Giudici 16:16

16 Or avvenne che, premendolo essa ogni giorno con le sue parole, e molestandolo, sì ch’egli si ne accorava l’animo fino alla morte,

Giudici 16:16 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 16:16

And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her
words, and urged him
Lay at him day after day to communicate the secret to him, gave him no rest, but was incessant in her applications to him:

so that his soul was vexed unto death:
could hardly bear to live, but wished to die, being in the utmost perplexity what to do between two different passions, love and fear; on the one hand chained by his lust to this harlot, that was continually teasing him, and whom he had not an heart to leave, or otherwise that would have cleared him of his difficulties; and on the other hand, should he disclose the secret, he feared, and was in danger of losing his strength, in which his glory lay: or

``his soul was shortened unto death'' ^F3;

it was the means of shortening his days, and hastening his death. Abarbinel thinks that Samson was sensible of this, that his days were short, and the time of his death at hand; which made him the more willing to impart the secret. This may put in mind of the story of Milo, a man famous for his great strength, said to carry an ox upon his shoulders a furlong without breathing; of whom it is reported, that none of his adversaries could deliver themselves out of his hands, but his whore could, often contending with him; hence it is observed of him, that he was strong in body, but not of a manly soul {d}; and there are many other things said ^F5 of him concerning his great strength, which seem to be taken from this history of Samson.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (ruqt) "abbreviata est", Montanus, Drusius. So Munster.
F4 Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 2. c. 24.
F5 Vid. Pausan. Eliac. 2. sive. l. 6. p. 309.

Giudici 16:16 In-Context

14 Ed ella conficcò il subbio con la caviglia, e gli disse: O Sansone, i Filistei ti sono addosso. Ed egli, svegliatosi dal suo sonno, se ne andò con la caviglia del telaro, e col subbio.

15 Ed ella gli disse: Come dici: Io t’amo; e pure il tuo cuore non è meco? Già tre volte tu mi hai beffata, e non mi hai dichiarato in che consiste la tua gran forza.

16 Or avvenne che, premendolo essa ogni giorno con le sue parole, e molestandolo, sì ch’egli si ne accorava l’animo fino alla morte,

17 egli le dichiarò tutto il suo cuore, e le disse: Rasoio non salì mai in sul mio capo; perciocchè io son Nazireo a Dio dal seno di mia madre; se io fossi raso, la mia forza si partirebbe da me, e diventerei fiacco, e sarei come qualunque altr’uomo.

18 Delila adunque, veduto ch’egli le avea dichiarato tutto il cuor suo, mandò a chiamare i principi de’ Filistei, dicendo: Venite questa volta; perciocchè egli mi ha dichiarato tutto il cuor suo. E i principi de’ Filistei salirono a lei, recando in mano i danari.