Introduction: Judges 16 must be correctly understood to be appreciated. Unfortunately, we will never know all

Transcription

1 16 16:1 31 Samson and Dlilah Outlin of Chaptr 16: vv. 1 3 Samson, his whor and th Philistins vv. 4 9 Samson and Dlilah Samson s first li vv Samson s scond and third lis to Dlilah vv Samson rvals th sourc of his strngth to Dlilah vv Th Philistins ovrpowr Samson and haul him to Gaza vv Samson is humiliatd bfor thousands of drunkn Philistins vv Samson avngs himslf against th Philistins Spcial Charts: v. 31 Samson Forshadows our Lord v. 31 Samson Contrastd with Christ Jsus v. 31 Samson Parallls th Nation Isral Introduction: 16 must b corrctly undrstood to b apprciatd. Unfortunatly, w will nvr know all of th dtails in this chaptr. Thr ar svral things which th author lavs out, which caus us to guss at xactly what vnts took plac. Thr ar a numbr of things which w may dduc, somtims aftr th fact. Howvr, in all of th commntaris that I hav rad, no on sms to spnd much tim rally xamining this chaptr from a psychological standpoint, which is th angl at which this chaptr is most intrsting. Th motivations of Samson and Dlilah ar ky in undrstanding what is going on hr. For m, th most fascinating part of this chaptr is what is going through th mind of Samson and Dlilah and why ar thy bhaving th way that thy do. Thr will b quit a numbr of things which w will discuss in this chaptr that, vn if you hav rad a dozn commntaris, you hav not sn discussd bfor. You all know th story of Samson and Dlilah; lt m tll you that you don t know th story of Samson and Dlilah. If you will rcall, I mntiond at th bginning of 13 that I found Samson to b on of th last intrsting charactrs in Scriptur and that I did not car for him or his xploits. By this chaptr, dspit his stupid bhavior in prvious chaptrs, h s bgun to b flshd out as an intrsting charactr to m. I rcall rading Studs Lonnigan many yars ago, and, for th longst part of th book, I m not liking any of th charactrs that much and wondring why on arth I am still rading th book. Thn, about two-thirds of th way through th book, suddnly, Studs and Wary hav bcom intrsting popl with som dimnsion to thm, and I couldn t hardly put th book down aftr that. That s how I fl about Samson. Initially, I didn t particularly lik him and would hav prfrrd, at first, to writ him off as som apocryphal myth. Now, at this tim, I hav bcom fascinating by his charactr and with th contnts of this chaptr. From this chaptr and prvious chaptrs, w hav com to find out that Samson s waknss is womn (among othr things). In 16, h mts up with Dlilah, who apparntly with grat boldnss inquird th scrt of his strngth. Sh nvr smd to kp hr purposs hiddn, which som find to b a bit confusing. Sh would ask Samson what th sourc of his strngth was, h would mak somthing up, sh would try it, and thn th Philistins would show up to kill him; thn h would rval that h had only bn mislading hr. At th nd, Samson tlls hr that th scrt to his strngth is his long hair. Now, plas undrstand, Samson was not strong bcaus h had long hair. Th long hair signifid that h was a Nazirit to God, and, as such, h also possssd th powr of God s Holy Spirit. What happnd was that Samson got a bit cocky. H took his vows lss sriously than h should hav. H was supr-humanly strong and widly fard. H could walk right into th middl of a Philistin city, whr h was hatd, and suffr no ill consquncs.

2 Chaptr Whn Samson told Dlilah that th scrt of his strngth was in his long hair, it is possibl that h did not raliz that th cutting of his hair would caus th Holy Spirit to lav him. It is possibl that h was just playing clos to th dg. W rally don t know on way or th othr for crtain. Listn, Samson is living with a woman with whom h is infatuatd and it is clar that Dlilah has no flings for him and that thir rlationship is basd simply upon sx. And, by th way, it is vn clar to Samson that sh has no ral fling for him. It is not lik Samson is compltly foold into thinking that Dlilah is inhrntly a nic prson who dp down lovs him. No whr is this vn implid. Sh is a Philistins, prhaps a formr prostitut. In any cas, sh is wll off, sh is xcptionally attractiv, and Samson strongly lusts for hr. Furthrmor, Samson is living in th midst of Philistins. In othr words, Samson is pushing th nvlop, h is living lif on th dg, h is taking chancs, h is sing how far h can go. This is a far cry from th Samson of th prvious chaptr. In th prvious chaptr, Samson, for a priod of tim, had smd to rach som sort of a spiritual platau. H calld out to God, rasoning with God from th standpoint of God s justic and God s plan. Thn h took a position of ladrship in Isral. Howvr, btwn 15 and 16, Samson has falln. H is a judg in Isral, but now h is living in th midst of th Philistins with a hathn Philistin woman who dos not lov him and h is simply doing it bcaus h can. I know what you r thinking. You r thinking, what th hll is wrong with you Samson? Just what is your dal? This 1 is simpl. Samson, as a young man (prhaps his mid or lat 20 s), rachd a spiritual platau, aftr which h bcam a judg in Isral, rspctd. For most of twnty yars, Samson apparntly taks this position sriously and taks his spiritual lif sriously (w ar gussing hr; w actually know nothing about th tim priod during which h judgd Isral). But thn Samson slid into his 40 s; h hadn t bn mixing it up with th Philistins as much as h did in his youth and h cravd a littl advntur and a littl stimulation. Now you v got it Samson was xprincing th typical mal mid-lif crisis. Today, h might purchas a rd convrtibl, gt his hair dyd and prhaps vn gt som cosmtic surgry. Ths options not bing opn to him, Samson gos down to Gaza and has himslf a Philistin prostitut. W ar only told of on incidnt w don t know how many tims that Samson did this. Howvr, h spnds nough tim with th Philistins to find himslf anothr Philistin woman to tak up with th infamous Dlilah. So, with Dlilah, as has bn dscribd, w hav a dysfunctional rlationship. Sh dos not lov Samson, h, if not in lov with hr, was at last captivatd by hr and hr ways. In thir rlationship, sh actually poks and prods him for th scrt of his suprnatural strngth. Although h dos not rval it immdiatly, h finally tlls hr just nough h tlls hr th scrt is his long hair. Now, whn Dlilah cuts Samson s hair, which braks his Nazirit vows, th Holy Spirit lavs him. His strngth is in th Holy Spirit, but h loss th Spirit bcaus h braks his Nazirit vows. Now, this is a littl tricky, but undrstand that Samson s parnts, apart from his choic, vow for him to b a Nazirit; and now, Dlilah, apart from his volition, will caus him brak on of his Nazirit vows. Without th Holy Spirit to giv him his grat strngth, th Philistins asily ovrpowr Samson. Thy goug out his ys and thy plac him into tmporary slavry until thy gathr to gloat. At th nd, Samson s strngth rturns to him bcaus God th Holy Spirit rturns to him. It is at this point that h taks out th roof of a Philistin colisum, killing th popl who ar both insid and on th roof, which is his most famous act. It is this act which ssntially brok th back of th Philistins making it possibl for th Isralits to latr compltly ovrpowr th Philistins undr Saul and David. Of cours, most of you, bcaus your Bibl as a child had picturs in it, hav this mistakn mntal pictur o f Sa mso n with his long hair standing btwn two pillars and pulling th hous down on svral thousand Philistins. Actually, at this tim, Samson had a burr haircut and probably most of th Philistins wr abov him, on th roof of th building (which apparntly affordd a good viw to what was down blow). As a prson who apprciats architctur, I would lov to s picturs of this grat building which Samson toppld. Finally, aftr this chaptr, w will lav th gnral format of th book of that w had bcom accustomd to and w approach this tim priod from a diffrnt standpoint. So far, w hav lookd at th various judgs and dlivrrs of Isral during th tim of th judgs, but w hav not rally sn much of th popl and thir actions. That is what is to com in th subsqunt and final chaptrs of this book. 1 W will discuss Samson s ag in gratr dtail in v. 5.

