Judges 16:13

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, "Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound." And he said 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 said unto her, "If they bind me fast with new ropes wherewith work hath not been done, then shall I be weak and be as another man."

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him therewith, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And there were liersinwait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, "Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound." And he said unto her, "If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web."

14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awakened out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam and with the web.

15 And she said unto him, "How canst thou say, `I love thee,' when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth."