The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, "Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver." The lords of the Philistines went to her and said,The Philistine lords were the rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, the five chief cities of their confederation. Samson had repeatedly disrupted Philistine power, and these leaders treated his capture as a matter of national importance. Delilah lived in the Valley of Sorek near the border between Philistine and Israelite territory, and the rulers believed she could gain Samson’s confidence. Jdg 14:15 So on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife…
1Sa 5:8 So they carried away the ark of the God of Israel.…
1Sa 29:2 As the Philistine leaders marched out…
“Entice him and find out the source of his great strength Samson’s victories had shown that his power exceeded ordinary human ability. The Spirit of the LORD had come upon him at decisive moments, enabling him to strike Israel’s enemies (Judges 14:6; 15:14). Delilah was asked to use intimacy and deception to uncover what the Philistines could not overcome by military strength. Jdg 14:17 She wept the whole seven days of the feast,…
Pro 7:21 With her great persuasion she entices him;…
Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.
and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. The Philistines wanted more than revenge; they wanted to humiliate and neutralize the man whom God had raised up to begin delivering Israel from their oppression (Judges 13:5). Samson’s strength was connected to his consecration as a Nazirite, symbolized by his uncut hair. His later surrender of the secret of his consecration revealed how dangerously he had come to treat God’s calling with presumption. Mat 12:29 Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house…
Mrk 3:27 Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house…
Luk 11:21-22 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house,…
Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” Each of the five rulers promised Delilah eleven hundred shekels, making the total reward fifty-five hundred shekels of silver. The enormous payment exposed the Philistines’ fear of Samson and placed a powerful financial temptation before Delilah. Scripture repeatedly portrays silver as an instrument of betrayal, later seen in Judas’s agreement to deliver Jesus for money; yet Christ willingly gave Himself, while Samson was betrayed through the compromise of his own calling. Jdg 17:2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels…
Pro 17:23 A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course…
Zec 11:12-13 Then I told them, “If it seems right to you,…
Persons / Places / Events 1. SamsonA judge of Israel known for his supernatural strength, which was a gift from God. His life is marked by a Nazirite vow and a series of conflicts with the Philistines. 2. DelilahA woman from the Valley of Sorek whom Samson loved. She is approached by the Philistine lords to discover the secret of Samson's strength. 3. Philistine LordsThe rulers of the Philistines, who were enemies of Israel. They sought to capture Samson to weaken Israel's power. 4. Valley of SorekA region where Delilah lived, and where Samson frequently visited. It was a border area between the Philistines and Israelites. 5. Eleven Hundred Shekels of SilverThe bribe offered to Delilah by each Philistine lord, indicating the high value they placed on capturing Samson. Teaching Points The Danger of CompromiseSamson's relationship with Delilah illustrates the peril of compromising one's values and calling for personal desires. Believers are called to remain steadfast in their commitments to God. The Power of TemptationDelilah's enticement of Samson serves as a reminder of the power of temptation and the need for vigilance and reliance on God's strength to resist it. The Consequences of SinThe Philistine's plot against Samson underscores the destructive consequences of sin and disobedience. Sin can lead to bondage and loss of spiritual power. The Importance of DiscernmentSamson's lack of discernment in his relationship with Delilah highlights the need for wisdom and discernment in choosing relationships and alliances. God's Sovereignty and RedemptionDespite Samson's failures, God ultimately uses his life to fulfill His purposes. This teaches that God can redeem our mistakes for His glory. Bible Study Questions 1. What can we learn from Samson's relationship with Delilah about the importance of choosing godly relationships? 2. How does the account of Samson and Delilah illustrate the consequences of yielding to temptation? Can you think of other biblical examples where temptation led to downfall? 3. In what ways can believers today guard against the kind of manipulation and deceit that Samson faced with Delilah? 