For our lesson of Delilah, Judges 16:4-22, here are some important points. The points do not directly answer the questions on pages 73-74 of the text, but may help you in our discussion at the Saturday Bible Study 07/19/2014.
1. Delilah was in all probability a Philistine, though she bore a Semitic name. (Judges 16:4) 1.(The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 2 pg. 792)
2. Her name has become a synonym for deceit and treachery. In the game which he played with her, seeming to reveal the secret of his strength but in reality retaining it. Sampson engaged in an amusing but dangerous sport. He was playing with fire; he was so often on the verge of yielding his secret, of selling his birthright, that finally in a weak moment, vexed to death (vs. 16), he went over the edge—into the abyss. 2. The Interpreter’s Bible
3. The Philistine rulers offered Delilah an extraordinarily generous amount to get Sampson to reveal the secret of his great strength. (16:5)
4. Delilah was given what she thought was the source of Sampson’s strength: For him to be tied with fresh thongs that had not been dried. (vs. 16:7)
5. When tested, the seven fresh thongs were not the source of his strength. (vs. 16:8)
6. Delilah confronted Sampson, accusing him of making a fool of her. She again asked for the source of his strength. (vs. 16:10)
7. Sampson gave her another answer for the source of his strength—to be subdued with “new” ropes. (vs. 16:11)
8. When tested the new ropes also failed to be the source of his strength. (vs. 16:13)
9. She again asked Sampson for the source of his strength. (vs. 16:13)
10. Sampson told her that weaving the seven braids of his head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with a pin was the source of his strength. This also proved to be a false source of his strength. (vs. 16:14)
1. The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 2, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, New York.
2. The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 1995.
3. Jean E Syswerda, Women of the Bible, Zondervan, 1999.
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