Judges 16:14

"Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the fabric on the loom.”"

Key Reflection

Delilah's persistent questioning and accusation of Samson in Judges 16:14 reflect her determination to uncover his secret weakness, which is pivotal for her to betray him to the Philistines. The original audience would have understood that weaving Samson’s seven locks, a symbol of his divine strength, with fabric on a loom was both practical and metaphorical; it suggested that once bound, Samson's supernatural power could be rendered ineffective. This scene highlights Delilah's cunning and Samson’s initial naivety in underestimating her persistence and deceit.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

And she fastened it with the pin ... -The meaning of the verses seems to be that the seven long plaits, in which Samson’s hair was arranged, were to be woven as a woof into the threads of a warp which stood prepared on a loom in the chamber, which loom Delilah fastened down with a pin, so as to keep it firm and immoveable. But Samson, when he awoke, tore up the pin from its socket, and went away with the loom and the pin fastened to his hair.

More from Judges 16

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