Judges 16

Translator Notes

1. Va-yelekh Shimshon Azzatah ('Samson went to Gaza') — Gaza is deep in Philistine territory, one of the five major Philistine cities. The narrative moves from Samson desiring a Philistine wife (ch. 14) to visiting an ishah zonah ('a prostitute'). The moral trajectory is unmistakable: from wanting marriage to purchasing sex. The verb va-yar ('he saw') echoes the pattern established in 14:1 — Samson's eyes lead him into trouble. Va-yavo eleiha ('he went in to her') is the standard euphemism for sexual intercourse. The Nazirite's separation from the world is now reduced to its final external marker: his uncut hair.

Translator Notes

1. Va-yassobbu va-ye'erevu lo kol ha-lailah ('they surrounded and ambushed him all night') — the Gazites plan a dawn attack. Their confidence is understandable: Samson is inside a walled city with a single gatehouse, surrounded by enemies. Va-yitchareshu kol ha-lailah ('they were quiet/silent all night') — the verb charash means 'to be silent, to hold peace.' They wait patiently, believing time is on their side. Ad or ha-boqer va-haraagnuhu ('until the morning light, and we will kill him') — they calculate that Samson will attempt to leave at dawn and walk into their trap.

Translator Notes

1. Va-ye'echoz be-daletot sha'ar ha-ir u-vishtei ha-mezuzot ('he seized the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts') — the city gate was the most fortified point of an ancient walled city, with massive wooden doors reinforced by a metal bar (beriach). Samson does not open the gate; he tears the entire gate structure out of the wall — doors, posts, crossbar, everything. Va-yissa'em im ha-beriach ('he uprooted them with the bar') — the verb nasa means 'to uproot, to pull out.' He carries the entire assembly al ketefav ('on his shoulders') to a hilltop facing Hebron — approximately thirty-eight miles uphill from Gaza at an elevation gain of over three thousand feet. The feat is superhuman, a demonstration of raw power that humiliates the Gazites and renders their city defenseless.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Va-ye'ehav ishah be-nachal Soreq ('he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek') — for the first time in the narrative, the verb ahav ('to love') is used for Samson's attraction to a woman. Previously it was ra'ah ('to see') and yashar ('pleasing'). The Sorek Valley runs between Israelite and Philistine territory — Samson lives and loves in the border zone. Delilah's name (Delilah) may derive from the root dalal ('to hang down, to be weak, to impoverish') or from the word lailah ('night'). Either etymology is fitting: she will weaken him and bring his night. Whether she is Israelite or Philistine is never stated — the text leaves her identity ambiguous, focusing entirely on her function as the instrument of Samson's downfall.

Translator Notes

1. Sarnei Pelishtim ('the lords/rulers of the Philistines') — the seren (plural seranim) was the title for each ruler of the five Philistine city-states (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath). All five come together for this operation — Samson is that important a threat. The verb patti ('entice, seduce') is the same word used when the companions pressured Samson's wife (14:15). The payment — ish elef u-me'ah kasef ('each one, eleven hundred pieces of silver') — totals 5,500 silver pieces from the five lords. For comparison, Micah's mother in chapter 17 consecrates 1,100 pieces of silver. The sum is enormous — they are buying the defeat of Israel's champion.

Translator Notes

1. Delilah's question ba-meh kokhakha gadol ('in what is your strength great?') is astonishingly direct. She does not approach the subject subtly or build up to it over weeks. She asks outright, on behalf of his enemies, and Samson does not seem alarmed. The addition u-va-meh te'aser le-annotekha ('and with what could you be bound to afflict you') explicitly asks for the method of his capture. That Samson engages with this question at all — rather than recognizing the obvious trap — reveals his fatal flaw: he believes his strength makes him invulnerable to any scheme. His physical power breeds spiritual recklessness.

Translator Notes

1. Shiv'ah yetarim lachim asher lo chorevu ('seven moist/fresh bowstrings that have not been dried') — yeter refers to a bowstring made from animal sinew or gut. The specification 'fresh, not dried' implies maximum flexibility and strength. The number seven suggests completeness. Samson's first lie is elaborate enough to be believable — it sounds like a magical formula. Ve-chaliti ve-hayiti ke-achad ha-adam ('I will become weak and be like one of the men') — the verb chalah means 'to become weak, sick.' Samson plays a game with the truth, giving false answers that parody the real one.

