Judges 16:13

13 And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Hitherto thou hast played upon me, and dost speak unto me lies; declare to me wherewith thou art bound.' And he saith unto her, `If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.'

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.

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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 And he saith unto her, `If they certainly bind me with thick bands, new ones, by which work hath not been done, then I have been weak, and have been as one of the human race.'

12 And Delilah taketh thick bands, new ones, and bindeth him with them, and saith unto him, `Philistines [are] upon thee, Samson;' and the ambush is abiding in an inner chamber, and he breaketh them from off his arms as a thread.

13 And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Hitherto thou hast played upon me, and dost speak unto me lies; declare to me wherewith thou art bound.' And he saith unto her, `If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.'

14 And she fixeth [it] with the pin, and saith unto him, `Philistines [are] upon thee, Samson;' and he awaketh out of his sleep, and journeyeth with the pin of the weaving machine, and with the web.

15 And she saith unto him, `How dost thou say, I have loved thee, and thy heart is not with me? these three times thou hast played upon me, and hast not declared to me wherein thy great power [is].'