Introduction:
Samson, by this time, had survived a number of encounters with the Philistines, Israel’s enemy and rulers at the time. This final chapter of his life is not the best chapter, in that he fell into an enemy’s trap. That would cost him his sight, and led to the cost of his life.
Even so, the story of Samson serves as a warning as well as an inspiration to us. For one thing, we’re warned that anybody can fall into sin—and pay dearly if they don’t repent quickly. Note that there is no other record, except in the last part of this chapter, where Samson was humble before God. This story is an inspiration, in that first it shows that God honors those who honor Him, and second that He wants each one of us to do our part in His Will for us.
In these first three verses, the writer tells a rather unpleasant story about Samson:
[Judges 16:1-3, KJV] 1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 [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 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.
This event apparently took place at some time after the battle of Lehi in chapter 15, where Samson used a donkey’s jawbone to kill 1000 Philistines. Why he decided to return to the land of the Philistines is one of the Bible’s unsolved mysteries.
Even more of a mystery is why Samson decided to find, and sleep with, a Philistine harlot. For one thing, “thou shalt not commit adultery”, was one of the Ten Commandments, and was absolutely still in effect at that time, (Exodus 20:14). This was one of the commandments Samson broke—shattered, actually. A Nazarite was supposed to live a holy life, separated to God, but spending a night with a prostitute was about as unholy as one could be.
Stranger still is why Samson went all the way to Gaza, near the very edge of Philistine territory. Gaza was many miles away from Israel, and even Gath and Timnath. Gaza was near the Great (Mediterranean) Sea to the west, with Ashkelon and Ekron both a few miles away to the northwest and northeast, respectively. Gaza was also close to Raphia, which was near the Egyptian frontier. Why he traveled all that distance is, again, something we may never know. Maybe Samson thought he would be safe (!) if could get as far away from Gath as humanly possible. But one is never safe, when living in violation of God’s Word and will.
Word got around that Samson was in Gaza, though (who spread the news?), and a number of the people must have thought this was their opportunity to get rid of Samson once and for all. Their strategy was to “compass” or surround him and kill him in the morning. They must have thought they had everything planned and there was no way they could lose.
And yet they did lose. Samson woke up at midnight and, incredibly, took the doors of the city gates and the two posts and carried them to the top of a certain hill. The location is not known but was probably not Hebron itself—Hebron was 30 miles away, by some estimates. Samson may have had the strength to do this, but. most likely he took the gates and doors to a hill between Gaza and Hebron. At any rate, the people of Gaza must have been dismayed when they didn’t find Samson, and didn’t find the gate’s doors, either!
We don’t read where Samson went after he got rid of Gaza’s gates. Perhaps he returned to judging Israel, as he did this for 20 years (Judges 15:20). Scripture does not say so we would be wise to simply let the matter rest.
But after this period of time, Samson made the last, and worst, journey of his life. The story begins now in verse 4:
[Judges 16:4, KJV] 4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name [was] Delilah. 5 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 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 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 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 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.
These events took place after Samson’s visit to Gaza; note the “And it came to pass afterward . . .” showing this passage of time. Samson had left Gaza, maybe heading towards Hebron, but now he returned to the valley of Sorek. This probably wasn’t too far from Timanth and Gath, close to the borders of Philistine land and the tribes of Dan and Judah. So, it wasn’t too far from Samson’s homeland.
As close as his homeland was to Philistine land, Samson would have done well to stay away from the Philistine women—he had married one, but never got to live with her; and then spent an evening with a prostitute. It’s not clear what he saw n them, nor what they saw in him. We’re never told what drew him to Delilah, or how she began to be attracted to him.
At any rate, Samson and Delilah seem to be living together. There is no record that they were married. Samson could have “loved” a woman without resorting to fornication or adultery, but he seems to be right at home in her home. But even though he loved her, it’s clear she didn’t love him. The next few verses demonstrate that clearly.
