Judges 16 Study Notes
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16:1-3 The opening verse parallels 14:1. Samson went to a Philistine town and saw a woman. Like the history of Israel, the spiral in Samson’s life is downwards. This time he did not want to marry her, he just wanted to sleep with her. Gaza was the most distant city of the Philistines from Samson’s home, which symbolizes how far from God Samson had gone. When the Philistines heard that he was there, they surrounded the city and waited for him at the only exit, the city gate. Yet such was Samson’s enormous strength that the Philistines were unable to trap him. His vast show of strength in uprooting the city gate and carrying it roughly forty miles uphill to the mountain overlooking Hebron heightens the irony of his subsequent weakness in the hands of a woman.
16:4-5 Women were Samson’s problem all along, yet his encounter with Delilah is the only case where love is mentioned. Once again, his heart was set on a Philistine woman. Delilah’s name sounds like the Hebrew word for “night,” in keeping with the darkness that was about to descend on Samson. The Philistine leaders, the rulers of the five city-states that made up that region (1Sm 6:17-18), sought to persuade Delilah to determine the secret of Samson’s strength by promising her an enormous sum of money—1,100 pieces of silver from each leader. In comparison, the price of an ordinary slave was thirty pieces of silver (Ex 21:32).
16:6-9 Bowstrings were made from the sinews of animals, so fresh bowstrings would come directly from an animal’s corpse. As with the earlier incidents with honey from a lion and the jawbone of the donkey, Samson displayed a disdain for his Nazirite vow of separation from corpses. Since seven was seen as the number of completeness in the ancient Near East, the idea of being weakened by seven bowstrings wrongly suggested that the source of Samson’s strength lay in magic rather than in the Lord.
pa‘am
| Hebrew pronunciation | [PA am] |
| CSB translation | foot, time, step |
| Uses in Judges | 13 |
| Uses in the OT | 118 |
| Focus passage | Judges 16:15,18,20,28 |
Ugaritic and Punic each had two similar words that seem combined in pa‘am, which means foot (Ex 25:12) and time (Gn 29:35). Pa‘am with the article implies at last (Gn 2:23), one time (Gn 18:32), once, or this time. The dual means twice, and the plural with numerals means times. Pa‘am implies occasion (Dt 9:19), instant, or now (Pr 7:12). “As pa‘am by pa‘am” implies as on previous occasions (Nm 24:1), as before, or as usual. Pa‘am specifies hoofbeats (Jdg 5:28), human feet (Is 37:25), or steps (Ps 57:6), and furniture feet or corners (1Kg 7:30). Pa‘am means anvil (Is 41:7). Context suggests campaign (Jos 10:42) and tiers (1Kg 7:4). The verb pa‘am (5x) means stir (Jdg 13:25). Passive and reflexive forms signify be disturbed, troubled (Gn 41:8), or anxious. Pa‘amon (7x) means bell (Ex 28:33). A common denominator of these words may be striking action.
16:10-12 This time Samson told Delilah to use new ropes to bind him. This was the same technique that the Israelites used to bind Samson in 15:13, so it is no surprise that the attempt was unsuccessful.
16:13-14 The third time Delilah sought the secret of his strength, he told her to weave . . . seven braids of his hair into a fabric. This attempt, while also unsuccessful, was more ominous than the previous ones. Not only did Samson point to the connection between his hair and his strength, but the image of a woman standing over a sleeping man with a pin in her hands is reminiscent of Jael approaching the sleeping form of Sisera (4:21).
16:15-17 Finally Samson told Delilah the whole truth (lit “everything of his heart”), that his strength came from his Nazirite vow, symbolized by his uncut hair. In fact, this was the only part of his Nazirite vow that he had not yet broken, and this revelation shows how lightly he took it.
16:18-20 Delilah realized that this time she had the secret, so rather than just saying, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” (vv. 9,12,14), she actually summoned the Philistine leaders, and a man shaved Samson’s head. With the final element of his Nazirite vow gone, his power was lost. The final statement of v. 20 is a tragic warning to anyone who tries to continue doing the Lord’s work when the Lord’s power and blessing have left.
16:21-22 Samson was carried off to exile in Gaza, the city of his earlier exploits in vv. 1-3. His eyes, which had caused so many of his problems, were removed by the Philistines, and his reduced strength was put to work in their service, grinding grain. In the midst of his hopeless situation, there was a ray of hope: his hair began to grow back.
16:23-27 The name Dagon is related to the word for “grain,” which suggests an agricultural role for this deity to which the Philistines also ascribed a role in capturing their tormentor, Samson. In fact, Samson’s capture was possible only because the Lord had left him (v. 20). As the party progressed, they summoned Samson to entertain them, presumably by being the butt of their mocking humor. In the process, they brought him to the center of the temple, whose roof was probably supported by cedar pillars.
16:28-31 Samson called out to the Lord, just as he had in 15:18, asking the Lord to remember him. In the OT, to “remember” means not simply to think about someone but to act on their behalf (see note at Gn 8:1). His motivation was still self-centered: he wanted to pay them back for the loss of his eyes. In the process of destroying the building, he fulfilled his destiny: he began “to save Israel from the power of the Philistines” (Jdg 13:5). Yet the task was left unfinished at his death. His body was retrieved to be buried with his family, but his period of leadership achieved no rest for the people.