Judges 16:13

13 dixitque Dalila rursum ad eum usquequo decipis me et falsum loqueris ostende quo vinciri debeas si inquit septem crines capitis mei cum licio plexueris et clavum his circumligatum terrae fixeris infirmus ero

Judges 16:13 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 16:13

And Delilah said unto Samson
At another time, when she thought it most proper to upbraid him with his deception of her:

hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies;
both the times that she had solicited him to impart the secret of his strength to her:

tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound;
tell me the real truth, and deceive me no more:

and he said unto her, if thou weavest the seven locks of my head with
the web;
it seems that Samson's hair was parted into seven locks, which no doubt hung down very long; and now he tells her, that if these were interwoven with the warp which was upon the beam in a loom near by; perhaps in the same room, where Delilah used to weave, as was the custom of those times, and in various nations F1; his strength would be weakened; for Braunius F2 is mistaken in supposing this to be the beam about which the web was rolled, as he is also in the pin next mentioned, which he takes to be the "spatha", or lathe, with which the threads are knocked together.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 "Arguto conjux" Virgil. Georgie. l. 1. v. 294. So Penelope in Homer, Minerva & Arachne in Ovid. Metamorph. l. 6. fab. 1. v. 55, &c. Vid. Pignorium de servis, p. 418. Braunium de Vest. Sacerd. Hebr. l. 1. c. 17. sect. 33.
F2 "De Vest". Sacerd. Hebr. l. 1. c. 16. sect. 8.

Judges 16:13 In-Context

11 cui ille respondit si ligatus fuero novis funibus qui numquam fuerunt in opere infirmus ero et aliorum hominum similis
12 quibus rursum Dalila vinxit eum et clamavit Philisthim super te Samson in cubiculo insidiis praeparatis qui ita rupit vincula quasi fila telarum
13 dixitque Dalila rursum ad eum usquequo decipis me et falsum loqueris ostende quo vinciri debeas si inquit septem crines capitis mei cum licio plexueris et clavum his circumligatum terrae fixeris infirmus ero
14 quod cum fecisset Dalila dixit ad eum Philisthim super te Samson qui consurgens de somno extraxit clavum cum crinibus et licio
15 dixitque ad eum Dalila quomodo dicis quod ames me cum animus tuus non sit mecum per tres vices mentitus es mihi et noluisti dicere in quo sit tua maxima fortitudo
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.