3 Th Book of th 489 <<Rturn to Chaptr Outlin>> <<Rturn to th Chart Indx>> Samson, His Whor and th Philistins Slavishly litral: And so wnt Samson to Gaza and so h saw thr a woman fornicator and so h wnt in unto hr. 16:1 Modratly litral: Latr, Samson wnt to Gaza and h saw thr a fmal prostitut, so h wnt in unto hr. Latr, Samson wnt down to Gaza and saw thr a prostitut, whom h had sx with. W hav brifly covrd Gaza in Joshua 10:41 13:3a, on of th fiv primary citis of th Philistins. You will rcall that whn Samson lost th bt against his bst mn at his wdding, h wnt to Ashklon and killd thirty Philistins for thir cloths. Ashklon is on th coast of th Mditrranan Sa, almost du wst of th northrn tip of th Dad Sa. Blow Ashklon is th city of Gaza, th southrn-most Philistin city, inland by about thr mils, and th prfct location for a city, as it sits on a hill 100 ft abov a frtil plan, and thr ar fiftn natural, frsh watr wlls in th ara of th city. 2 You may wondr why Samson travls to th southrnmost of th Philistin citis. Why dosn t h just go into th city nxt door to whr h livs and do this? This is no doubt not Samson s only trip to a prostitut. H has probably bn doing that for yars and h gos to diffrnt Philistin citis. H dosn t st up a pattrn. H may b dvil-may-car, but h is not totally and compltly foolhardy. H taks som prcautions, as w will s in subsqunt vrss. Samson is an intrsting guy. H has this fud going on with th Philistins, h is a judg in Isral, and yt h prsists in going to ths Philistin citis for various and sundry rasons. Who h ss thr is th fminin singular of îshshâh (ä È àò É ) [pronouncd sh-shawh], which mans woman, wif. Strong's #802 BDB #61. This word is modifid by fminin singular, Qal activ participl of zânâh (ä ðè æè ) [pronouncd zaw-naw], which mans to commit adultry, to fornicat, to [sxually pursu]. As a participl, this dscribs a prson oftn by thir occupation and what thy do at thir occupation. In othr words, this woman was a fornicator or a prostitut (without th fminin singular suffix, this would man that Samson saw a woman fornicating). Strong's #2181 BDB #275. What is intrsting is that th noun îshshâh is not rally rquird hr. Samson ss hr first as a woman and scondly as a prostitut. As was said bfor, Samson s waknss was th fmal camp. Now, you may wondr why this vrs is hr it sts a pattrn for Samson s lif. H has bn a judg in Isral for som tim, but, aftr tn or so yars hav passd by, h s bcom bord and wants to go out and find som action and xcitmnt. W don t know if this occurrd at th nd of his judgship or whthr Samson was guilty of this bhavior throughout. My thinking is that h did this during th last fw yars, and ths continud trips to prostituts st him up for Dlilah. H was on a spiritual pak at th nd of th prvious chaptr and h may hav bn abl to rsist a woman lik Dlilah at that tim. Howvr, frqunt sxual ncountrs totally confuss th soul with rgards to mattrs of th hart and it wakns th man s authority. By th tim Samson got to Dlilah, h was asy pickings. 2 Most of this matrial coms from Th Zondrvan Pictorial Encyclopdia of th Bibl; 1976; Vol. 2, p. 662.