Translator Notes

1. The Philistine lords supply the materials immediately — they are deeply invested in this operation. Delilah binds Samson herself (va-ta'asrehu bahem, 'she bound him with them'). The intimate setting — Delilah tying Samson while he allows it — suggests he treats the whole affair as a game, a lovers' contest. The Philistine lords are presumably hiding nearby, waiting to see if this attempt succeeds.

Translator Notes

1. Ha-orev yoshev lah ba-cheder ('the ambusher sitting for her in the room') — Philistine soldiers are hidden in the very room where this intimate scene plays out. Delilah's cry Pelishtim alekha Shimshon ('Philistines are upon you, Samson!') becomes a recurring alarm — she uses it four times (vv. 9, 12, 14, 20). Samson snaps the bowstrings ka-asher yinnataq petil ha-ne'oret ba-haricho esh ('as a flax thread is broken when it smells fire') — the simile reduces the supposedly unbreakable bonds to nothing. Ve-lo noda kocho ('his strength was not known') — the secret remains intact. But the pattern of testing has begun.

Translator Notes

1. Hinneh hetalta bi va-tedabber elai kezavim ('you mocked me and spoke lies to me') — the verb hatal means 'to mock, to deceive.' Delilah accuses Samson of deception — which is true — while herself being the true deceiver. The irony is layered: she demands honesty in the service of betrayal. Her persistence is remarkable. After the first failure, most people would abandon the scheme or at least change tactics. Delilah simply asks again, with exactly the same directness. She has calculated that Samson's weakness is not physical but relational — he cannot resist her persistent emotional pressure.

Translator Notes

1. Avotim chadashim asher lo na'asah vahem melakhah ('new ropes with which no work has been done') — the second lie escalates from bowstrings to ropes. The specification 'unused' echoes the new ropes in 15:13, which the Spirit also destroyed. Samson may be amusing himself with references to his own history. The formula ve-chaliti ve-hayiti ke-achad ha-adam ('I will become weak and be like any other man') is repeated verbatim from verse 7 — a refrain in this darkening game. Each false answer brings the truth closer to the surface.

Translator Notes

1. The pattern repeats: Delilah binds, cries the alarm, and Samson breaks free. Va-yenattqem me-al zero'otav ka-chut ('he snapped them from his arms like thread') — the ropes are reduced to nothing. The ease of the escape is emphasized: like a thread (chut), not even like a cord. Yet the fact that Samson continues to play this game after Delilah has now twice attempted to betray him to waiting Philistine soldiers reveals either extraordinary arrogance or a death wish. The ambush party remains in the room — witnesses to the failed attempts.

Translator Notes

1. The third false answer moves dangerously close to the truth. For the first time, Samson mentions his hair: sheva machlefot roshi ('the seven braids/locks of my head'). The word machlefot means 'braids, plaits, locks' — Samson's hair is braided into seven sections. The masekhet ('woven fabric, web on a loom') is the cloth currently being woven. He tells Delilah to weave his hair braids into the loom's fabric. The answer is a lie — weaving his hair will not make him weak — but it touches the true source of his strength. Each false answer has moved closer: bowstrings (nothing to do with hair), ropes (nothing to do with hair), hair woven into a loom (his hair, but the wrong action). The truth is approaching.

Translator Notes

1. Va-titqa ba-yated ('she drove in the peg/pin') — Delilah weaves his hair into the loom and secures it with the loom pin while he sleeps. He sleeps through the entire process — a remarkable detail that reveals both his trust and his recklessness. Va-yiqats mi-shenato ('he woke from his sleep') — this is the first mention of Samson sleeping during these encounters. Sleep will be his undoing in verse 19. He pulls away the yated ha-ereg ve-et ha-massekhet ('the pin of the loom and the fabric') — tearing the entire loom apart. Three attempts have failed. But Delilah now knows the answer is connected to his hair.