4. How does the promise of a reward (eleven hundred shekels of silver) influence Delilah's actions, and what does this teach us about the dangers of greed? 5. Reflect on a time when you faced a strong temptation. How did you respond, and what biblical principles can help you handle similar situations in the future? Connections to Other Scriptures Judges 14-15These chapters provide background on Samson's previous encounters with the Philistines, highlighting his role as a judge and his personal weaknesses. Proverbs 7This chapter warns against the dangers of succumbing to seduction and temptation, paralleling Samson's vulnerability to Delilah's enticements. 1 Corinthians 10:13This verse speaks to God's faithfulness in providing a way out of temptation, relevant to Samson's repeated failures to resist Delilah's manipulation. | A Grist from the Prison Mill of Gaza | . A. Scott, D. D. | Judges 16:1-31 | | As At Other Times | J. Durran. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Blessed and Tragic Unconsciousness | A. Maclaren | Judges 16:1-31 | | How not to Pray | J. Parker, D. D. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Ignominious Tasks | R. A. Watson, M. A. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Individulalism in Religion | R. Balgarnie, D. D. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Lessons from the Life of Samson | Abp. Wm. Alexander. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Loss of Strength | W. M. Taylor, D. D. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Lost Grace Unrealised | R. Rogers. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Man's Cannot and Man's Can: a New Year's Address | Homilist | Judges 16:1-31 | | Man's Power for God's Work | Homilist | Judges 16:1-31 | | Moral Strength | Joseph Ritson. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Our Champion | | Judges 16:1-31 | | Pleasure and Peril in Gaza | R. A. Watson, M. A. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Samson Conquered | Spurgeon, Charles Haddon | Judges 16:1-31 | | Samson Shorn of His Strength | The Preacher's Monthly | Judges 16:1-31 | | Samson, the Jewish Hercules | Homilist | Judges 16:1-31 | | Shaven and Shorn, But not Beyond Hope | Spurgeon, Charles Haddon | Judges 16:1-31 | | Strength Lost | H. J. Bevis. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Strength Lost and Restored | H. J. Bevis. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Death of Samson | G. M. Boynton. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Evil of Knowing Evil | J. C. Coghlan, D. D. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Fall and Rise of a Great Man | Homilist | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Giant's Locks | T. De Witt Talmage. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Gradual and Subtle Advance of Sin | Bp. Boyd Carpenter. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Influence of Amusements on Character and Destiny | T. De Witt Talmage. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Man Who has Trifled Once Too Often | Dean Vaughan. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Secret of Samson's Strength | J. Clifford, D. D. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Victim and the Victor | E. P. Hood. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Weakness of Strength | G. Elliott. | Judges 16:1-31 | | The Withdrawal of Divine Influences | J. Williamson. | Judges 16:1-31 | | Samson's Betrayal and Fall | A.F. Muir | Judges 16:4-21 |
People Dagon, Delilah, Gazathites, Gazites, Manoah, SamsonPlaces Eshtaol, Gaza, Hebron, Valley of Sorek, ZorahTopics Afflict, Bind, Eleven, Entice, Hundred, Lies, Lords, Lure, Overpower, Philistines, Pieces, Prevail, Secret, Shekels, Showing, Silver, Strength, Subdue, TieDictionary of Bible Themes Judges 16:5 4363 silver
5238 bribery
5260 coinage Judges 16:1-22 5155 hair Judges 16:4-5 6241 seduction Judges 16:5-17 5941 secrecy Library Strength Profaned and Lost
'But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house. 22, Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 23. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. 24. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureSamson Conquered
Now, why have I narrated this story? Why should I direct your attention to Samson? For this reason. Every child of God is a consecrated man. His consecration is not typified by any outward symbol; we are not commanded to let our hair grow for ever, nor to abstain from meats or drinks. The Christian is a consecrated man, but his consecration is unseen by his fellows, except in the outward deeds which are the result thereof. And now I want to speak to you, my dear friends, as consecrated men, as Nazarites, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858 Whether it is Lawful to Kill Oneself?