4 Chaptr [And it was told] to Gazits to say, Cam Samson hr. And so thy surroundd and so thy lay in wait for him all of th night in a gat of th city and so thy wr silnt all of th night, to say, Until light of th morning and w will kill him. 16:2 [And it was told] to th Gazits was said, Samson has com hr. So thy surroundd [Samson] and lay in wait for him all of th night insid th gat of th city. Thy wr [absolutly] silnt all of th night, saying, Until th light of th morning, and thn w will kill him. Th mn of Gaza wr informd that Samson was in town. Thrfor, thy lay in wait for Samson insid th city gat all that night. Thy rmaind thr in absolut silnc, saying, W will wait for th dawn and thn kill him. Th Hbrw is missing th first fw words, which ar found in th Grk txt. Rothrham, includs this. Th NASB th KJV and Young includ ths words, but italiciz thm. Svral translations found som kind of middl ground (Th Amplifid Bibl, th NIV, th NRSV and th NJB, for instanc). Samson was th most famous Isralit insofar as ths Philistins wr concrnd. H was radily rcognizabl, dspit th fact that thr wr no camras or VCR s at th tim. Samson was notorious for his acts of aggrssion against th Philistins, unparallld by vn any trib of Isral. Thrfor, his visag was know at last by dscription by almost vry Philistin. b b Whn th Philistins ralizd that Samson was in town, what thy did was th Qal imprfct of çâ va v (á áç ñè ) b B [pronouncd saw -VAH V], which mans to turn onslf, to go around, to surround, to ncompass. Strong s #5437 b B BDB #685. Th scond thing that thy did is th Qal imprfct of âra v (á øç àè ) [pronouncd aw-ra V], which mans to ambush, to lay in wait. Strong s #693 BDB #70. It is obvious what Samson was doing and th Philistins figurd that h would b worn out and would slp till dawn. Thy had no xpctation of mting up with Samson prior to th brak of dawn. Prior to gat of th city w hav th bêyth prposition, which can man at, against, in. Th ky is proximity. No Strong s # BDB #88. What is mant hr is that vryon was insid th city limits. Thr is going to b on main xit out of th city, calld th gat of th city and ths mn lay in wait insid th city for Samson. Samson cannot xit th city bcaus thr is no xit. At night, th citis wr lockd up and th gat to th city was closd and lockd. It would b r-opnd at dawn. In th ancint world, without a wall around th city and a gat which could b closd and lockd, a city was compltly at th mrcy of whovr lurkd in th outsid world. Thrfor, onc a popl took ovr an ara would oftn wall in th city and thn hav on main gat going in and out so that thy would not b subjctd to dvastating night attacks (s also Joshua 2:5). Givn what w hav hr and th vnts which followd, ths mn wr not stationd at th gat of th city but insid th gat of th city, around th primtr of th hous of th whor that Samson was sing. Thy apparntly put up a rathr slipshod watch as wll. That is, thr wr not two or thr mn awak at all tims thir xpctation was that Samson was not going anywhr until dawn, so, thy, apart from snoring, waitd in silnc. Obviously, to thm, thr was nowhr Samson could go at night, with th gat closd. H was stuck insid th town till th gat was opnd in th morning. This rasoning xplains why thir postd guard was not mor ffctiv. As thy lay in wait, having surroundd Samson, thy wr th Hithpal imprfct of chârash ( øå çè ) [pronouncd chaw-rahsh], which mans to b silnt, to xhibit silnc. This is th only tim this particular word occurs in th Hithpal, which is th rflxiv of th Pil (or intnsiv) stm. Thy kpt thmslvs absolutly silnt. Strong s #2790 BDB #361.

5 Th Book of th 491 And so lay Samson until half of th night and so h aros in half of th night. And so h took hold in doors of a gat of th city and in two of th posts and so h pulld thm up with th bar and so h put thm upon his shouldrs and so h carrid thm unto a top of th hill which [is] unto a facs Hbron. 16:3 And Samson laid down until th middl of th night and thn h aros in th middl of th night. Thn h took hold of th doors of th gat of th city and of th two posts and h pulld thm up with th bar and put thm on his shouldrs and carrid thm to th top of th hill that facs Hbron. Samson rmaind slping until th middl of th night, at which point h got up. H wnt to th gats of th city and took a hold of th gats and of th two anchoring posts and h liftd thm up, along with th bar across th top. H placd all of this on his shouldrs and hauld thm to th top of th mountain du ast of Gaza, facing Hbron. Samson slps until th masculin singular of chãtsîy (é ö ò çâ ) [pronouncd khuh-tsee], which mans half. Whn affixd to th word night, it mans th half-way point of night, and th two words can b thn rndrd as midnight (Own, NASB, Rothrham). Strong s #2677 BDB #345. What is not mntiond is that Samson gos outsid, wandrs quitly ovr to th gats of th city. Now, you may not undrstand Samson s bhavior, but h fls that h is imprvious to Philistin attacks. You know th tnag boy who drivs his car 90 mph and thinks that nothing can happn to him, that s Samson. Young mn oftn do a lot of stupid things bcaus th notion of dath and dying nvr occurs to thm. Samson is th sam way, and h has good rason to fl that way. H was strong nough to kill 1000 Philistins at on tim. God protcts and provids for him. H fls as though h is invincibl. So, whn h wants sx, going to th middl of a Philistin city is not a big thing to him. H dosn t particularly hid his actions nor is h concrnd if th Philistins find out. H knows thm and h njoys having a littl fun with thm, Samson wants to mss with thir hads a littl. Whthr h knw that mn wr waiting for him, w ar not told. In ordr to slip out quitly and gt to th gats of th city, Samson probably was surrptitious, and it probably did occur to him that it was possibl that Philistins wr laying in wait for him. Whn h coms to th gats of th city, which prvnt his laving, h dos th Qal imprfct of âchaz (æ çç àè ) [pronouncd aw-khahz]; and it mans to grasp, to tak hold of, to tak possssion of. Strong s #270 BDB #28. This h dos to th doors of th gats of th city. Also, h grabs th two posts which apparntly anchor th ntir gat to th city. Thn what Samson did was th Qal imprfct of nâça (òñç È ð) [pronouncd naw-sahì], which rd mans to pull up [th staks of a tnt]. Strong s #5265 BDB #652. With th vrb, w hav th 3 prson masculin plural suffix, translatd thm, rfrring to th posts which anchord th gats of th city. Kil and Dlitzsch rndr this phras as:...laying hold of th folding wings of th city gat, as wll as th two posts, tor thm out of th ground with his hrculan strngth, togthr with th bar that fastnd thm, and carrid thm up 3 to th top of th mountain which stands opposit to Hbron. Th city gats ar a natural ntry point to a city, so ths posts and gats ar carfully installd to insur maximum protction from outsid invasion. It is unthinkabl that a man could uproot th posts and gat. Samson is obviously givn suprhuman strngth by God th Holy Spirit. Now, this is going to mak som nois and it was probably hard all ovr th town. Th Philistins lying in wait for him at thir various posts crtainly har this. My thinking is that not on of thm movd. If thy had falln aslp, thy wr awak. If thy wr awak, thy wr frozn in thir stps. W liv in a tim priod whr thr is a lot of construction and our ars ar constantly bombardd with nois of things bing built and things bing torn down. In th ancint world, in th middl of th night, almost all activity stoppd. Thr wr no sounds, apart from th animals and th inscts. Suddnly, ovr a priod of mayb a minut or two, thr is an incrdibly loud sound at th gats of th city. This is not th sound of a forign powr hitting th gat with somthing, but a sound that thy had not hard bfor. Th lifting up of th posts out of th ground would hav bn a uniqu, not ovrly-loud sound that thy had nvr hard bfor. Givn Samson s strngth, this would not hav gon on for too long of a 3 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 301.