Translator Notes

1. Eikh tomar ahavtikh ve-libbeka ein itti ('how can you say I love you when your heart is not with me?') — Delilah weaponizes the language of love. She equates full disclosure with genuine love: if he truly loves her, he will reveal his deepest secret. The accusation zeh shalosh pe'amim hetalta bi ('three times now you have mocked me') echoes the pattern of three — a number of completion in biblical narrative. The fourth time will be the truth. Her argument mirrors the Timnite wife's tactic exactly (14:16) — 'you hate me, you don't love me' — but Delilah is far more persistent and far more dangerous.

Translator Notes

1. Ki hetsiqah lo bi-devareha kol ha-yamim ('because she pressed him with her words every day') — the verb tsaqaq ('to press, squeeze, constrain') describes unrelenting emotional pressure. Va-te'altsehu ('she urged him, she forced him') — the verb alats means 'to compel, to press hard.' Va-tiqtsar nafsho lamut ('his soul was shortened to death' — he was exhausted to the point of death) — the idiom captures complete emotional and spiritual depletion. The man who could tear apart lions and rip city gates from their hinges is broken down by persistent words. Samson's physical strength has no defense against emotional manipulation — the same vulnerability that undid him in 14:17.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Va-yagged lah et kol libbo ('he told her all his heart') — the phrase kol libbo ('all his heart') means he held nothing back. The disclosure is total. Morah lo alah al roshi ('a razor has never come upon my head') — this is the last remaining sign of his Nazirite consecration. He has already violated the prohibitions against contact with the dead (14:8-9, 15:15) and likely against grape products (14:10). Only the uncut hair remains. Ki nezir Elohim ani mi-beten immi ('for I am a Nazirite of God from my mother's womb') — Samson identifies himself by his consecration even as he is in the act of betraying it. He knows exactly what he is, and he tells anyway. Im gullachti ve-sar mimmenni kochi ('if I am shaved, my strength will depart from me') — the truth is out. The verb sar ('to depart, to turn away') will appear in the devastating verse 20 applied to God Himself.

Translator Notes

1. Va-tere Delilah ki higgid lah et kol libbo ('Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart') — the verb ra'ah ('to see, to perceive') signals Delilah's discernment. She can tell the difference between Samson's lies and his truth. How she knows this time is genuine — whether through his tone, his tears, his weariness, or intuition — the text does not say. Alu ha-pa'am ('come up this time') — her message to the lords carries the confidence of certainty. Va-ya'alu ha-kesef be-yadam ('they brought the silver in their hand') — the payment is brought in advance this time. They trust Delilah's judgment. The transaction is complete: Samson's secret for 5,500 pieces of silver.

Translator Notes

1. Va-teyashnehu al birkeiha ('she caused him to sleep on her knees/lap') — the intimacy of the scene makes the betrayal more devastating. He sleeps in a posture of complete trust and vulnerability. Va-tiqra la-ish va-tegallach et sheva machlefot rosho ('she called a man and he shaved the seven braids of his head') — Delilah does not shave him herself; she summons an ish ('a man') to do it. The seven braids — the last physical sign of his Nazirite consecration — are removed while he sleeps. Va-tachel le-annoto ('she began to afflict/subdue him') — the verb innah means 'to afflict, to humble, to overpower.' Va-yasar kocho me-alav ('his strength departed from him') — the verb sar ('departed') foreshadows the devastating parallel in the next verse.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Etse ke-fa'am be-fa'am ve-inna'er ('I will go out as time after time and shake myself free') — Samson expects the same result as before. His confidence is based on past experience: three times Delilah tested him, three times he broke free effortlessly. Why should the fourth time be different? Ve-hu lo yada ki YHWH sar me-alav ('and he did not know that the LORD had departed from him') — this is the most devastating sentence in the Samson cycle, and one of the most terrifying in all of Scripture. The verb yada ('to know') is the same verb used throughout the narrative for knowledge and awareness. Samson does not know. The LORD (YHWH — the covenant name, the personal name of God) sar ('departed, turned away') me-alav ('from upon him'). The divine presence that rushed upon him three times has now withdrawn. And Samson cannot tell the difference. The most terrifying thing about the departure of God is that a person may not notice it has happened.

