Jueces 16:19

19 Y ella lo hizo dormir sobre sus rodillas, y mandó llamar a un hombre que le rasuró las siete trenzas de su cabellera. Luego comenzó a afligirle y su fuerza le dejó.

Jueces 16:19 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 16:19

And she made him sleep upon her knees
Giving him, as some think, a sleepy potion; or however encouraged him to take a nap upon her knees, and by her fondness lulled him to sleep:

and she called for a man; a barber;
in former times to shave was the work of a servant ^F6 and sometimes of a woman; she gave orders for one to be sent for; for Jarchi calls him a messenger of the lords of the Philistines:

and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head;
this shows that they were not wove into one another, and made but one lock, as some interpret what she was before directed to do:

and she began to afflict him;
as his hair was shaving off; though he was asleep, yet he discovered some uneasiness, the effects of it began to appear: though the word "began" here may be redundant, as in ( Numbers 25:1 ) ( Judges 20:40 ) and then the meaning is, that she afflicted him, or again afflicted him; for she had afflicted him, or at least attempted it, three times before, and therefore did not begin now; this Hebraism is used in ( Mark 4:1 ) and frequently in Jewish writings ^F7:

and his strength went from him;
sensibly and gradually; though some understand it of her shaking him in a violent manner to awake him, and shrieking and crying out terribly to frighten him, with her old cry of the Philistines being on him, and of her binding him, though not expressed; whereby she perceived his strength was gone, and he could not loose himself.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Vid. Pignorium de servis, p. 89, 90, 91. & Popma de servis, p. 57, 58.
F7 See Lightfoot. Hor. Heb. in Mark iv. 1. Vid. Sterringae Animadv. Philolog. Sacr. p. 248.

Jueces 16:19 In-Context

17 El le reveló, pues, todo lo que había en su corazón, diciéndole: Nunca ha pasado navaja sobre mi cabeza, pues he sido nazareo para Dios desde el vientre de mi madre. Si me cortan el cabello, mi fuerza me dejará y me debilitaré y seré como cualquier otro hombre.

18 Viendo Dalila que él le había declarado todo lo que había en su corazón, mandó llamar a los príncipes de los filisteos, diciendo: Venid una vez más, porque él me ha declarado todo lo que hay en su corazón. Entonces los príncipes de los filisteos vinieron a ella y trajeron el dinero en sus manos.

19 Y ella lo hizo dormir sobre sus rodillas, y mandó llamar a un hombre que le rasuró las siete trenzas de su cabellera. Luego comenzó a afligirle y su fuerza le dejó.

20 Ella entonces dijo: ¡Sansón, los filisteos se te echan encima! Y él despertó de su sueño, y dijo: Saldré como las otras veces y escaparé. Pero no sabía que el SEÑOR se había apartado de él.

21 Los filisteos lo prendieron y le sacaron los ojos; y llevándolo a Gaza, lo ataron con cadenas de bronce y lo pusieron a girar el molino en la prisión.