Delilah
Delilah's name means "delicate" or "dainty one." The Philistines approach Delilah and offer to pay her handsomely if she can find out why Samson is so strong.
What Does Delilah Mean?
If you are familiar with biblical stories, you will immediately recognize the name Delilah. Delilah is an ancient name of Hebrew and Arabic origins. In both Hebrew and Arabic, the name means "delicate." Delilah was the love interest of Samson, who was famed for his great strength. The source of his strength was a mystery until the Philistines offered Delilah a bribe to reveal it.
Eventually, Delilah realized that Samson's strength came from his long hair. As he slept, she had Samson's hair cut causing him to lose his strength and be handed over to the Philistines. The name Delilah has since shed any negative connotations and has become popular in works of fiction and music.
The Plain White T's hit song, "Hey There Delilah," is the most popular song to date with the name Delilah. Florence and the Machine, Tom Jones, and Queen also have songs named "Delilah."
• Origin: Delilah is a name of Hebrew and Arabic origins.
• Gender: Delilah is a typically feminine name, but it can be given to a baby of any gender.
• Pronunciation: deh-lie-lah
Although many baby names are separated by gender, the majority of family's believe that sex does not need to play a role in your name selection process. It is important to select a name that you feel suits your new baby the best.
Delilah
She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as the final Judge of Israel. The lords of the Philistines bribed Delilah to discover the source of his strength. After three failed attempts at doing so, she finally goads Samson into telling her that his strength is from his hair. Delilah orders a servant to cut Samson's hair, enabling her to turn him over to the Philistines.
In the Hebrew Bible, Samson was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monarchy. He is sometimes considered an Israelite version of the famous Near Eastern folk hero also embodied by the Sumerian Enkidu and the Greek Hercules. Delilah has been the subject of both rabbinic and Christian commentary; rabbinic literature identifies her with Micah's mother in the biblical narrative of Micah's Idol, while some Christians have compared her to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus. Scholars have noted similarities between Delilah and other women in the Bible, such as Jael and Judith. They have discussed whether the story of Samson's relationship with Delilah displays a negative attitude towards foreigners. Notable depictions of Delilah include John Milton's closet drama Samson Agonistes and Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 Hollywood film Samson and Delilah. Her name has become associated with treacherous and voluptuous women.
Delilah was a woman of Sorek. She is the only woman in Samson's story who is named. The Bible says that Samson loved her (Judges 16:4) but not that she loved him. The two were not said to be married, and the idea that they had a sexual relationship is, in the words of Josey Bridges Snyder, "at most implicit in the biblical text."The lords of the Philistines bribed her to discover the source of Samson's great strength, each offering to give her 1,100 silver coins. Three times she failed.
First, at his suggestion, she bound him with "seven green withes" (cords), but these he quickly snapped in two. Then she tied him with new ropes: these also failed. Then, she fastened the locks of his hair to the loom but with the same result. Finally, after many complaints that Samson did not trust her, he told her that his strength lay in his hair. Then, when he was asleep, she ordered a servant to cut Samson's hair. She then woke him and delivered him into the hands of the waiting Philistine chiefs.
The Bible does not mention her fate, and, as James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson note in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, it never discusses whether Delilah felt guilt for her actions.
Religious views
Jewish interpretations
Josephus and Pseudo-Philo both view Delilah as a Philistine and a prostitute; Josey Bridges Snyder theorizes that this may be because the Book of Judges portrays Samson as attracted to both Philistine women (Judges 14:1) and prostitutes (Judges 16:1). Pseudo-Philo also writes that Delilah was Samson's wife.
The Talmud says that Delilah used sex to get Samson to reveal his secret, even though the biblical text does not state that the two had a sexual relationship, while *midrash state that Delilah harassed Samson verbally and physically during sex to get him to tell her the source of his strength. Midrashim on Delilah reveal negative attitudes toward non-Jewish women and are supposed to "demonstrate the havoc that a foreign woman could wreak." The *midrash says that Samson lost his strength because of his relationship with Delilah, a foreign woman, and not because his hair was cut, and that the angel who foretold Samson's birth to his mother knew that Delilah would cause him to break his Nazirite vow.
*commentary on the Hebrew scriptures attached to the biblical text. The earliest Midrashim come from the 2nd-century AD, although much of their content is older.
The Jewish sages said Delilah's name implies what she did to Samson ("She dwindles" (diminishes him). Because Samson allowed his spiritual state to become diminished, he was vulnerable to losing his strength by having his hair cut. Even before Delilah is mentioned, the length of Samson's career is described. Usually, the length of someone's life or career in the Old Testament is mentioned last for a character to signify the end of his relevance to the narrative. David Kimhi notes that it is mentioned at the peak of his career, which implies that mentions of Samson afterward mark his decline and downfall. This might explain why Samson eventually told Delilah of his weakness, even though she had repeatedly betrayed him before. It is possible he was not fully aware that cutting his hair would cause God to allow him to lose his strength; since it was the decline of his spiritual state that caused him to lose God's favor.
Late Aggadah says that Samson and Delilah had sons together who were strong like their father; Eldad ha-Dani claims that their sons resided in the land of Havilah, and each had voices as "triumphal...as a lion's roar." Medieval midrash proposes that Delilah was the mother of Micah from the biblical narrative of Micah's Idol. This theory rests on the fact that, in Judges 17, Micah's mother gives her son 1,100 silver coins to construct his idol, similar to how Delilah was promised 1,100 silver coins to betray her lover by the Philistine leaders. This tradition explains the conflation of Delilah and Micah's mother by noting that the Bible introduces the narrative of Micah's Idol immediately after the narrative of Samson and Delilah. Rashi disputes this theory, as Seder Olam Rabbah states that Micah and Samson were not contemporaries and that Micah lived during the time of Othniel.