6 Chaptr tim priod. As you or I might rach into th ground a pull up a survyor s markr, Samson grabs a hold of ths posts and lifts thm out of th ground. Th gats would clang somwhat in all of this. Th plan was to kill Samson at daybrak and it was not daybrak. Th mn listning to this may hav thought that Samson was mrly banging on th gats to gt out and that h was not going to gt out. Obviously, w can only mak rasonabl spculations as to whr vryon was and what thy wr thinking. Aftr it rads h pulld thm up, w hav th prposition îm (í ò)ò [pronouncd ìm], which is gnrally rndrd with. Strong s #5973 BDB #767. Now, with on arm around th anchoring post on on sid and th gat affixd to it, h liftd th post out of th ground. Thn h wnt to th othr sid and did th sam thing hr. It all cam up as on connctd pic bcaus what h pulls up with th posts is th masculin singular of b rîyach ( ç é ø. ) - [pronouncd b r-ahkh], which mans bar. It is th bar of wood across a tavrn or th bar raching from post to post of a city gat. Strong s #1280 BDB #138. Samson pulls up th posts, th gats and th bar across th top of th posts. Thn h placs all of this on his shouldrs. For Samson, th wight was not th problm; th bulk was th problm. Thn h carris all of this to th top of th hill which facs Hbron. This dos not man that thr is Gaza, a hill and thn Hbron. Hbron is almost 40 mils away, du ast of Gaza, and much narr to th Dad Sa. This simply mans that Samson hauld this to th narst hill du ast of Gaza. Kil and Dlitzsch: To th ast of Gaza, thr is a rang of hills which runs from north to south. Th highst of thm all is on which stands somwhr isolatd, about half an hour to th south-ast of th town, and is calld l Montar from a wly which is found upon th top of it. Fro m th is h ill thr is a splndid prospct ovr th whol of th surrounding country. Hbron itslf is not visibl from this hill, but th mountains of Hbron ar. According to an ancint tradition, it was 4 to th summit of this hill that Samson carrid th city gats. Robinson agrs that this is rasonabl: Th city gat of th Gaza of that tim was probably not lss than thr-quartrs of an hour from th hill l Montar; and to climb this pak with th havy gats and thir posts and bar upon his shouldrs through th dp sand upon th road, was a fat which only a Samson could prform. 5 Samson is probably chuckling to himslf th whol tim. Whn thy wak up th nxt morning, thir gat thir protction will b compltly gon, and it will b hauld so far away, that it will b a major undrtaking to bring it back. Th whol tim, you know that Samson is chortling to himslf, thinking that h is just about th funnist guy in th world. McG: What h did sounds lik th prank of a tnagr or th trick of a collg studnt. This boy Samson nvr did grow up. H has bn calld to dlivr Isral with his mighty powr, and all h dos is us it for his prsonal advantag. 6 <<Rturn to Chaptr Outlin>> <<Rturn to th Chart Indx>> Samson and Dlilah Samson s First Li And so h was aftr this and so h lovd a woman in a vally of Sork and hr nam [was] Dlilah. 16:4 And it was aftr this that h lovd a woman from th vally of Sork; and hr nam [was] Dlilah. Somtim latr, Samson fll in lov with a woman from th vally of Sork, whos nam was Dlilah. This is th only plac whr w find th Sork vally mntiond; howvr, ZPEB sms to indicat its location today without qualification. Thy hav it as bginning about thirtn mils southwst of Jrusalm and running in th northwstrly dirction toward th Mditrranan Sa for twnty or so mils. Thr ar apparntly thr paralll, narrow vallys that run from ast to wst across th Shphlah. Sinc th Lvitical city of Bth-shmsh 4 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p Also takn from Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 302; thy giv th rfrnc V. d Vld.. 6 J. Vrnon McG, Joshua, h1976 by Thru th Bibl Books; p. 196.

7 Th Book of th 493 would b at th southast ntryway into this vally, if Samson wr nutralizd, this would lav quit a vulnrabl opning into Bth-shmsh. 7 Throughout th Bibl, w will find tim aftr tim whn th undoing of grat spiritual mn has bn th woman. For Adam, it was Ev. For Samson, it was Dlilah. David marrid svral tims, having a host of childrn, which was on sourc of his problms (furthr, rcall th problms which h had with his first wif, th daughtr of Saul I Sam. 18:20 21 II Sam. 6:16). King Solomon, who could hav not only bn grat, but could hav njoyd a rul of incrdibl prosprity with vry littl prsonal cost, lost his hart to many womn (I Kings 1:11). It is th unfaithfulnss of a woman which God uss in th lif of th propht Hosa which both plagus his hart and yt provids him with an analogy btwn Isral and God. Don t misundrstand this this dos not man that mn ar good and womn ar bad; and, if you r haring this, I doubt that you ar that lam in your thinking (aftr all, at th cross, thr was only on discipl but svral of th womn in th lif of our Lord). This simply mans that womn xrt a grat powr ovr mn, and that it taks grat spiritual discrnmnt and growth on th part of both mn and womn so that thir rlationship stands in glory to God as opposd to on which brings sham to Him. And so wnt up unto hr princs of Philistins and so thy said to hr, Entic him and s by th what his strngth grat and by th what w may hav ability for him and bind him to afflict him and w [vn] w will giv to you, a man, a thousand and a hundrd [pics of] silvr. 16:5 So th princs of th Philistins wnt up to hr and said to hr, Entic him and s by what mans [is] his grat strngth and by what mans w may hav ability for him and bind him to afflict him and w [vn] w will ach giv to you 1100 [pics of] silvr. So th princs of th Philistins wnt up to hr and said to hr, Entic him and s whrin is th scrt of his grat strngth and how w might b abl to bind him in ordr to humbl him. Find out this information and w will giv you 1100 pics of silvr from ach on of us. Th languag in this vrs is rathr difficult, so w will nd to s what othrs hav don: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Lit. Translation So th lords of th Philistins com up unto hr and said to hr Entic him and s whrin lith his grat strngth, and whrwith w may prvail against him, and bind him, to humbl him, and w will giv th vry man lvn hundrd pics of silvr. And th lords of th Philistins cam up to hr, and said to hr, Entic him, and s whr his grat strngth lis and how [lit., by what] w may ovrpowr him that w may bind him to afflict him. Thn w will ach giv you lvn hundrd pics of silvr....and th princs of th Philistins com up unto hr, and say to hr, Entic him, and s whrin his grat powr is, and whrin w ar abl for him and w hav bound him to afflict him, and w w giv to th, ach on, lvn hundrd silvrlings. th first vrb is intrsting and I don t know that I can xplain why it is usd, but I will pass it on to you. It is th 3 rd prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct of âlâh (ä ìè òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-lawh], which mans to go up, to ascnd, to ris. Strong's #5927 BDB #748. What is odd about this vrb is that sh livs in th vally of Sork. Thrfor, thy would normally not b going up to s hr. What this suggsts is that sh livs with Samson on highr ground than whr sh was raisd. Who coms to hr is th masculin plural construct of çrn (ï ø ñ ) [pronouncd SEH-rn], which mans warlord, princs, tyrant, lord, czar, potntat, dspot. This is a word usd only of hathn rulrs, and thir actual ranking on th food chain is unclar. Strong s #5633 BDB #710. This lacks a dfinit articl in th Hbrw bcaus it is in th construct stat. Thr wr fiv princs of th Philistins (Joshua 13:3). 7 Quotd or paraphrasd from Th Zondrvan Pictorial Encyclopdia of th Bibl; 1976; Vol. 5, p. 495.

