Samson and Delilah

Afterward. “Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah” (16:4). Samson had judged Israel for twenty years (15:20), but his heart had not changed. The Valley of Sorek. Sorek was a valley on the border between Samson's home and the Philistine cities. Its name means choice vine, so it was grape country. A deal. The lords of the Philistines told Delilah, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies” (16:5). Lords means rulers, and entice means coax or trick. The price. “Every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver” (16:5). That was a huge fortune. Delilah's choice. She agreed. She loved the silver more than she loved Samson. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Samson's choice. Samson did not ask God about Delilah. He followed his heart instead of guarding it. Guard your heart. “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Your heart is the real you: what you love, what you want and what you think about. What this means for you. Be careful what you let into your heart: friends, shows, games and wants. Ask Jesus every day to keep your heart close to Him.

Afterward (16:4). The word ties this scene to 16:1-3, where Samson had already given in to sin with a woman at Gaza and escaped by carrying off the city gate. His strength was still there; his self-control was not. Sorek (16:4). Soreq (say: soh-REK) means a choice vine (compare Isaiah 5:2). The valley ran from the hills of Judah down toward the Philistine coast, the border land where Samson kept going. Loved, not loved. Samson loved Delilah, but her loyalty went to his enemies' silver. Love that is not returned and not guided by God is a dangerous place to stand. The lords (16:5). Seren (say: SEH-ren) is the special word for the rulers of the five Philistine cities (Joshua 13:3). Each one promised 1,100 pieces of silver, a fortune. To afflict him (16:5). The lords wanted to bind him “to afflict him.” Delilah knew from the start that they meant to hurt him. The heart (Proverbs 4:23). Lev (say: LEHV) is the Hebrew word for heart. It means the whole inner person: mind, will and desires. Proverbs 4:23 says, in effect, more than anything else you guard, guard your heart, “for out of it spring the issues of life.” Mammon. Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Mammon means money and possessions treated like a master. Delilah served that master. For you. What you love will shape where you go. Give your love to God first, and let Him decide what else deserves a place in your heart.

Samson had been a judge for twenty years. But his heart still wandered away from God. Now Samson loved a woman named Delilah. She lived in the Valley of Sorek. The Philistine kings wanted to catch Samson. They promised Delilah a huge pile of silver. All she had to do was find his secret. Delilah chose the money. Samson did not ask God about Delilah. God tells us to guard our hearts. Your heart is the real you inside. What you love decides where you go. Jesus can help you love what is good.

Samson loved a woman named Delilah. Some men offered her lots of silver. She agreed to trick Samson. Samson did not guard his heart.

Three times. Delilah asked, “Please tell me where your great strength lies” (16:6). Samson gave her three false answers. Bowstrings. “Seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried” (16:7). He snapped them “as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire” (16:9). New ropes. “New ropes that have never been used” (16:11). He broke them “like a thread” (16:12). His hair. “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom” (16:13). Now he was talking about his hair, the sign of his promise to God. He was getting closer to the truth. Clear warnings. Each time, men were hiding in the room. Each time Delilah shouted, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Samson should have seen what she was doing. Why did he stay? Sin can stop a person from thinking clearly. The Bible warns about being “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). Deceitfulness means tricking. A warning for us. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Samson thought he could get away with it forever. What this means for you. Do not play games with sin or stay close to people who keep pulling you toward it. When you see the trap, run from it and run to Jesus.

Entice (16:5). Pathah (say: pah-TAH) means to coax or persuade. The Philistines had used the same word with Samson's wife (14:15). Samson fell for the same trick twice. Fresh bowstrings (16:7). Bowstrings were often made of animal sinew. Fresh ones, not yet dried, were strong and stretchy. Samson's answer sounded believable. The loom (16:13-14). Weaving his seven locks into the web and tightening it with the batten brought his hair, the mark of his vow, into the game. Each answer moved closer to the truth. Men lying in wait (16:9, 12). Each test was a real ambush. Samson saw it three times and stayed. Sin makes dangerous things start to feel normal. Hardened (Hebrews 3:13). “Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hardening happens a little at a time, and each step makes the next one easier. Desire and death. James describes desire giving birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, bringing death (James 1:14-15). Samson's story walks that road. The way of escape. “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Samson had three ways of escape and walked past all of them. For you. Name your Delilah: any person, habit or desire that keeps asking for your strength. Take the way of escape the first time it opens.

Delilah said, “Tell me why you are so strong.” Samson did not tell her the truth. He said new bowstrings would make him weak. Delilah tied him up while men hid nearby. Then she shouted that the Philistines were coming. Samson snapped the bowstrings easily. Next he said new ropes would work. He broke those too. Then he said to weave his hair into a loom. That was very close to his real secret. Samson thought he was safe. He was playing a game with sin. Sin always wants to win that game.

