Judges 16:8

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
lords	סַרְנֵ֣י sar.Nei	H5633	an axle · noun, common masculine plural construct
Philistines	פְלִשְׁתִּ֗ים fe.lish.Tim	H6430	a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
up	וַיַּעֲלוּ vai.ya.'a.lu-	H5927	to ascend · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
seven	שִׁבְעָ֛ה shiv.'Ah	H7651	seven (as the sacred full one) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
green	לַחִ֖ים la.Chim	H3892	fresh · adjective, masculine plural absolute
withs	יְתָרִ֥ים ye.ta.Rim	H3499	properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute
dried	חֹרָ֑בוּ cho.Ra.vu	H2717	to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy · verb, pual perfect, 3rd person common plural
bound	וַתַּאַסְרֵ֖הוּ va.ta.'as.Re.hu	H631	to yoke or hitch · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ecclesiastes 7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from he…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 16:4-17

The burnt child dreads the fire; yet Samson, that has more than the strength of a man, in this comes short of the wisdom of a child; for, though he had been more than once brought into the highest degree of mischief and danger by the love of women and lusting after them, yet he would not take warning, but is here again taken in the same snare, and this third time pays for all. Solomon seems to refer especially to this story of Samson when, in his caution against uncleanness, he gives this account of a whorish woman (Pro 7:26), that she hath cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have been slain by her; and (Pro 6:26) that the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. This bad woman,…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 16:8

she bound him with them--probably in a sportive manner, to try whether he was jesting or in earnest.

John Gill on Judges 16:8

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her,.... To the chamber where she was with Samson, she having acquainted them with what he had told her: seven green withs, which had not been dried; just such as he had described and directed to: and she bound him with them; taking an opportunity, very likely, when he was asleep, and drunk too, according to Josephus (x): the Philistines did not attempt to bind him, supposing that he would not admit them to do it, if aware of them; and they might fear, if asleep, he might awake before they could do it, and fall upon them and destroy them; but as for Delilah, if she had been found at it, she could have excused it as a piece of curiosity, being…

Read the whole note in the console

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 16:4-21

Samson and Delilah. - Jdg 16:4. After this successful act, Samson gave himself up once more to his sensual lusts. He fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, named Delilah (i.e., the weak or pining one), to whose snares he eventually succumbed. With reference to the valley of Sorek, Eusebius affirms in the Onom. (s. v. Σωρήχ), that there was a village called Βαρήχ (l. Καφὰρ σωρήχ according to Jerome) near Zorea, and ἐν ὁρίοις (l. βορείοις according to Jerome, who has ad septentrionalem plagam); and also (s. v. Σωρήκ) that this place was near to Eshtaol. Consequently the Sorek valley would have to be sought for somewhere in the neighbourhood of Samson's birthplace (Jdg 13:1)…

The Church Fathers

When the Philistines learnt this from Delilah, they bound him while asleep with green withs, and then awoke him as though on a sudden, but found that he had not fallen off from his accustomed fortitude, but bursting its bonds his freed strength was able to resist and drive back a host of assailants.
— Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Delilah — Languishing, a Philistine woman who dwelt in the valley of Sorek (Judg. 16:4-20). She was bribed by the “lords of the Philistines” to obtain from Samson the secret of his strength and the means of…
Delilah, Or Delilah — (languishing) a woman who dwelt in the valley Of Sorek, beloved by Samson. (Judges 16:4-18) There seems to be little doubt that she was a Philistine courtesan. [SAMS0N] (B.C. 1141.)
Conspiracy · . — .
Deception · . — .
Delilah · Sam — Sam
Friends · . — .
Samson · Philistines to overcome him — Philistines to overcome him

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 16:4-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 16:8

John Gill on Judges 16:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 16:4-21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 16:4-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 16:8

John Gill on Judges 16:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 16:4-21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 16:7