8 Chaptr nd Th scond vrb which th princs us is th 2 prson fminin singular, Qal imprativ of th vry common vrb râ âh (ä àè øè ) [pronouncd raw-awh], which mans to s, to look. In th imprativ, it mans look, s, bhold, viw. It would b rasonabl to rndr this as to prciv. Strong's #7200 BDB #906. Thy hav not askd hr to dtrmin th sourc of Samson s strngth in a particular way in whatvr way sh can, thy ask hr to dtrmin what th sourc of his strngth is. Aftr th vrb, w hav combination of th bêyth prposition and th intrrogativ particl. Togthr, thy man whrin, whrwith, by what mans; this is usd with indirct qustions. Bêyth = Strong s #non BDB #88. Mh = Strong s #4100 BDB #552. What follows this is his grat strngth, and thn this phras is rpatd and thn st w hav th 1 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct of yâkôl (ìéëé) È [pronouncd yaw-coal], which mans to b abl, to hav th ability, to hav th powr to. Strong's #3201 BDB #407. Now, on would xpct to hav th Qal infinitiv to follow this vrb, but what thy us instad is th wâw conjunction and th Qal prfct of âçar (ø ñç àè ) [pronouncd aw-awhr], which mans to bind, to ti, to imprison, to rstrain. Strong s #631 BDB #63. Now w hav th Pil infinitiv construct of ânâh (ä ðè òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-nawh], which mans to humbl, to b grac orintd, to b humbld, to b afflictd. In th Pil, this mans to opprss, to dprss, to afflict. Strong's #6031 BDB #776. Ths hathn thought that thr was som xtrnal thing of Samson s that thy could nutraliz in ordr to rob him of his strngth. Thy assumd that h wor som amult or that h did somthing in particular which gav him this suprnatural strngth, as h was not simply just a vry strong man. Kil and Dlitzsch: Thr was a crtain truth at th foundation of this hathn suprstition, inasmuch as this gift of divin grac was rally bound up with th possssion of a corporal pldg, th loss of which was followd by th immdiat loss of th gift of 8 God. T hy also assumd that thr was som ky, somthing that thy could do, somthing that thy could rmov, which would tak this suprnatural strngth away. W nd to stop and think about how old Samson is at this tim. Thr ar about two thoris hr, nithr on of which hav I sn rally discussd by anyon. H could b around 35 or h could b 50 or oldr. This dpnds upon whthr or not Samson was born whil th Philistins ruld ovr Isral. W ar told that th Philistins ruld ovr Isral for forty yars ( 13:1). W ar also told that Samson was born in 13 and that h was a judg ovr Isral for twnty yars ( 15:20). Thrfor, if Samson was born, say, during th first coupl yars of Philistin rul, thn h must b undr 40, maning that h bgan to judg Isral at a vry, vry young ag. Evn if w squz Samson s lif in thr, so that an additional fiv yars or fwr ar givn at his dath to throw off th yok of th Philistins (I Sam. 7), that would mak him at most, 35, maning that h would hav bgun to judg Isral at ag 15. W might b abl to push that furthr and mak him mayb 37 or 38. In any cas, his judgship would hav bgun quit arly. Now, sinc h was a Nazirit to God, and sinc this would hav bn public knowldg, it is not unrasonabl to hav Samson ruling at a young ag in his lat tns, although that would hav bn quit unusual. Th scond thory is that th Isralits and th Philistins mixd it up prtty good for svral yars prior to th subjugation of Isral undr thm. That thr was a gnral animosity btwn Isral and th Philistins would hav bn known to Manoah and his wif (Samson s parnts) prior to th birth of Samson. Thrfor, th prdiction of th Angl of Jhovah that Samson would bgin to dlivr Isral out of th hands of th Philistins ( 13:5) would mak som sns to thm. Evn if it did not, that dos not man that thr is any problm with th prophcy of th Angl of Jhovah. In ithr cas, undr this scnario, Samson s youth would hav occurrd during Isral indpndnc from th Philistins, and, som tim whil Samson was prhaps in his tns, th Philistins took control of southrn Isral. Undr this scnario, h would hav bn in his lat fortis and arly fiftis in this chaptr. I hav spnt a grat dal of tim hr daling with Samson s ag bcaus his bhavior nds som xplaining latr on in this chaptr. His ag coms into play whn it coms to undrstanding his actions and motivations. Samson, in this chaptr, appars to b going through th typical mid-lif crisis. H is visiting prostituts, h is taking up with xotic forign womn, h is falling in lov with womn much youngr than h from th nmy camp. All that is occurring is that Samson has ralizd that h is aging and that h is uncomfortabl with that and this dos not 8 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 302.