Translator Notes

1. Va-yenaqru et einav ('they bored out/gouged his eyes') — the verb naqar means 'to bore, to pick out, to gouge.' The eyes that saw Philistine women and led Samson into temptation are destroyed. There is grim poetic justice: the man who lived by sight (va-yar ishah, 'he saw a woman,' 14:1; 16:1) now lives in permanent darkness. Va-yoridu oto Azzatah ('they brought him down to Gaza') — the last 'going down' (yarad) in Samson's life. He returns to Gaza, where he once carried the city gates in triumph (v. 3), now as a blind prisoner. Va-ya'asruhu ba-nechushtayim ('they bound him with bronze fetters') — nechushtayim is a dual form, suggesting shackles on both wrists or both ankles. Va-yehi tochen be-veit ha-asurim ('he was grinding in the prison house') — grinding grain was the work of slaves, women, and animals. The mighty judge is reduced to the lowest form of prison labor, walking in circles pushing a millstone.

Translator Notes

1. Va-yachel se'ar rosho letsammeach ka-asher gullach ('the hair of his head began to sprout/grow after it was shaved') — this single verse is one of the most quietly powerful in the entire narrative. Amid the darkness — blindness, slavery, grinding — a seed of hope emerges. The verb tsamach ('to sprout, to grow') is used for plants sprouting from the earth. The hair growing back is the Nazirite sign renewing itself. The text does not say God's power is returning; it simply notes the hair growing. But the reader knows the connection. The Philistines, in their arrogance, do not think to keep shaving him. This single botanical observation is the turning point of the chapter.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Va-ne'esfu lizboach zevach gadol le-Dagon eloheihem ('they gathered to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god') — Dagon was the chief deity of the Philistines, a grain and fertility god (the name may relate to dagan, 'grain,' or dag, 'fish'). The irony of Samson grinding grain in the temple of a grain god is devastating. The Philistines' declaration natan eloheinu be-yadenu et Shimshon oyevenu ('our god has given our enemy Samson into our hands') deliberately echoes the language Israel uses for YHWH's victories — natan be-yad ('gave into the hand of'). They credit Dagon with what Samson's own sin accomplished. The theological contest is now explicit: YHWH versus Dagon, the God of Israel versus the god of the Philistines.

Translator Notes

1. The people's hymn of praise to Dagon has three charges against Samson: oyevenu ('our enemy'), machariav artsenu ('the devastator of our land' — referring to the burned fields of 15:5), and asher hirbah et chalalenu ('who multiplied our slain'). The verb hillel ('to praise') is the same root used in the Hebrew word hallelujah ('praise the LORD'). The Philistines direct praise to the wrong god. This public liturgy of Dagon-worship sets the theological stage for the climax: when Samson prays to YHWH (v. 28), the two prayers — one to Dagon, one to YHWH — will be answered in radically different ways.

Translator Notes

1. Ki tov libbam ('when their heart was good' — when they were merry/drunk) — the festive mood leads to cruelty. Qir'u le-Shimshon vi-ysacheq lanu ('call Samson that he may amuse/perform for us') — the verb tsachaq can mean 'to play, to perform, to make sport.' The mighty judge has become a court jester, a source of entertainment for drunk Philistines. The humiliation is total: the man empowered by the Spirit of the LORD is now a spectacle in the house of Dagon. Va-ya'amidu oto bein ha-ammudim ('they stood him between the pillars') — this seemingly minor staging detail is the pivot of the entire story. The pillars are load-bearing columns that support the temple roof.

Translator Notes

1. El ha-na'ar ha-machaziq be-yado ('to the boy holding his hand') — the once-mighty Samson is now led by a na'ar ('boy, young attendant'). He is blind and needs a child's guidance. His request — hanichah oti va-hamisheni et ha-ammudim ('let me rest and let me feel the pillars') — sounds innocent: a tired, blind man wanting to lean against something for support. The stated reason ve-isha'en aleihem ('so I can lean on them') conceals his true intention. This is the first time in the Samson narrative that the protagonist plans strategically rather than acting on impulse. Blindness and suffering have produced something new in Samson: deliberation.

