Judges 16:6

6 And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Declare, I pray thee, to me, wherein thy great power [is], and wherewith thou art bound, to afflict thee.'

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 it cometh to pass afterwards that he loveth a woman in the valley of Sorek, and her name [is] Delilah,

5 and the princes of the Philistines come up unto her, and say to her, `Entice him, and see wherein his great power [is], and wherein we are able for him -- and we have bound him to afflict him, and we -- we give to thee, each one, eleven hundred silverlings.'

6 And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Declare, I pray thee, to me, wherein thy great power [is], and wherewith thou art bound, to afflict thee.'

7 And Samson saith unto her, `If they bind me with seven green withs which have not been dried, then I have been weak, and have been as one of the human race.'

8 And the princes of the Philistines bring up to her seven green withs which have not been dried, and she bindeth him with them.