Judges 16:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

NIV: Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.

NASB: Then the governors of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh animal tendons that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

CSB: The Philistine leaders brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.

NLT: So the Philistine rulers brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them.

KJV: Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

NKJV: So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them.

Delilah is lying to Samson: Philistines rulers are the real reason behind her questions (Judges 16:7). They have offered her a huge sum of money if she can use seduction to reveal the secret of Samson's strength (Judges 16:4–6). Samson, in turn, has lied to Delilah. He probably doesn't realize how untrustworthy she is. Yet he's playing along with what probably feels like a lover's game.

She has asked Samson what it would take to subdue him completely. He knows she is asking about his supernatural strength. Samson has told her, falsely, that being tied with seven fresh, undried bowstrings would make him as weak as any other man. That would make some sense, since Samson's Nazirite vow (Judges 13:4–5) prohibited contact with carcasses and corpses (Numbers 6:1–21). Bowstrings were made from dried animal intestine or other tendons. "Fresh bowstrings" were pieces of a dead animal.

Delilah's patrons provide the seven fresh bowstrings. She uses them to tie Samson up, perhaps as he sleeps. What she says next, Samson may have taken as a joke (Judges 16:9). It's not—Delilah has men waiting in case Samson is weak. Either way, he will easily snap the cords.

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).