Judges 16:14

Jdg 16:14 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.

Ver. 14:. And he awaked out of his sleep.] The Philistines durst not meddle with him though asleep: no more than men dare venture upon a sleeping lion.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 16:14. She fastened it with a pin — She took the first opportunity when he was asleep of trying the experiment, and the weaving instrument being near the head of the bed where he lay, she interwove the locks of his hair with the web or woof, and fastened it with some pin or peg that belonged to the loom. She then alarmed him with the cry of the Philistines being upon him, when Samson, awaking and raising up his head, plucked out the pin that his hair was fastened with, and tore out, together with it, the web from the loom.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, beam.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web--that is, the whole weaving apparatus.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(14) She fastened it with the pin.—Unless the additions of the Vulg. and the LXX. to the last verse were in the original text, she had not been told by Samson to do this, but did it to make assurance doubly sure. The versions add that she drove the pin “into the wall” (LXX.) or “into the ground” (Vulg.).

Went away with.—Rather, tore up, as in Jdg_16:3.

With the pin of the beam, and with the web.—The words are technical, but the “pin” or “plug” seems to be the wooden peg with which the web was fastened down; and the “beam” was certainly not the “weaver’s beam” of 1Sa_17:7, but apparently “the comb.” The loom was doubtless one of a simple kind in ordinary domestic use (like that described in Livingstone’s Travels), and Samson, startled from sleep, tore away his locks with the plug which fastened them down and the warp into which they were woven.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. the pin of the beam] The Hebrew is ungrammatical and gives the impression that the pin has been intruded. Instead of beam render loom (’ereg, Job_7:6). The general sense is clear: Samson pulled up the whole framework, warp and all, out of the ground by the hair of his head.

The Greek versions, understanding pin in its ordinary meaning of peg, construct a different arrangement of the apparatus: they imply that the end of the loom was fastened by pegs into the wall opposite, and that Samson’s hair was stretched horizontally with the warp. See the art. ‘Weaving’ by Prof. A. R. S. Kennedy in the Encycl. Bibl., upon which the foregoing notes are based.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And she fastened it with the pin,.... That is, after she had interwoven the locks of his hair into the warp, she fastened the beam on which it was with the pin, that it might not roll back; or else her machine or loom to the ground, that it might stand more firmly; or the web into which the hair was woven, with the hair itself; which of them is right, it is difficult to say: but if the addition of the Septuagint version can be admitted as genuine, which supplies some things which seem to be wanting, and which best agrees with what follows, the whole will be plain and easy, and which after the preceding verse runs thus;"and fastenest "them" with a pin to the wall, then shall I be weak as another man; and it came to pass when he slept, and Delilah took seven locks of his head, and wove "them" in the web, and fastened them with a pin to the wall;''and then it follows as here:

and said unto him, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson; as she had twice before:

and he awaked out of his sleep; in which he was during her weaving his locks into the web; and this makes it probable that he was in the same circumstances when she bound him both with withs and ropes, though it is not expressed:

and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web; carried off not the pin of the beam only, but the beam itself, and the warp on it, and the whole web into which his hair was woven. The Septuagint version is, he took the pin of the web out of the wall; and the Vulgate Latin, the pin with the hairs and web.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And she fastened it with the pin ... - The meaning of the verses seems to be that the seven long plaits, in which Samson’s hair was arranged, were to be woven as a woof into the threads of a warp which stood prepared on a loom in the chamber, which loom Delilah fastened down with a pin, so as to keep it firm and immoveable. But Samson, when he awoke, tore up the pin from its socket, and went away with the loom and the pin fastened to his hair.

The beam - Rather, the “loom,” or “frame.” The beam is the wooden revolving cylinder, on which the cloth is rolled as fast as it is woven, the Hebrew word for which 1Sa 17:7; 1Ch 11:23; 1Ch 20:5 is quite different from that here used.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Having done what Samson directed, she adds this for sureness’ sake; she fastened the hair thus woven with a pin.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. She fastened it with the pin — This was an effort to make him still more secure. Not only did she weave his hair fast in her woof and warp, but made it faster still in some way by the pin of the beam. The meaning of this latter expression is doubtful. Some think that this pin was a large nail by which she fastened the web to the wall or floor; others, that it was the roller or beam to which the threads of the warp were fastened, and round which the cloth was rolled when woven. Keil thinks it was “the comb or press itself, which was fastened to the loom, so that it could only be torn out by force.” Whatever it was, when he was again suddenly aroused by the startling cry, The Philistines be upon thee! he tore out with his hair both the web and the pin, and went off with them. Perhaps, as Bush suggests, “he took away the whole apparatus together.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And she fastened it with the pin. The Septuagint and many commentators understand that she used the pin (it is the common word for a tent pin) to fasten the loom or frame to the ground, or to the wall. But a good sense comes out if we understand the phrase to mean, So she struck with the shuttle, i.e. she did what Samson told her to do, viz., wove his locks into the warp which was already prepared. This was done by successive strokes of the shuttle, to which the hair was fastened. To strike with the peg or shuttle may have been the technical phrase for throwing the shuttle with the woof into the warp; and it is a strong argument in favour of this interpretation that it makes her action the simple fulfilment of his directions. He said, "Weave my locks into the warp. So she struck with the shuttle." With the pin of the beam, and with the web. The Hebrew word ereg cannot mean the beam, as it is here translated; it is the substantive of the verb to weave in ver. 13. Its obvious meaning, therefore, is the woof. The pin of the woof, therefore, is the shuttle,with the woof attached to it, i.e. Samson"s hair, which was firmly woven into the warp. He went away with. This is the same word as was applied in ver. 3 to his plucking up the gateposts. Now, with the strength of his neck, he tore up the shuttle which fastened his hair to the warp, and so dragged the whole solid frame along with it. However, as we do not know the technical term of the art of the weaving among the Hebrews and Philistines, nor the precise construction of their looms, some obscurity necessarily attaches to this description.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.