Whatever affection Delilah and Samson shared (we’re not told how much or how deeply this existed) vanished when the lords of the Philistines approached her and offered her money if she would hand Samson over to them. There may have been as many as five Philistine lords at this time; one for each of the five major Philistine cities (Gaza, Gath, Ashdod, Ekron, and Ashkelon, see Joshua 13:3. Oddly enough, in the days of Abraham there was (only?) one king of the Philistines, Ahimelech, king of Gerar (Genesis 20, 21, and 26; this may have been only a title) and later, Achish was king of Gath during the days of David (1 Samuel 21, 27, and 29): No other names of Philistine kings are recorded in Scripture.
These lords were not only wicked—they wanted Delilah to get Samson to reveal the source of his strength so they could basically torture him—they were wealthy. Each one of them pledged 1100 “pieces” of silver to Delilah, or 5500 pieces total (worth a great deal of money then and now) if she would deliver Samson, and his secret. They admitted to her what they wanted to do, and to prove how little she loved Samson, Delilah agreed to go along with their scheme.
There is a saying that goes something like, “money can change a heart”. In Delilah’s case, a lot of coins meant a lot of change. Samson was being set up but he never seemed to notice.
Now she tries her first attempt to get Samson to reveal “wherein thy great strength (lieth)”. As if that shouldn’t have raised an eyebrow, and alarm, or something, Delilah added, in so many words, “and tell me how I can bind you so you can be tortured”.
What kind of lover is this?
How could anybody possibly equate this with love?
Incredibly, Samson seems to think it’s a joke of some kind, or maybe a game—in a word, he must not have thought she was serious. He was old enough to know better, and surely he remembered how wicked (as well as devious, conniving, and heartless) the two other Philistine women in his life had treated him. But he went along with Delilah, sort of, maybe teasing her with a way to bind him. He said if you bind me with seven green “withs (twigs or branches, most likely green or freshly removed from a tree)”, I’ll be as weak as anybody else. In one sense, that was true because the only time Samson performed any great feats of great strength was when the Spirit of the LORD came upon him and helped him.
And guess what? The lords of the Philistines gave her seven undried green “withs” and she bound Samson with them. It’s amazing to me, every time I read this, how Delilah did this and why Samson let her get by with it. Why was he trusting (?) a woman who wanted to apparently do him harm?
But to Delilah’s surprise, and also those who were in hiding (verse 9), when Delilah gave the alarm. Samson broke those “withs” like a thread damaged by fire. Compare this with the ropes or cords the men of Judah used to bind Samson when they gave him to the Philistines in chapter 15. And in a great irony, neither Delilah nor anyone else figured out the source of Samson’s strength.
That didn’t stop Delilah and her associates (!) from trying again to find out what gave Samson his strength. The next few verses reflect “try number 2” to get this information.
[Judges 16:10] 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 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 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.
The first attempt to get Samson to reveal or “spill” his secret didn’t work. Samson had given Delilah an answer, even though it was not what she wanted; maybe he still thought it was a joke. Maybe he thought it was a game she was playing. Or, maybe he was trusting too much in his own strength, not realizing that the Spirit of the LORD only came when the need arose. A brief review of the other encounters will verify this.
In fact, the next time Delilah tried to shame him into revealing his secret (who would put up with an insult like that?) and again asked him how he could be bound, he told her almost verbatim what had happened before. The men of Judah bound Samson with two new cords, like ropes, but Samson snapped them when the Spirit of the LORD came upon him. Now he says “bind me with two new ropes, ones that have never been used before, and I’ll be as weak as the next man (paraphrasing)”. Sadly, and perhaps ominously, Samson is getting closer than he knows to revealing the source of his strength.
But they didn’t get the secret this time, either. When Delilah sounded the alarm, she and the other associates (!) were ready to pounce on Samson but he broke them in two just like the ropes were nothing but thread.
As we might guess, Delilah was getting upset with this. Why, Samson wasn’t taking her seriously! He wasn’t telling her what she wanted to know!