9 Th Book of th 495 hav to occur at a conscinc lvl. Prsonally, th ag 30 bothrd m a grat dal whras 40 did not. Throughout ths fw chaptrs, w hav notd that Samson has don som prtty goofy things; what occurs in this chaptr is vry much in charactr for somon who is immatur to bgin with and thn gos through a mid-lif crisis bsids. In ithr cas, whthr Samson is 35 or 50, Dlilah might b in hr lat tns or arly 20 s and sh might hav som fondnss for Samson and h may hav appard to hr to b way too old to tak sriously, vn if h is only 35. Evn if sh is in hr lat 20 s (which I think is th oldst possibl ag for hr), sh obviously dos not nd to fl th sam way about Samson as h fls about hr. Thrfor, hr bhavior will mak mor sns. You will not that thy do not thratn Dlilah thy promis to pay hr 1100 silvrlings or pics of silvr from ach princ, making 5500 silvrlings in all. From th rst of th narrativ, it will b obvious that Dlilah is willing to participat. What is trmndously sad about this is that th first womn that Samson fll for, th Philistin woman from Timnath, was thratnd with hr lif and th lif of hr family in ordr to cooprat. Howvr, hr, thr ar no thrats. Dlilah is promisd a grat dal of walth, and you will find no hsitation on hr part throughout th narrativ which is to com. You may wondr how is all of this possibl. Isn t Samson quit a hunk and hasn t h caught Dlilah s y? Crtainly, h will hav a trmndous build and crtainly, thr would b som physical attraction. Howvr, this again dos not man that Dlilah lovs him. W will gt into th psychology of why Samson is doing what h dos in a fw vrss, so that what I am going to say will mak mor sns. Samson is btwn H has nvr bn marrid and h has bn going to prostituts for who knows how many yars. H is apparntly vry much in lov with this young thing, who is anywhr from 7 to 25 yars youngr than h. Whras, this is not a grat problm for Isralit cultur, th Philistins may hav marrid closr to thir own ags. And, again, vn if thy did not, this in no way mans that Dlilah has any dp flings for Samson. Givn that Samson is much oldr than hr, that h is an Isralit, and that Dlilah is young, offring hr mony is th only motivation that sh nds. Sh may hav vn bn brought up to dislik Samson vn prior to mting him, as h was a wll-known thorn in th sid of th Philistins. On qustion which should b on your mind is just how much mony ar w talking about? Th NIV givs this as 9 28 lbs. or 13 kg, which, to us, is not that grat of a pric. ZPEB suggsts that this is 150 lbs. Howvr, by ancint world standards, this is actually quit a bit of mony. In 17:10, a yar s salary is givn as 10 silvrlings; thrfor, if Dlilah rtird and still had 70 yars to liv, sh would b abl to liv on 78.5 silvrlings/yar; in othr words, this would b nough mony for Dlilah to rtir on as a rich prson. A young, vigorous slav, way back in th days of Josph, wnt for 20 silvrlings, making hr fortun quivalnt to th pric of 275 slavs. Thr ar svral rasons why Samson is worth so much to th Philistins. Principally bcaus h is th only man which th Philistins who ar awar of who could singl-handdly bring thm down. Most of Isral has bn mor than cooprativ. Th mn from Judah 3000 of thm chos to talk to Samson, to gt him to turn himslf in, as it wr, to th Philistins ( 15:10 13). Not a singl on of thm xprsss th thought that, hy, hr w ar, 3000 mn, with a ladr of suprhuman strngth lt s kick th butts of th Philistins right now. Sinc th mn of Judah, whn bandd togthr, do not oppos th Philistins, thn thy only man that Philistia has to b concrnd about is Samson. Subduing him rmovs all th opposition of Isral. Finally, it is important that you notic that ths Philistins say nothing to Dlilah about killing Samson. Thy do not want Dlilah to kill Samson nor do thy plan to kill him immdiatly. Samson has bn a thorn in thir sids for ovr two dcads (as h was a judg in Isral for 20 yars). Furthrmor, not only had his fud with th Philistins bgan bfor thn, but w crtainly hav not bn told ach and vry dd that Samson did. Onc thy had Samson undr thir powr, thy wr going to mak him suffr. Rvng would rquir mor than just a quick xcution. 9 Th Zondrvan Pictorial Encyclopdia of th Bibl; 1976; Vol. 3, p. 751.

10 Chaptr And so said Dlilah unto Samson, [Might you] mak known, plas, to m in th what your strngth grat and in th what you will b bound to humbl you. 16:6 So Dlilah said to Samson, Plas mak known to m by what mans your strngth [is] grat and by what mans you will b bound to afflict you. Thn Dlilah said to Samson, Plas tll m what th scrt to your grat strngth is and how you may b subdud in ordr for you to b humbld. Dlilah bgins with th Hiphil imprativ, with a voluntativ hê, of nâgad (ã âç ðè ) [pronouncd naw-gahd], which mans to mak conspicuous, to mak known, to xpound, to xplain, to dclar, to inform. Strong's #5046 BDB #616. Dlilah is vry dirct; thr appars to b no duplicity. Sh uss th sam languag as did th Philistins. Sh uss th Niphal imprfct of âçar (ø ñç àè ) [pronouncd aw-awhr], which mans to bind, to ti, to imprison, to rstrain. Th Niphal is th passiv stm, so sh is asking him how h might b bound or rstraind. Strong s #631 BDB #63. Thn sh uss th Pil infinitiv construct again of ânâh (ä ÈÈ ðò) [pronouncd ìaw-nawh], which mans to humbl, to b grac orintd, to b humbld, to b afflictd. Strong's #6031 BDB #776. Aftr Samson tlls hr, if h did not know, h will know that this is not just for hr own information. This tlls us somthing about Dlilah sh is not a vry dvious woman, maning that sh rally is not all that smart. Sh dirctly asks Samson th scrt of his strngth and how it would b possibl for him to b subdud. Aftr all that has happnd, Samson knows that sh has bn approachd by Philistins who hav askd hr for this information. Samson hr is not stupid. It is a gam to him. H thinks h is invincibl and h is strongly attractd to this woman, so h gos along with th