Delilah asked for Samson's secret. Samson told her wrong answers. He thought it was a game. But sin is never a game.

Pressure. “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me?” (16:15). Delilah used Samson's love as a weapon. Day after day. “She pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death” (16:16). Vexed means worn out and upset. All his heart. “He told her all his heart” (16:17). He gave her the one thing he should have kept for God. The secret. “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb” (16:17). The money. The lords “brought the money in their hand” (16:18). Delilah sold Samson for silver. Asleep. “Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head” (16:19). Where his strength was. His strength was never magic in his hair. The hair was the sign of his promise to God. When he gave up the sign, he showed that he had given up the promise. The strength had always come from the Lord. What this means for you. Your heart belongs to God first. Do not let anyone talk you out of obeying Him, no matter how often they ask.

“Your heart is not with me” (16:15). Delilah accused Samson of the very thing she was doing. Her words were about love; her goal was silver. Vexed to death (16:16). The Hebrew says his soul was cut short to the point of death. Constant pressure wore down a man no rope could hold. All his heart (16:17-18). Three times verses 17 and 18 say he told her all his heart. Samson gave Delilah the lev, the whole inner person, that belonged to God. The sign of the vow. “All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head” (Numbers 6:5). The uncut hair was the outward sign of a life set apart. Losing it pictured what had already happened inside. Silver in hand (16:18). Many Christians see a picture here of Judas, who agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). Both betrayals came from someone close, and both were paid in silver. On her knees (16:19). The place of trust became the place of betrayal. “She began to torment him” uses the same Hebrew root as “afflict” in 16:5. The lords' plan came true. For you. Strength comes from the Lord, not from outward signs. Ask God to guard the inside of your life, where the real choices are made.

Delilah said Samson did not really love her. She bothered him every single day. Samson got so tired that he felt like dying. So he told her his whole secret. He had never cut his hair. His long hair showed he was set apart for God. Delilah sent for the Philistine kings. They came with the money in their hands. Samson fell asleep with his head in her lap. Then a man shaved off his hair. Samson's strength was gone. His strength was never really in his hair. It came from God, and Samson had turned away from God.

Delilah asked again and again. Samson told his secret at last. He gave away his promise to God. That was very sad.

“As before” (16:20). Samson woke and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” He trusted in what had happened in the past. The saddest words. “But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him” (16:20). He had moved away from God so slowly that he did not notice when God's strength left. Bound. “Then the Philistines took him… They bound him with bronze fetters” (16:21). Fetters are chains for the feet. Blinded. They “put out his eyes” (16:21). The man who chose by his eyes lost his eyes. Grinding. “He became a grinder in the prison” (16:21). Grinding grain was the work of slaves. What sin does. Sin binds, sin blinds and sin grinds. Samson's sin promised pleasure and paid him with chains, darkness and hard labor. “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Not the end. “However, the hair of his head began to grow again” (16:22). God was not finished with Samson. What this means for you. If you have wandered from God, it is not too late. Jesus came “to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18).

“I will go out as before” (16:20). Samson assumed God's power was his to use whenever he liked. Past blessing is not a guarantee of present faithfulness. The Lord departed (16:20). Sar (say: SAHR) means turned aside or withdrew. The Spirit who had rushed upon him (14:6; 15:14) had withdrawn, and Samson did not even know. A heart moving away from God often cannot see its own decline. Compare Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14. Put out his eyes (16:21). The man led by his eyes (14:1-3) was blinded. Sin often pays back in the very coin it promised. Gaza (16:21). The city where he had once carried off the gates (16:3) became his prison. The grinder (16:21). Grinding at the mill was work for slaves and captives (compare Exodus 11:5). The judge of Israel was put to work like an animal at a millstone. Binds, blinds, grinds. Jesus said, “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). Sin promises freedom and delivers slavery. Hope (16:22). “However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.” God's grace was already at work in the dark, and the next lesson tells of Samson's last prayer. For you. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Delilah shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are about to capture you!” Samson woke up and thought he could get free again. But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Samson had turned away from God little by little. The Philistines grabbed Samson. They made him blind and took him to Gaza. They chained him with bronze chains. In prison, he had to grind grain all day. Sin promised fun, but it brought chains. Sin always takes more than it gives. But God had not forgotten Samson. Jesus came to set people free from sin.

Samson woke up, but he was weak. The Philistines put him in prison. They made him blind. God still loved Samson.

Samson and Delilah

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