Now in the next few verses, we see encounter number 3. Samson was sinking deeper into the trap Delilah and friends had planned and set for him.
[Judges 16:13] 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 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.
Once again, Delilah complained that Samson wasn’t taking her seriously (you mocked me and lied to me) and insisted she wanted to know how he could be bound. Why Samson put up with this kind of treatment is something we may never understand.
This time, Samson gets uncomfortably close to revealing the source of his strength. This time he told Delilah, in so many words, that if she wove his hair into whatever she was weaving, he would be as weak as any other person. Then Delilah waited until Samson was asleep, did something with his hair, and sounded the alarm. As before, Samson woke up and took the pin, beam, web, and anything else connected to it, apparently, and walked away. Note that this time, nothing is mentioned about any of Delilah’s associates or those who would have bound Samson, if they could.
But Delilah was determined to find out how Samson got and kept his strength. These next few verses describe how she discovered the truth about his strength—and how cold her heart really was. Could she have ever loved him, to do this to him?
[Judges 16:15] 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 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 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.
Delilah seems to use every weapon she had in order to get Samson to reveal the source of his strength. Again, she complained to Samson, “How can you tell me you love me when your heart isn’t with me?” Of note is the fact that Samson never once demanded anything of her compared to her demands of him. Someone once observed, “if you have to demand something to get love, then it ain’t love at all”.
And now Delilah used the same “trick” that Samson’s bride had done, years before. Samson didn’t give her the answer to the riddle at the wedding feast (see chapter 14) so she wept for days until he was so fed up he told her the answer. Delilah is doing almost the same thing here, “pressing him daily (getting on his nerves?)” so that his soul was “vexed unto death”. We might say that he finally gave her the answer just to get her to shut up and stop bothering him!
These words were Samson’s death warrant. He told her everything: “I’ve been a Nazarite from my mother’s womb, I’ve never had a haircut, and if my head is shaved, then my strength will be gone, and I’ll be as weak as anybody else”. He couldn’t have known what she was going to do.
And what she did proves that Delilah was one of the most wicked, heartless women who ever lived. See how she demonstrated her “love” for Samson, after his declaration.
[Judges 16:18] 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 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 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 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.
Apparently the first thing Delilah did was get word to the five lords of the Philistines (was she hungry for the promised “reward”?), saying Samson had told her all that was in his heart. Sure enough, they came, with the money for Delilah. They must have waited somewhere close by even though the text does not state where they remained after they paid Delilah.
Then Delilah used something in order to make him sleep. This must have been a very deep sleep as a (Philistine?) man shaved off the seven locks of his hair. After this, Delilah began to “afflict” Samson (what else had she been doing all this time?) but this time was very different.
His strength was gone. Completely gone from him. Now he truly was as weak as any other man. No, his strength wasn’t in his hair; nor was his strength anything he seemed to possess naturally. His strength came from his obedience to God, and even though he had broken the Nazarite vow at least twice, God still forgave him and used him for 20 years to be Israel’s judge or deliverer.
But now, everything was gone. And when Delilah shouted, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” then he was in for the shock of his life. Not only was his strength gone, he didn’t know that the LORD had departed from him. At this point, he was helpless.
And the Philistines took full advantage of this. They bound him, or at least took him into custody (such as it was back then), and put out his eyes. Then, of all places, they took him back to Gaza, bound him in fetters of bronze (brass, KJV) and made him grind (grain?) in the prison house.
No doubt the Philistines enjoyed this revenge on Samson. There he was, blind, bald, bound in fetters, and now no hope of ever getting word to his family, or ever getting back to Israel. He had been a judge, or deliverer; now he was only a slave.
For some, the story would end about here; no record of what the prisoner did; how he/she lived, when he/she died, or any similar information. But that isn’t the case for Samson. This may be the final chapter, but it’s only the first part of that chapter. There’s more to come.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
