Judges 16:6

Jdg 16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength [lieth], and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

Ver. 6. Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength.] It is likely that Samson at some time or other had given out that his great strength lay in something whereof he might be deprived, though he never yet told wherein; and was now most hardly drawn to it.

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 16:6-8. Wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee — This seems rather to express the sum of what Delilah aimed at than her very words. For it is scarcely credible that she put this question so openly to Samson, which would have discovered that she had some design against him. But, rather, she wormed it out of him by degrees, and in such an artful manner as gave him no cause of suspicion. Samson said, &c. — Samson was guilty both of the sin of lying, and of great folly, in encouraging her inquiries, which he should at first have checked: but as he had forsaken God, so God had now forsaken him, otherwise the frequent repetition and vehement urging of this question might easily have raised suspicion in him. With seven green withs — Probably osiers. The lords of the Philistines brought — Or rather sent; for it is not to be supposed they came themselves with these things.

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

(6) And wherewith thou mightest be bound.—The narrative, if taken as a full account of all that took place, would leave in the mind an impression of almost incredible fatuity on the part of Samson. The general lesson is that of 1Es_4:26 : “Many have gone out of their wits for women, and have become slaves on account of them; many have perished and erred and sinned by reason of women.” (Comp. Pro_7:26.) Eastern legends constantly show how women have deceived even prophets. But there was no reason why the sacred historian should linger over the details of scenes so unworthy. If Delilah spoke thus plainly at once, we can only imagine that she was professing to treat the whole matter as a jest. Josephus says: “When Samson was drinking, or at other moments, expressing admiration of his deeds, she kept scheming how to ascertain in what way he was so pre-eminent in valour.” An illustration may be found in 1Es_4:29 : “I saw Apame taking the crown from the king’s head and setting it on her own head; she also struck the king with her left hand, and yet for all that the king gaped and gazed upon her with open mouth. If she laughed upon him, he laughed; if she took displeasure at him, he flattered her, that she may be reconciled to him.” The genius of a great poet has depicted such wiles in the idyll of Merlin and Vivi-enne, and it is only by supposing that such wiles were put forth in this instance that we can retain credit for even the most ordinary sense on the part of the Danite hero. But his fault was not stupidity—it was sensual infatuation; and in the ruin and shame which this sensual weakness brought upon him, and the way in which, step by step, it led him to forfeit the great gift of God, lies the chief moral of the story. We find the same lesson in the legend of Hercules and Omphale; and even if this legend was not influenced by the story of Samson’s life, yet there is a general analogy between the character of the Greek and the Jewish hero. Samson was no Solomon, and yet the heart of even Solomon—

“. . . . though large,

Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell.”

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

And Delilah said to Samson,.... At a proper opportunity, when in his hands and caresses, as Josephus relates (e), and introduced it in an artful manner, admiring his strange exploits, and wondering how he could perform them:

tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth; which she proposed seemingly out of mere curiosity, and as it would be a proof of his affection to her, to impart the secret to her:

and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee; not that she suggested to him that she was desirous to have him afflicted, or to try the experiment herself in order to afflict him, but to know by what means, if he was bound, it would be afflicting to him so that he could not relieve himself; she knew he might be bound, if he would admit of it, as he had been, but she wanted to know how he might be bound, so as to be held, and could not loose himself.

(e) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 9.)

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

Wherein thy great strength lieth; what is the cause of this prodigious strength, or wherein doth it consist? She seems to ask merely out of curiosity, to understand the state of a person whom she so highly values.

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

6. Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth — We shall better understand both the words and conduct of Delilah and Samson if we regard her questions and persuasion touching the secret of his strength as the price she laid on Samson for the privilege of intercourse with her. Instructed by the Philistine lords, she demands of Samson that he shall, before he gratifies his love with her, tell her this great secret of his life.

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

bind you, so you might be controlled

This can be stated in active form. AT: "bind you to control you" or "bind you to restrain you" (See: Active or Passive)

fresh bowstrings

Bowstrings were often made from parts of an animal, often from the tendons. The words "fresh bowstrings" refer to those that come from a freshly slaughtered animal that have not yet dried.

that have not been dried

This can be stated in active form. AT: "that have not yet dried" or "that are not dry yet" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Delilah

Samson

bind

bow and arrow

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.