Judges 16:20

20 And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that 1the LORD had left him.

Judges 16:20 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 16:20

And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson
In like manner as she had before, that she might have full proof that the case was really such, that his strength was gone from him:

and he awoke out of his sleep;
upon the cry she made: and said; within himself, purposing and determining in his own mind:

I will go out as at other times before;
as he had done at the three former times, and did not meet with any Philistines to fall upon him, and so concluded it would be the case now, and he, if he did, should be able to defend himself against them:

and shake myself;
that he might be thoroughly awake, and be on his guard and defence:

and he wist not that the Lord was departed from him;
might have forgot what he had told Delilah of, and knew not what had been done to him, that his hair was shaved off; or if he did, was not sensible that the Lord had removed from him; but might hope that he would renew his strength, when he should stand in need of it; but he soon found his mistake; he was quickly taken by the Philistines, and ill used, and in a little time lost his life. And from hence it is thought sprung the story of Nisus, king of the Megarenses, who is supposed to reign about this time; of whom it is reported F8, that the hair of his head was of a purple colour, and was told by the oracle, that so long as that was kept on he should be safe, but if it was shaved off he should die; and so it was, that when the Cretians besieged him, his daughter falling in love with Minos, the king of the Cretians cut off her father's hair, and so both he and his country were delivered into the hands of the enemy.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 Pausaniae Attica, sive, l. 1. p. 33. Ovid Metamorph. l. 8. Fab. 1.

Judges 16:20 In-Context

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up again, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.
19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
20 And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.
22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 1 Samuel 28:15, 16
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.