program. Th rlationship btwn Samson and Dlilah is simply physical. Sh is modratly attractd to him, and h is strongly attractd to hr. It is not any sort of tru lov, as Samson is not capabl. Emotionally, h is in lov with hr, and that is simply basd upon physical attraction and sx. Bcaus this is th basis for thir rlationship, Samson will do som prtty stupid things. For th past twnty yars in Amrican socity, physical attraction and sx hav bn th initial basis for most marriags and liv-in rlationships. Th participants tnd to do vry stupid things in such a rlationship. Thr ar bonds forgd with a sxual rlationship which can dig into th man, th woman or both. Howvr, this is no basis for a long-trm rlationship, which is why so many marriags nd in divorc and vn mor liv-in rlationships ar dissolvd. What w find in this chaptr may hav occurrd thr millnniums ago, but in th ralm of human psychology, it is as up-to-dat as anything you will rad in any currnt magazin. Undrstand Samson and Dlilah, and you undrstand why marriag and family in Amrica has bn on such a downhill slid for th past two or thr dcads. And so said unto hr Samson, If thy bind m in svn bowstrings frsh which hav not bn drid, and I will b waknd and I will b lik on of th man. 16:7 So, Samson said to hr, If thy ti m up with svn frsh bowstrings that hav not bn drid out, thn I will b waknd and I will b lik [any] on of th human rac. So, Samson answrd hr, If thy ti m up with svn frsh bowstrings that hav not bn drid out, thn I will b waknd and bcom just lik any othr man. So, Samson just starts making shit up. Whn h uss th word bind, which is th sam word as in th prvious rd two vrss, h uss th 3 prson masculin plural. If thy bind m in svn bowstrings... H knows what is nd going on. If h wr mrly answring a qustion for hr own curiosity, thn h would hav usd th 2 prson fminin singular, and h would hav said, If you bind m in svn bowstrings. H adds in a littl hocus pocus by saying svn, which was a numbr which mant to th ancints, compltnss. Sinc th bginning of man, w hav had svn day wks which corrsponds to th svn days of rstoration. Sinc th oldst thing in man s history is th rstoration of th arth in six days plus on day of rst, this was commmoratd by all mn as a

11 Th Book of th 497 svn day wk, which has com down to us vn to this day. Evn aftr th ral rason for a svn day wk fadd from mmory, th svn day wk which commmorats God s work, rmains. Thn Samson suggsts th masculin plural noun ythr (øú é) [pronouncd YEH-thr], which mans cord, bowstring. Bcaus of its usag in Psalm 11:2, bowstring sms to b th most accurat rndring. Kil and Dlitzsch say that it could rfr to a harp of guitar string, although w hav no Scriptural vidnc for that. This word is a homonym. Strong s #3499 BDB #452. Samson modifis it with th adjctiv lach (ç ì) [pronouncd - lahkh], which mans frsh, moist, nw. Strong s #3892 BDB #535. Samson taks it vn furthr. Ths would b b frsh bowstrings which hav not bn, and thn h uss th Pual prfct of chârê v (á ø çè ) [pronouncd khaw- B RAW V], which mans to b dry, to b drid up. Strong s #2717 BDB #351. So, Samson is making it simpl. H tlls hr that hr fllow Philistins nd to find svn frsh bowstrings that havn t vn bn drid out yt, and us thos on him. H is no doubt chuckling to himslf. You may wondr why thy ar playing this gam. I hsitat to say this, but th rsult was probably grat sx. Sh has a grat fling of powr ovr him, as wll as thinking that this was going to b th last tim. H fls jovial and amusd ovr th ntir situation. Both of thm ar physically drawn to on anothr. What Samson says at th nd is: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Lit. Translation...thn shall I bcom wak and b as any othr man....thn I shall bcom wak and b lik any othr man....thn I hav bn wak, and hav bn as on of th human rac. st Th last fw words ar rathr difficult. W hav th 1 prson singular, Qal prfct of th absolut status quo vrb to b followd by th kaph prposition (lik, as) and th construct of th numral châd (ã çè à ) [pronouncd h- KHAWD] and it mans on, first. Strong's #259 BDB #25. This is followd by th dfinit articl and th masculin singular noun âdâm (í ãè àè ) [pronouncd aw-dawm], which can b th propr nam for Adam, anothr nam for man or a nam for th human rac,.g., human bing, mankind. Strong's #120 BDB #9. Litrally, what w hav is and I hav bcom lik on of th man. In th English, w would probably hav man in th plural. And so brought to hr princs of Philistins svn bowstrings, frsh, which wr not drid and so sh bound him in thm. 16:8 And so th princs of th Philistins brought to hr svn frsh bowstrings which had not [yt] bn drid, and sh bound him [Samson] with thm. So th princs of th Philistins brought to hr th still-moist, svn frsh bowstrings and sh tid Samson up with thm. You will not how brav ths Philistins ar. Thy giv th bowstrings to Dlilah and ask hr to ti Samson up. Sh dos, and Samson allows hr to. Again, it would not b using too much imagination to figur that thr was somthing kinky going on hr as wll. On option which wnt through my mind is that Dlilah was dvious and that w did not rally gt what was going on hr. Du to th diffrncs of thir strngth, it might appar as though Dlilah wantd Samson to ngag in a littl bondag and that this was th story that Samson was bing fd. Whras, this may b how it was first prsntd to Samson, h ralizd aftr th first tim or two that thr was mor to this than kinky sx. Evn though Samson is no Rhods scholar, what occurs nxt maks it clar that thr is mor to this than just bing tid up. And th ambushing dwlling in to hr in th innr chambr and so sh said unto him, Philistins [ar] upon you, Samson. 16:9a Also, th ambushing was dwlling in by hr in th innr chambr and sh said to him, Th Philistins [ar] upon you, Samson. Furthrmor, thr lft bhind a group of thm in th innr chambr; thn sh said to him, Samson, th Philistins ar upon you.

