Judges 16:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man."

NIV: Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man."

NASB: And Samson said to her, 'If they bind me with seven fresh animal tendons that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.'

CSB: Samson told her, "If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man."

NLT: Samson replied, 'If I were tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I would become as weak as anyone else.'

KJV: And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

NKJV: And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

Samson seems to be playing a dangerous game with Delilah, the woman he loves (Judges 16:4–6). We're not told how much he knew about her plan. Most likely, he didn't know she had been paid to betray his secret and hand him over to his enemies. And yet, it's highly likely Samson ignored common sense and other warning signs. The lords of the Philistines offered Delilah a huge amount of money to seduce Samson into revealing the secret of his supernatural strength. They intend to subdue and humiliate him.

Rather than trying to be sneaky, Delilah has taken a less suspicious approach. She presumably lavishes Samson with love, while bluntly asking about the secret of his supernatural strength. In that context, a lover asking, "how can you be defeated?" would appear more curious than anything else. Samson gives Delilah an answer. It's a lie, seemingly part of what he thinks is a flirtatious, private game. His answers, her use of them, and his responses imply he thinks this is an amusing way to show off for his lover (Judges 16:9, 12, 14). Eventually, he will trust her enough to tell the truth, foolishly assuming she won't harm him—though that's exactly what she will do (Judges 16:20–21).

In his first blatant lie, Samson tells Delilah that seven fresh, undried bowstrings would make him as weak as any other man. If Delilah knows anything about Nazirite vows (Judges 13:4–5; Numbers 6:1–21), this would make a certain amount of sense. Samson's position as a Nazirite should have prevented him from contacting anything from a corpse. Bowstrings were made from sinews or intestines of dead animals; an undried bowstring came straight from a carcass. Samson knew from experience, though, that touching something from a dead body would not take away his strength.

Judges 16:4–22 finds Samson falling in love with Delilah. In exchange for an outrageous sum of money, she agrees to seduce him so she can pass along the secret of Samson's strength to his Philistine enemies. This begins a pattern Samson probably thought was a lover's game, where he repeatedly lies about his secret. Eventually, however, he tells her the truth: shaving his head will make him weak. She has his head shaved as he sleeps and then turns him over to the Philistines, who gouge his eyes out and make him into a slave.

After escaping an ambush in the Philistine city of Gaza, Samson rips the city gates out and walks away with them. When he falls deeply in love with Delilah, Philistine nobles pay her a fortune to seduce Samson into revealing the secret of his strength. She eventually succeeds, shaving his head while he sleeps. The Philistines gouge out Samson's eyes and put him in prison in Gaza. He is put on display at a celebration for the Philistine idol Dagon. God grants a last moment of supernatural power in response to Samson prayer. Samson collapses the support beams of the temple, crushing himself along with thousands of Philistine leaders.

Samson's story began in chapter 14 and will end here. His time as a judge lasted twenty years (Judges 15:20), but Scripture records only a few major incidents from his life. No specific times are assigned to these events. Samson humiliates Gaza by ripping out the city gates with his bare hands. He then falls for Delilah, who finds out the secret of his strength and betrays him. The Philistines blind Samson and enslave him in a prison near Gaza. They then parade him around during a noblemen's celebration in the temple of Dagon. With power from the Lord, granted as a last request, Samson collapses the temple's support pillars. This kills everyone inside, including himself. This begins the process of Israel's liberation (Judges 13:5), which later men such as Samuel will complete (1 Samuel 7:11–14).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).