Judges 16:6

6 Then Delilah spake to Samson, (and said,) I beseech thee, say thou to me, wherein is thy greatest strength, and what is that thing, with which if thou were bound, thou mayest not break (it)?

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 (And) After these things Samson loved a woman that dwelled in the valley of Sorek, and she was called Delilah.

5 And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and said, Deceive thou him, and learn thou of him, in what thing he hath so great strength, and how we may overcome him, and torment him when he is bound; the which thing if thou doest, we shall give to thee, each man, a thousand and an hundred pieces of silver. (And the rulers of the Philistines came to her, and said, Deceive thou him, and learn thou from him, by what thing he hath so great strength, and how we can overcome him, and torment him when he is bound; and if thou doest that, each one of us shall give thee a thousand and a hundred pieces of silver.)

6 Then Delilah spake to Samson, (and said,) I beseech thee, say thou to me, wherein is thy greatest strength, and what is that thing, with which if thou were bound, thou mayest not break (it)?

7 To whom Samson answered, If I be bound with seven cords of moist sinews not yet dry, I shall be (made as) feeble as other men.

8 And the princes of [the] Philistines brought to her seven cords, as he had said; with which she bound him,