12 Chaptr b Aftr th conjunction and th dfinit articl, w hav th Qal activ participl of âra v (á øç àè ) [pronouncd aw- B RA V], which mans to ambush, to lay in wait. As a participl, it mans an ambushing. Strong s #693 BDB #70. b B This is followd by th Qal activ participl of yâsha v (á Ç éè) [pronouncd yaw-shah V] and it mans to rmain, to sit, to dwll. In th Qal participl, it should b rndrd inhabiting, dwlling in. Strong's #3427 BDB #442. This is followd by th lâmd prfixd prposition (to, for, in rgards to, of, with rfrnc to, by) and affixd to it is th fminin singular suffix, rfrring to Dlilah. Whr th mn ar is th masculin singular noun chdr (ø ã ç ) [pronouncd KHEH-dhr], which mans chambr, room, privat room. Strong s #2315 (and #2316) BDB #293. Off th bdroom was anothr privat room whr ths mn wr. Or, thy wr in th bdroom, and Samson and Dlilah wr in th dn. Samson is a judg of Isral and notorious throughout all of th southrn portion of Judah and th Philistin mpir. Dlilah is not som poor trollop who caught his y, but a young woman of walth, bauty and influnc. And so h tor away th bowstrings as which is torn away a thrad of th tow in a smlling of fir; and was not known his strngth. 16:9b Thn h tor apart th bowstrings just as a thrad of tow is torn apart whn it smlls ir; and his strngth was not known. Thn h snappd apart th bowstrings just as th short fibrs of flax mlt whn placd nar a flam; and th scrt of his strngth was still undiscovrd. Lt s look at this scond half of this vrs as othrs hav rndrd it: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Lit. Translation And h snappd th cords as a thrad of tow is brokn, whn fir blowth thron, so his strngth was not discovrd. But h snappd th cords as a string of tow snaps whn it touchs fir. So his strngth was not discovrd....and h brakth th withs as a thrad of tow is brokn in its smlling fir, and his powr hath not bn known. W first hav th Pil imprfct of nâthaq ( úç ðè ) [pronouncd naw-thahk], which mans to pull, to draw, to tar away, to tar apart, to tar off. Thn this is found in th Niphal, which mans to b torn away, to b brokn, to b torn out, to b sparatd, to b drawn away from. Strong s #5423 BDB #683. What is torn away is th masculin singular construct of pâthîyl (ìé ú. È ) [pronouncd paw-theel], which is usually rndrd lac; it can man thrad as wll. Strong s #6616 BDB #836. It is a thrad of th fminin singular of n ôrth (úøéò ð) [pronouncd n GOH-rth], which is gnrally rndrd tow, which mans nothing th most radrs. Tow is 10 th short and coars fibrs of flax prior to th flax bing spun. Bing put into a flam immdiatly disintgrats it. Strong s #5296 BDB #654. This is followd by th bêyth prposition and th Hiphil infinitiv construct of rîyach ( çé - ø. ) [pronouncd r-ahkh], which mans to smll, to prciv an odor. Strong s #7306 BDB #926. Hr s th dal: whn th flam coms clos nough to smll it, ths littl coars pics of flax just mlt away as if thy wr nothing. Thy act as though thy had bn hld clos nough to a fir to burn thm. Thn w hav th Niphal (passiv stm) prfct of yâda (òãç È é) [pronouncd yaw-dahì], which mans to know. In th Hiphil, it mans to caus to know, to instruct, to tach. Strong s #3045 BDB #393. This is in th masculin singular, tlling us that th subjct is Samson s strngth. W do not know prcisly what happnd hr. It is unclar whthr Samson ralizd that th Philistins wr in th othr room, whthr thy chargd out, how long it was bfor Samson snappd th sv n b o wstrings. It appars that what Dlilah said, which sh will rpat in th nxt svral vrss, was th signal for th Philistins to com out. W just don t know, basd upon this vrs, whthr thy did or not. Howvr, in th final incidnt, it bcoms clar that ths Philistins did com out and thy did lay thir hands on Samson. Apparntly, what h 10 Th Zondrvan Pictorial Encyclopdia of th Bibl; 1976; Vol. 5, p. 781.

13 Th Book of th 499 did was, with all of thm holding onto him, Samson would go out of th hous and thn shak thm all off. Furthrmor, at this tim, Samson ralizs that Dlilah was not just playing kinky bondag gams with him. <<Rturn to Chaptr Outlin>> <<Rturn to th Chart Indx>> Samson s Scond and Third Lis to Dlilah And so said Dlilah unto Samson, Bhold, you hav trifld in m and so you proclaim unto m lis; now, [might you] mak known plas to m in th what you ar bound. 16:10 And Dlilah said to Samson, Bhold, you hav trifl d with m and you proclaim to m lis; now, [might you] mak know, plas, to m whrwith you can b bound. Th n D lilah said to Samson, List n, you hav mock d m and you hav b n t llin g m li s; now, plas just tll m how you could b bound. Although th gist of this vrs is quit asy to gt, w will look at a coupl of othr translations of what Dlilah says bfor xgting it: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Lit. Translation Lo! thou hast bn laughing at m, and spaking unto m falshoods, Now, do tll m, I pray th, whrwith thou mightst b bound. Bhold, you hav dcivd m and told m lis; now plas tll m, how [Lit., by what] you may b bound. Lo, thou hast playd upon m, and spakst unto m lis; now, dclar, I pray th, to m, whrwith thou art bound. What Dlilah claims that Samson was bn doing to hr is th Hiphil prfct of tâlal (ì ì Ç È ) [pronouncd taw-lahl], which mans to dciv, to mock, to trifl [with]. Sinc this word is followd by th bêyth prposition, trifl would b th most logical rndring. Strong s #8524 BDB #1068 (and Strong s #2048 BDB #251). b b What ls h has don is th Pil imprfct of dâ var (ø áç ãè ) [pronouncd daw -VAHR], which mans to spak, to dclar, to proclaim, to announc. Th Pil is strongr and it can carry with it th ida of providing guidanc and dirction. Strong s #1696 BDB #180. Thn sh follows this with th Hiphil imprativ (with th voluntativ hê) of nâgad (ã âç ðè ) [pronouncd naw-gahd], which mans to mak conspicuous, to mak known, to xpound, to xplain, to dclar, to confss, to inform. This is only found in th Hiphil. Strong's #5046 BDB #616. Now, this is th scond tim that w hav noticd Dlilah usd an usual spch pattrn. W would hav xpctd to find th voluntativ hê with bound and not with mak known. Sh said roughly th sam thing in v. 6. Now, this is a bizarr sort of rlationship. Sh is a Philistin; Samson ralizs by this tim that th Philistins ar using hr; and yt h plays along with it. Sh dosn t appar to disguis that which sh asks for nor is a rason for this givn. Thn w hav th problm of a band of Philistins in th othr room. Th only way that this could hav bn disguisd is som sort of a sxual-bondag thing that sh and Samson had going. Howvr, sh would thn cry out that th Philistins wr thr, thn Samson snappd th rops (or, whatvr), and, apparntly, th Philistins would simultanously charg in th room and jump on Samson. H would thn shak off th Philistins as though thy wr flas (w ar not told that hr but it is implid in v. 20). And so h said unto hr, If a binding, thy bind m in [thick] rops, n w, which h has not bn don in thm work and I will b wak and I will b as on th man. 16:11 Thn h said to hr, If [with] a binding, thy bind m in nw [thick] rops, which it was not bn don with thm work, thn I will b wak and I will b lik [any] on of th human rac.