever touched his head because he was a Nazirite from birth. If his head were shaved, his strength would leave him. Delilah called for a man to shave his hair while he slept. When Samson woke, he did not realize the Lord had left him. The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and put him to work grinding grain in prison. But his hair began to grow back.
15 Delilah said to him, "How can you keep telling me you love me when you will not even trust me? Three times now you have tricked me and refused to share the real secret of your strength." And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 Day after day she kept pushing him and nagging him about it. He got so worn down that he was ready to give up. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 So he finally opened up and told her everything. He said, "A razor has never touched my head. I have been set apart for God as a Nazirite from the day I was born. If anyone shaves my head, my strength will drain away and I will be just as weak as anyone else." That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
18 Delilah could tell he had finally shared the real truth. She sent a message to the Philistine rulers: "Come back one more time. He told me his whole secret." The Philistine rulers arrived at her door, cash in hand. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 She lulled Samson to sleep with his head resting in her lap. Then she called for a man to come in and shave off all seven braids of his hair. His strength started slipping away, and she began pushing him around. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 She called out, "Samson! The Philistines are coming for you!" He woke up thinking, "I will shake free like I always do." But he had no idea that the Lord had left him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 The Philistines seized him and gouged out both of his eyes. They dragged him down to Gaza, chained him up with heavy bronze shackles, and put him to work grinding grain in the prison. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
22 But slowly, his hair began growing back. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
Samson's Final Act
Study note
The Philistine rulers held a great celebration in the temple of their god Dagon, praising Dagon for delivering Samson to them. They brought Samson out to entertain them. About three thousand men and women packed the building and its roof. Samson asked the boy leading him to place him between the two main support pillars. He prayed to God for strength one last time, then pushed the pillars apart, collapsing the entire building. He killed more Philistines in his death than in his entire life. His family retrieved his body and buried him near his father.
23 The Philistine rulers threw a great celebration and offered a big sacrifice to their god Dagon. They cheered, "Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, right over to us!" Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 When the crowd saw Samson, they praised their god. They shouted, "Our god gave us the man who destroyed our land and killed so many of our people!" And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
25 As everyone's spirits got higher and higher, they demanded, "Bring Samson out here so we can watch him perform!" They hauled Samson out of prison and made him entertain the crowd. Then they stood him between the two main pillars of the temple. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26 Samson whispered to the boy who was guiding him, "Put my hands on the pillars that hold this building up. I want to lean against them." And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 The temple was packed wall to wall with men and women. Every one of the Philistine rulers was inside. On the roof above, around three thousand more people were watching Samson perform. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 Samson cried out to the Lord, "Lord God, please remember me! Give me strength just one last time, God, so I can make the Philistines pay for gouging out my eyes." And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 Samson stretched out his arms and grabbed hold of the two center pillars that supported the whole building. He pushed against them, his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 Samson shouted, "Let me die alongside these Philistines!" He shoved the pillars with every ounce of his strength, and the entire building came crashing down on top of the rulers and everyone inside. He killed more people with his death than he had killed during his entire life. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
31 His brothers and the rest of his family came to get his body. They carried him home and laid him to rest in the tomb of his father Manoah, in the area between Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson had served as Israel's leader for twenty years. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Key Themes
Themes in Judges 16
The tragic consequences of persistent compromiseThe loss of God's presence without realizing itRepentance and restoration even at the end of lifeThe high cost of breaking sacred vows
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Judges 16:28-30 Hebrews 11:32-34
Despite his failures, Samson is listed among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, showing that God values repentance and final faithfulness, and that His assessment of a life differs from the world's.
Apply This Today
Living Judges 16
The most chilling verse in Samson's story is 'he did not know that the Lord had left Him.' Persistent compromise can erode our spiritual sensitivity until we lose God's presence without even realizing it. Yet Samson's final prayer shows that it is never too late to turn back to God. Even at the end, God heard and answered.
Go Deeper
Study Judges in Covenant Path
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