JudgesChapter 16

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Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute and went in to her.

Word came to the men of Gaza: "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. All night they kept still, saying, "At dawn we will kill him."

But Samson lay there only until midnight. At midnight he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts, tore them loose along with the bar, hoisted them onto his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Some time later he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

The rulers of the Philistines came to her and said, "Coax him and find out where his great strength comes from and how we can overpower him, so we can tie him up and subdue him. Each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."

So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, where does your great strength come from, and how could you be tied up and subdued?"

Samson answered her, "If they tie me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man."

So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.

With men lying in wait in the inner room, she called out to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a strand of yarn snaps when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

Then Delilah said to Samson, "Look, you have made a fool of me and told me lies. Now tell me how you can be tied up."

He said to her, "If they tie me tight with new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be like any other man."

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them, and with men lying in wait in the inner room she called out to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms like thread.

He said to her, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom." [Footnote: The Hebrew sentence breaks off here; ancient versions continue, "then I will become weak and be like any other man."]

So she fastened them with the pin and called out to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He woke from his sleep and tore away the loom pin along with the woven fabric.

Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? Three times now you have made a fool of me and have not told me where your great strength comes from."

She pressed him with her words day after day until he was worn out to the point of death.

So he told her everything in his heart: "No razor has ever touched my head, for I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother's womb. If I were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become weak and be like any other man."

When Delilah saw that he had told her everything in his heart, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines: "Come up once more, for he has told me everything in his heart." So the rulers of the Philistines came to her, bringing the silver with them.

She lulled him to sleep on her lap, then called for a man, and she herself shaved off the seven braids of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.

Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He woke from his sleep and thought, "I will go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze shackles and set him to grinding grain in the prison.

But the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.

Now the rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands."

When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, the one who ravaged our land and multiplied our dead."

And when their hearts were merry, they said, "Bring out Samson to entertain us." So they called Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. They stood him between the pillars.

Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, "Let go of me and let me feel the pillars that hold up the temple, so I can lean against them."

The temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform.

Then Samson called out to the LORD: "Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow take revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."

Then Samson braced himself against the two central pillars on which the temple stood, his right hand on one and his left hand on the other,

And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He pushed with all his might, and the temple came down on the rulers and all the people in it. So he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

Then his brothers and his father's whole family came down, took him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

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Summary2

Chapter 16

Main Theme: Samson's downfall and final victory through his relationship with Delilah and his death in the temple of Dagon.

Content: The chapter begins with Samson in Gaza, where he escapes by carrying the city gates to a hill near Hebron. Later, he falls in love with Delilah, who is bribed by the Philistine rulers to uncover the secret behind his strength. After repeated attempts, Samson reveals that he is a Nazirite consecrated to God from birth and that his uncut hair is the sign of this covenant. While he sleeps, Delilah cuts his hair, and the Lord departs from him. The Philistines capture him, blind him, and force him into hard labor. During a festival for the god Dagon, Samson prays to God for strength one last time, pulls down the temple pillars, and kills more Philistines in his death than he did during his life.

Key Words/Images:

Nazirite: Samson was consecrated to God from birth, and his uncut hair was the outward sign of this holy covenant.
Delilah: The woman who, through persistent pressure, caused Samson to reveal the source of his strength.
The Lord's Presence: Samson's strength came from God – when the Lord departed from him, he lost his power (v.20).
Temple of Dagon: The site of Samson's final and greatest victory, where he toppled the pillars and killed thousands of Philistines.

Historical context

Historical and Cultural Context for Judges 16

People

Samson (שִׁמְשׁוֹן) appears in this chapter in the final phase of his life as a judge. His name is linked to the Hebrew word shemesh (שֶׁמֶשׁ, sun). He is identified as "a Nazirite from birth" (v. 17), a consecration that involved abstaining from wine, avoiding contact with dead bodies, and refraining from cutting his hair.

Delilah (דְּלִילָה) is introduced without any ethnic identification—the text states neither that she is an Israelite nor a Philistine. Her name may be connected to the Hebrew laylah (night) or the Arabic word for "coquette." She lives in the Valley of Sorek, a border region between Israelite and Philistine territory. The fact that the Philistine rulers offered her 1,100 silver pieces each (a total of 5,500 silver pieces) shows how highly they valued capturing Samson.

Places

Gaza (עַזָּה) was the southernmost and one of the most important of the five Philistine city-states. It lay along the coastal road between Egypt and Mesopotamia and served as a major commercial center. The distance from Gaza to "the mountain that faces Hebron" (v. 3) is considerable, underscoring the magnitude of Samson's feat.

The Valley of Sorek (נַחַל שֹׂרֵק) was an important valley extending from the highlands of Judah down toward the Philistine coast. The name means "the valley of the red vine" and refers to the wine production in the area. The valley functioned as a natural corridor and border region between Israelite and Philistine territory.

Events and Customs

The Nazirite Vow (נְזִיר): Samson reveals that his uncut hair was the sign of his Nazirite covenant from birth (v. 17, cf. chap. 13). The growth of his hair symbolized an unbroken connection with God, while shaving represented a breach of the covenant.

The Temple Festival for Dagon (vv. 23–25) provides insight into Philistine religious practice. Dagon was a central deity in the Philistine pantheon, likely associated with grain (from dagan). The temple festival included sacrifices, praise of the god, and entertainment—in this case, in the form of their humiliated enemy. That Samson was brought out to "entertain" (וִישַׂחֶק) them suggests a ritual humiliation of the defeated foe as part of religious celebration.

Blinding of prisoners (v. 21) was a common practice in the ancient Near East to neutralize dangerous captives without killing them. That Samson was set to grind grain in the prison house (בְּבֵית הָאֲסוּרִים) indicates the heavy labor normally performed by slaves or donkeys.

Key Terms

סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים (sarnei felishtim) – "the Philistine rulers" – use the distinctive word seren (plural seranim), which is applied only to Philistine leaders. The term reflects the non-Semitic background of the Philistines, who originally came from the Aegean region.

מַחְלְפוֹת (machlefot) – "braids" or "locks" – refers to Samson's seven locks of hair (vv. 13, 19). The number seven carries symbolic significance and underscores the completeness of his Nazirite consecration.

Chapter-Specific Findings

Archaeological excavations at Tell es-Safi (identified as the Philistine city of Gath) and other Philistine cities have uncovered temples with characteristic architecture, including buildings supported by two central pillars placed close together. This construction style, in which the roof rested on two main pillars, remarkably matches the description of the temple of Dagon in this chapter. Such a structure would be vulnerable if the two supporting pillars were pushed down simultaneously, lending archaeological plausibility to the narrative.

People4

Delilah6 Hebron1 Samson17 God1

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Key words8

Samson — One of Israel's judges, known for his supernatural strength that came from his long hair.
Philistines — A people in Canaan who were enemies of the Israelites and controlled parts of the land at that time.
Delilah — A Philistine woman whom Samson loved and who betrayed him by getting him to reveal the source of his strength.
Pillar — An architectural structure that supports a building; Samson collapsed two pillars in the Philistines' temple and killed many enemies along with himself.
Nazarite vow — A religious vow that some Israelites took, which included abstaining from alcohol, avoiding contact with dead bodies, and not cutting one's hair.
Hair — The source of Samson's strength; he lost his power when Delilah had it cut off.
Blindness — The condition Samson ended up in after the Philistines captured and blinded him.
Vengeance — The act Samson carried out against the Philistines by destroying their temple and killing many of them along with himself.