These are questions that have been asked;
Why Did Delilah Betray Samson
Why didn't Samson cut his hair?
If it is cut, he will lose his power.
He was also asked why the Nazarenes didn't comb their hair?
Be a Nazarene. Eliminate the alcohol obtained from grapes. (Traditional rabbinic authorities say that all other types of alcohol are allowed.) Avoid cutting your hair. Avoid corpses and graves, including those of relatives, and all structures that contain them.
What is Samson's hair good for besides the above?
In the Old Testament, Samson was an Israelite servant of God who, on many occasions, used his invincible strength and wisdom against the Philistines. Delilah cut Samson's hair in his sleep, then called the Philistines, who grabbed him and blinded him.
What does the Bible say about Samson's hair?
Samson's weakness for beautiful Philistine women soon brought him into Delilah's arms. Samson admitted that I would lose strength if my head were shaved (Judges 16: 15-17). In his sleep, the unfaithful Delilah welcomed a Philistine who cut Samson's hair and exhausted all his strength.
Who are the Nazis in the Bible?
Nazarene is a title that refers to Jesus who, according to the New Testament, grew up in Nazareth, a city of Galilee, which is now in northern Israel. The word translates two related terms found in the Greek New Testament: Nazarnos (Nazarenes) and Nazraios (Nazorean).
Who is Manoah in the Bible?
According to the Bible, Manoah belonged to the Dan tribe and lived in the city of Zorah. He married a barren woman. His name is not mentioned in the Bible, but according to tradition, he was called Hazelelponi or Z'llpunith. She was the daughter of Etam and the sister of Ishma.
Why did Dalila Samson fail?
In the Old Testament, Dalilah, also spelled Dalila, is the central figure in Samson's last love story (Judges 16). She was a Philistine who had been bribed to seduce and capture Samson.
What did Samson eat?
The solution to this riddle is honey from the lion carcass: honey is something to eat and something sweet, and the lion is something strong.
How old was Samson in the Bible?
Samson is a biblical character described in the 1316 Book of Judges. He was an Israelite who followed the requirements of NAZARTE life, which included not drinking or cutting his hair.
Was John the Nazarene?
According to the New Testament, John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth were related. John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his movement. Some scholars claim that John belonged to the semi-ascetic Jewish sect that awaited a Jewish Messiah and performed ritual baptism.
What is the longest verse in the Bible?
Esther 8, 9 is the longest verse in the biblical text.
How does Samson die?
Suicide
How tall was Samson from the Bible?
Samson's power comes from God. According to Jewish legend, Samson's shoulders were sixty cubits wide. (However, many Talmudic commentaries state that this should not be taken literally for someone who could not normally live in society.
Who were the Philistines, and where did they come from?
They came in the 12th century BC when the cities and civilizations of the Middle East and Greece were collapsing.
In Brief
Delilah's Identity
The biblical story, in which Samson falls in love with her and then the Philistines use her to learn the secret of his strength, leaves us with more questions than answers about Delilah. As biblical women typically are, she is not identified in terms of a man (husband, father, or brother). All we know is her name, a Hebrew name, and the place where she lives, the valley of Sorek, which lay between Israelite and Philistine territory. She and Samson are lovers but are not married.
What is her status in society? Is she a wealthy widow, like Judith? A harlot, as is commonly supposed? A sexually independent woman, like the woman in the Song of Solomon?
Delilah is not called a harlot. Samson is reckless, and it is perhaps because he visits a harlot in Judg 16:1–3 that some readers conclude that Delilah is also a harlot (the phrase "and after that, he fell in love with a woman …" [Judg 16:4] also links the two women). Delilah is not even called a Philistine, though it is usually assumed that she is because (1) Samson is attracted to Philistine women, (2) she has dealings with the Philistine rulers, and it is unlikely that the Philistines would seek to enlist the aid of an Israelite woman, and (3) she betrays the Israelite hero to his enemies, and it is unlikely that a biblical author would portray one of his countrywomen doing such a scandalous thing without further comment. All are good reasons, but none is conclusive. Actually, only one of the three women Samson is involved with—his wife—is identified explicitly as a Philistine.
Delilah's Actions
Delilah accepts a bribe to reveal the source of Samson's strength to the Philistines. The bribe would make sense if the woman were Israelite—she would probably need enticement to betray a leader of her people. On the other hand, if Delilah is a Philistine, perhaps the bribe underscores her treacherous woman. Each of the Philistine rulers (probably five of them, representing the five important Philistine city-states) pays her eleven hundred pieces of silver.
The text reports that Samson loves Delilah (16:4), but not that she loves him—a hint, perhaps, that she does not love him and will have no qualms about betraying him.
Three times Delilah tries unsuccessfully to learn the secret of Samson's strength. The Philistines instruct her to "entice" (NRSV, "coax") Samson, which suggests something sexual, but the text reports only her persistent questioning and nagging. She makes no secret of her intention. By the fourth time, it is apparent that she will carry out whatever procedure Samson describes, but Samson tells her the secret, and she cuts his hair, enabling the Philistines to capture him. The Hebrew text has Delilah cut Samson's hair, just as she did the binding (twice) and weaving of his hair. However, the text is rather tricky, and some versions introduce a "man" or a "barber" and have him cut Samson's hair.
