Character Studies
Samson part 4
Judges 16:4-14
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great
strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we
will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
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.
7 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.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she
bound him with them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines
be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his
strength was not known.
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee,
wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak,
and be as another man.
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon
thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like
a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou
mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
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.
Delilah lived in the valley of Sorek, the same valley in which Samson’s home of Zorah/Eshtaol and the
Philistine town of Timnath were located. The name Delilah means “devotee” so it is suggested her profession was
a religious prostitute even though the evidence for that seems small based on a name. She was at least the third
Philistine woman with whom Samson had been involved. The Scripture says Samson loved her and it seems she
was also in love – with money. She was offered eleven hundred pieces of silver to find the secret of his strength.
Samson probably should have been wary when Delilah asked the first question, “. . . Tell me, I pray thee,
wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightiest be bound to afflict thee.” Wherein thou
mightiest be bound to afflict thee? There may have been a hint there if he had been open to it.
He must have thought this would be a good time to play games with Delilah so he told her if he were bound with
seven green withes (bowstrings), never dried, his strength would be gone. The lords of the Philistines brought these
to her and she bound Samson with them. She called to him that the Philistines were upon him and he easily broke
these cords. There were Philistines lying in wait for Samson but they were not to show themselves until it was
proven his strength was gone.
Delilah told Samson he had mocked her and now she desired the truth. He told her if he was bound with new
ropes that had never been used then his strength would be gone. In the fifteenth chapter, the Judeans had bound
him with new ropes before delivering him to the 1,000 Philistines. The new ropes didn’t work that time and they
didn’t work this time either.
She knew that he had mocked her again but was determined to get that money. She asked again how he might
be bound. The third time he gets closer to the truth because he mentions his hair. He says if his hair is woven into
the fabric on the loom he will lose his strength. Guess what she did? While he was asleep she wove his hair into
the cloth. When he awoke to the news the Philistines were upon him, he went away with the loom. Three times he
had deceived her with his answers but all three times, when he had awakened, she had tried to bind him with the
method he had described. We could ask ourselves, “Doesn’t he know that if he tells her the truth she will try it”?
We look at it and wonder what is wrong with him and why he would continue to stay with this woman who
obviously cares nothing for him. We can’t say for certain but it looks as if he was so much in love, he gave up his
ability to reason things out.
Judges 16:15-22
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast
mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was
vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have
been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I
shall become weak, and be like any other man.
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines,
saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up
unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the
seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out
as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with
fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
Delilah kept at it and asked how he could love her when he wasn’t being honest with her. In physical strength,
Samson was the strongest man in the world but he showed a tremendous weakness when competing against the
wiles of a woman. Just as before when his wife got the secret of the riddle from him by constant nagging, Delilah
finally also chose that method with desirable (for her) results. She wore him down and when he could stand no
more he told her the secret to his strength. His strength wasn’t in the length of his hair but in his vow to the Lord.
As long as he kept this vow, the sign being no razor coming to his head, the Lord would provide him with strength.
His disobedience to God began when he told Delilah his secret and continued when he put himself in the place that
his head could be shaved.
This time Delilah sensed Samson had told the truth so she sent for the lords of the Philistines to come – and, by
the way, don’t forget the money. She got him to fall into a deep sleep on her knees and then she called for a man to
come and shave the seven locks of his head. Apparently they also bound him because when she called out that the
Philistines were upon him, Samson awoke and attempted to shake himself free. One of the saddest statements in
the Bible followed, “And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him” (vs. 20). He thought he would go
out as before but must not have even realized his head had been shaved.
He soon found out his strength was gone because the Philistines took him. His eyes were then put out.
Samson’s greatest weakness was attraction to Philistine women now he would be physically attracted to them no
longer. He was bound with brass fetters and placed in prison where he was made to grind meal. Some think he was
placed at a grinding wheel that would normally be powered by an animal because of his strength. He now had no
more strength than a normal person so the grinding was probably with a hand mill that was normally used by
women.
Mention is made of his hair beginning to grow again. The hair itself was only a sign of his vow so Samson’s
heart must have also been changed when he finally realized what he had done. Evidently the Philistines thought
that shaving the head once was enough to rob him of his strength permanently because they apparently didn’t keep
his head shaved. No doubt Samson noticed his strength beginning to return as he sought one more occasion with
his enemies.
Judges 16:23-31
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their
god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our
hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us
sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him
between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon
the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were
upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I
pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne
up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house
fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were
more than they which he slew in his life.
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and
buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel
twenty years.
No exact time is stated from the date Samson was first captured until this great religious feast. The Philistines
gathered to offer a sacrifice to their god Dagon. Dagon was a one of the chief deities of the region and was said to
be the father of Baal. There were temples dedicated to Dagon at Gaza and at Ashdod and there were probably
smaller shrines to him throughout the country.
When Samson was carrying on with Delilah, he may have thought it was a personal matter and he obviously
thought that no harm would come to him or anyone else. Now the true magnitude of his sins is brought out. All the
people, including the leaders, were saying their god had delivered Samson into their hands. In other words, their
god was greater and more powerful than the God of Israel. In our day we also need to be aware of the stain that sin
can bring. Sometimes we underestimate the damage sin can do by bringing reproach on the name of Christ and on
the church.
The Philistines thought they had won a great battle. At that time, Samson was brought in front of the people to
entertain them. No mention is made of how they made sport of him. Some have said that he was to perform
demonstrations of his great strength for them but this would not have been the case because they supposed they had
robbed him of that strength. More likely is they played some games with his blindness such as having different
ones touch him and he not being able to find them even though they were right in front of him. Whatever they did,
there was no fear of him because they had a young lad in charge of leading him around.
When the mocking was complete, Samson asked the lad to lead him to the pillars of the temple so he could lean
on them. Samson knew he didn’t have much natural strength because he prayed for the Lord to give him the
strength to avenge himself of his enemies. Verse 27 says the house was full of men and women and there were
three thousand men and women on the roof. This seems to indicate the temple was overflowing with people. The
lad takes Samson to the pillars and he takes hold of them with one in each hand. He says “Let me die with the
Philistines” and somehow pushes the pillars away so that the whole house falls on the Philistines.
The statement is made that Samson slew more at his death than he did in his lifetime. The number of the dead is
not stated but we know Samson had previously slain more than 1,030 Philistines (30 in Ashkelon, 14:19; 1,000 at
Ramath Lehi, 15:14-17; and an unknown number to avenge the death of his wife and father-in-law, 15:8). The
question is raised as to whether Delilah was among the crowd that was slain. Nothing is said concerning her after
she turned Samson over to the Philistines but the general feeling is that since she was responsible for his capture
she would have been in attendance at this celebration of their victory.
No mention had been made of Samson’s siblings but now it is said his brothers came to retrieve the body and
take it back to Zorah and Eshtaol to be buried. The collapse of the temple must have caused enormous confusion
among the Philistines for them to allow the family of their enemy to remove his body for burial.
As mentioned in the first lesson, Samson’s life was a story of wasted potential. He was dedicated to the Lord
before his birth and was raised correctly but he kept returning to dangerous places and associating with the wrong
people. He continued to place himself in tempting situations and he continued to fall into sin.