Judges 16:6

6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me why you are so strong. How can someone tie you up and capture you?"

Judges 16:6 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 16:6

And Delilah said to Samson
At a proper opportunity, when in his hands and caresses, as Josephus relates ^F5, and introduced it in an artful manner, admiring his strange exploits, and wondering how he could perform them:

tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth;
which she proposed seemingly out of mere curiosity, and as it would be a proof of his affection to her, to impart the secret to her:

and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee;
not that she suggested to him that she was desirous to have him afflicted, or to try the experiment herself in order to afflict him, but to know by what means, if he was bound, it would be afflicting to him so that he could not relieve himself; she knew he might be bound, if he would admit of it, as he had been, but she wanted to know how he might be bound, so as to be held, and could not loose himself.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 9.)

Judges 16:6 In-Context

4 After this, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Valley of Sorek.

5 The Philistine rulers went to Delilah and said, "Find out what makes Samson so strong. Trick him into telling you how we can overpower him and capture him and tie him up. If you do this, each one of us will give you twenty-eight pounds of silver."

6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me why you are so strong. How can someone tie you up and capture you?"

7 Samson answered, "Someone would have to tie me up with seven new bowstrings that have not been dried. Then I would be as weak as any other man."

8 The Philistine rulers brought Delilah seven new bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied Samson with them.