Translator Notes

1. The narrator pauses to describe the scene: the temple is packed — male ha-anashim ve-ha-nashim ('full of men and women') — and all five sarnei Pelishtim ('Philistine rulers') are present. An additional kishlosheth alafim ish ve-ishah ('about three thousand men and women') watch from the roof. This is the concentrated leadership and populace of the Philistine nation, gathered in one building for a religious festival. Ha-ro'im bi-sechoq Shimshon ('watching Samson's entertainment') — they have come to see the defeated champion humiliated. The text carefully establishes the magnitude of the gathering before the collapse — every detail heightens the scale of what follows.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Va-yiqra Shimshon el YHWH ('Samson called out to the LORD') — this is Samson's only genuine prayer in the entire cycle. His earlier cry in 15:18 was a complaint driven by thirst; this is a plea driven by total dependence. Adonai YHWH ('Lord GOD') — the double divine address combines the title of sovereignty (Adonai) with the covenant name (YHWH), the most reverent form of address in Hebrew prayer. Zokhreni na ('remember me, please') — the verb zakhar ('to remember') in Hebrew does not mean merely to recall; it means to act on behalf of. Samson asks God not just to think of him but to intervene. Ve-chazzeqeni na akh ha-pa'am ha-zeh ('strengthen me just this one time') — the request is humble, limited, final. Yet even in this moment of genuine prayer, Samson's motivation remains mixed: ve-innaqemah neqam achat mi-shtei einai ('let me take one revenge for my two eyes'). His prayer mingles faith with vengeance, dependence on God with personal retribution.

Translator Notes

1. Va-yilpot Shimshon et shenei ammudei ha-tavekh ('Samson grasped the two pillars of the middle') — the verb lafat means 'to grasp, to twist, to take hold of firmly.' These are the ammudei ha-tavekh ('central pillars') — the main load-bearing columns. Archaeological excavations of Philistine temples at Tell Qasile and elsewhere have revealed structures supported by two central wooden pillars resting on stone bases, set close enough together for a man to reach both. The description is architecturally plausible. Va-yissamekh aleihem ('he leaned/braced against them') — the verb samakh means 'to lean, to support oneself.' Samson positions himself to push outward.

Translator Notes

1. Tamot nafshi im Pelishtim ('let my soul/self die with the Philistines') — Samson's final words are simultaneously a prayer, a battle cry, and a death wish. The verb tamot ('let it die') is a jussive — an expressed wish. He wills his own death along with his enemies'. Va-yet be-koach ('he pushed/bent with strength') — the verb natah means 'to stretch, to bend, to push.' God has answered his prayer — strength has returned one final time. Va-yippol ha-bayit al ha-seranim ('the building fell on the rulers') — all five Philistine rulers are killed. The narrator's summary — ha-metim asher hemit be-moto rabbim me-asher hemit be-chayyav ('the dead he killed at his death were more than he killed in his life') — is both an epitaph and a judgment. Samson's greatest victory is his death. The man who was set apart for God from the womb returns to God in the rubble of a pagan temple.

Translator Notes

1. Va-yeredu echav ve-khol beit avihu ('his brothers and all the house of his father came down') — Samson's family retrieves his body from the ruins of the Dagon temple. The verbs trace his final journey: they 'came down' (yaredu) to Gaza and 'brought him up' (va-ya'alu) to the hill country — the opposite of Samson's life pattern of always going down. He is buried bein Tsor'ah u-vein Eshta'ol ('between Zorah and Eshtaol') — the exact location where the Spirit of the LORD first began to stir him (13:25). The narrative forms a perfect circle: where his life as God's instrument began, there his body rests. Be-qever Manoach aviv ('in the tomb of Manoah his father') — he is gathered to his father. The closing formula ve-hu shafat et Yisra'el esrim shanah ('he judged Israel twenty years') repeats 15:20, forming a structural bracket. Samson's judgeship is complete, but the Philistine oppression continues — he only began the deliverance (13:5).