What is the meaning of Judges 16:14? So while he slept - Samson’s physical rest symbolizes a spiritual drowsiness that has already set in (Judges 16:20). - Sleep in Scripture often marks vulnerability (1 Samuel 26:7; Jonah 1:5) or moral carelessness (Proverbs 6:10–11). - Though still God’s judge, Samson is drifting farther from the alertness commanded in passages like 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded and alert…”. Delilah took the seven braids of his hair - His hair was the outward sign of the Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5), consecrating him to God’s service. - The deliberate touch of Delilah shows how close Samson allows an ungodly influence to handle what is holy (2 Corinthians 6:14–15). - “Seven” often speaks of completeness; Delilah is handling the totality of his consecration. and wove them into the web - A loom’s web pictures entanglement; sin threads itself subtly around a life (Hebrews 12:1). - Samson’s strength seems intact, yet he is literally being woven into an instrument of bondage—echoing Galatians 5:1, “do not be entangled again in a yoke of slavery”. Then she tightened it with a pin - The pin secures the loom; Delilah seeks a final, fixed hold on Samson’s power. - This mirrors how temptation hardens into bondage when left unchecked (James 1:14–15). - Ezra 9:8 calls God’s favor “a peg in His holy place,” a contrast: Delilah’s pin anchors Samson to defeat, not worship. and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” - For the third time she stages an ambush (Judges 16:9, 12), revealing persistent betrayal. - Her cry illustrates how the enemy “roams around…seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). - Samson’s repeated flirtation with danger recalls Proverbs 7:21–23, where a seduced man heads toward ruin. But he awoke from his sleep - God’s gift of strength still operates; mercy precedes judgment (Lamentations 3:22–23). - Like the disciples roused in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:40–41), Samson wakes yet remains unaware of the deeper peril. - Isaiah 52:1’s call, “Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength,” foreshadows what he will soon lose. and pulled out the pin with the loom and the web - Even woven in, Samson dislodges the entire apparatus—evidence that his power is supernatural (Judges 14:6; Psalm 18:34). - The scene underscores that no human snare prevails while God’s anointing remains (Psalm 124:7). - Still, each escape edges him closer to the final surrender of chapter 16:19–20, warning that presumption can empty a life of its God-given strength. summary Judges 16:14 portrays the progressive steps of temptation: drowsiness, compromise, entanglement, tightening, and open assault. Though Samson’s God-given power bursts every trap, his careless nearness to Delilah shows how consecration can be toyed with until it is lost. The verse stands as both a testimony of God’s enduring strength in His servants and a sober caution that repeated flirtation with sin eventually unravels even the strongest life. |
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