Objection 1: It would seem lawful for a man to kill himself. For murder is a sin in so far as it is contrary to justice. But no man can do an injustice to himself, as is proved in Ethic. v, 11. Therefore no man sins by killing himself. Objection 2: Further, it is lawful, for one who exercises public authority, to kill evil-doers. Now he who exercises public authority is sometimes an evil-doer. Therefore he may lawfully kill himself. Objection 3: Further, it is lawful for a man to suffer spontaneously …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Christian Ballads.
Echoes of Hebrew thought, if not Hebrew psalmody, may have made their way into the more serious pagan literature. At least in the more enlightened pagans there has ever revealed itself more or less the instinct of the human soul that "feels after" God. St. Paul in his address to the Athenians made a tactful as well as scholarly point to preface a missionary sermon when he cited a line from a poem of Aratus (B.C. 272) familiar, doubtless, to the majority of his hearers. Dr. Lyman Abbot has thus translated …
Theron Brown—The Story of the Hymns and Tunes Blessed and Tragic Unconsciousness
'... Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.'--EXODUS xxxiv. 29. '... And Samson wist not that the Lord had departed from him.'--JUDGES xvi. 20. The recurrence of the same phrase in two such opposite connections is very striking. Moses, fresh from the mountain of vision, where he had gazed on as much of the glory of God as was accessible to man, caught some gleam of the light which he adoringly beheld; and a strange radiance sat on his face, unseen by himself, but …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Here, by Way of Objection, Several Questions are Raised. ...
Here, by way of objection, several questions are raised. Scripture relates that God sometimes complied with certain prayers which had been dictated by minds not duly calmed or regulated. It is true, that the cause for which Jotham imprecated on the inhabitants of Shechem the disaster which afterwards befell them was well founded; but still he was inflamed with anger and revenge (Judges 9:20); and hence God, by complying with the execration, seems to approve of passionate impulses. Similar fervour …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith The Mountainous Country of Judea.
"What is the mountainous country of Judea? It is the king's mountain." However Judea, here and there, doth swell out much with mountains, yet its chief swelling appears in that broad back of mountains, that runs from the utmost southern cost as far as Hebron, and almost as Jerusalem itself. Which the Holy Scripture called "The hill-country of Judah," Joshua 21:11; Luke 1:39. Unless I am very much mistaken,--the maps of Adricomus, Tirinius, and others, ought to be corrected, which have feigned to …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Sundry Sharp Reproofs
This doctrine draws up a charge against several sorts: 1 Those that think themselves good Christians, yet have not learned this art of holy mourning. Luther calls mourning a rare herb'. Men have tears to shed for other things, but have none to spare for their sins. There are many murmurers, but few mourners. Most are like the stony ground which lacked moisture' (Luke 8:6). We have many cry out of hard times, but they are not sensible of hard hearts. Hot and dry is the worst temper of the body. Sure …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Effectual Calling
THE second qualification of the persons to whom this privilege in the text belongs, is, They are the called of God. All things work for good "to them who are called." Though this word called is placed in order after loving of God, yet in nature it goes before it. Love is first named, but not first wrought; we must be called of God, before we can love God. Calling is made (Rom. viii. 30) the middle link of the golden chain of salvation. It is placed between predestination and glorification; and if …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh Trials of the Christian
AFFLICTION--ITS NATURE AND BENEFITS. The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark afflictions comes a spiritual light. In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God. The end of affliction is the discovery of sin; and of that, to bring us to a Saviour. Doth not God ofttimes even take occasion, by the hardest of things that come upon us, to visit …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan Judges
For the understanding of the early history and religion of Israel, the book of Judges, which covers the period from the death of Joshua to the beginning of the struggle with the Philistines, is of inestimable importance; and it is very fortunate that the elements contributed by the later editors are so easily separated from the ancient stories whose moral they seek to point. That moral is most elaborately stated in ii. 6-iii. 6, which is a sort of programme or preface to iii. 7-xvi. 31, which constitutes …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Judges 16:5 NIVJudges 16:5 NLTJudges 16:5 ESVJudges 16:5 NASBJudges 16:5 KJV
Judges 16:5 Commentaries
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