639 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her,.... Having heard that Samson kept company with her, she being a noted strumpet, like Lais among the Grecians. These were in number five, as appears from Judges 3:3 and had under them five principalities, into which Palestine was divided; and these, if not united in their government, which possibly...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Delilah said to Samson,.... At a proper opportunity, when in his hands and caresses, as Josephus relates (e), and introduced it in an artful manner, admiring his strange exploits, and wondering how he could perform them: tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth; which she proposed seemingly out of mere curiosity, and as it would...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Samson said unto her,.... In answer to her pressing solicitations: if they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried; the word is sometimes used for nerves, and cords or ropes; but neither of these can be here meant, since these, if moistened or made wet, are the less fit to bind with, and the drier the better; but rods or branches...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now there were men lying in wait,.... Very likely some of the servants of the lords of the Philistines, who were placed privately on purpose, that when an opportunity offered, they might rush out, and fall upon Samson; Josephus (y) calls them soldiers: abiding with her in the chamber; in a private part of it, or otherwise they could not be said to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Delilah said unto Samson,.... Not on the same day, but some time after, as Kimchi observes, when an opportunity offered, and he was in like circumstances as before; for had she immediately attacked him, it might have created some suspicion in him of a design against him: behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies; deceived her with lies, by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto her,.... Abarbinel presents Samson replying to her, that he had told her the truth at first, only forgot one circumstance, that the "cords", for so he takes the word for "withs" to signify, should be "new", such as were never used, as follows: if they bind me fast with new ropes, that never were occupied; the word signifies thick...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith,.... Tried this experiment with him, according to his directions, being very desirous of getting the sum of money offered her: and said unto him, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson: using the same words, and with the same view as she had done before, Judges 16:9 (and there were liers in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Delilah said unto Samson,.... At another time, when she thought it most proper to upbraid him with his deception of her: hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies; both the times that she had solicited him to impart the secret of his strength to her: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound; tell me the real truth, and deceive me no more:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she fastened it with the pin,.... That is, after she had interwoven the locks of his hair into the warp, she fastened the beam on which it was with the pin, that it might not roll back; or else her machine or loom to the ground, that it might stand more firmly; or the web into which the hair was woven, with the hair itself; which of them is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she said unto him, how canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?.... She took an opportunity, when he was caressing her, to upbraid him with dissembled love, and a false heart: thou hast mocked me these three times; she had urged him to tell her where his strength lay, and by what it might be weakened, first pretending it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him,.... Lay at him day after day to communicate the secret to him, gave him no rest, but was incessant in her applications to him: so that his soul was vexed unto death: could hardly bear to live, but wished to die, being in the utmost perplexity what to do between two...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That he told her all his heart,.... All that was in his heart concerning this affair, all that he knew relating to it; he had told her something before, or at least what came nearer to the truth of the matter, when he directed her to the weaving of his locks into the web; but now he told her all, which is as follows: and said unto her, there hath...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart,.... Which she perceived by his countenance, and the serious manner in which he expressed himself; and Abarbinel conjectures that he might swear to her that what he said was truth; and who observes from their Rabbins, as does also Kimchi, that she concluded he had told her the truth, by his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she made him sleep upon her knees,.... Giving him, as some think, a sleepy potion; or however encouraged him to take a nap upon her knees, and by her fondness lulled him to sleep: and she called for a man; a barber; in former times to shave was the work of a servant (f) and sometimes of a woman; she gave orders for one to be sent for; for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson,.... In like manner as she had before, that she might have full proof that the case was really such, that his strength was gone from him: and he awoke out of his sleep; upon the cry she made: and said; within himself, purposing and determining in his own mind: I will go out as at other times...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the Philistines took him,.... Being assured by Delilah that his strength was gone from him, of which perhaps she had made trial by binding him, and found he could not free himself from the bonds till she loosed them; or otherwise they would have been afraid to have ventured to lay hold upon him; and put out his eyes; that should his strength...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Howbeit, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. It began to grow immediately no doubt, as it naturally would do; but it is highly probable it grew in an extraordinary manner, and in a short time became as when it was shaved (n), as it may be rendered, and upon which his strength was renewed; not that his strength naturally...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together,.... The five lords, with their friends, not directly upon Samson's being taken and committed to prison, but some time after; perhaps some months: for to get a great sacrifice to Dagon their god; in later times their god was called Marnas (o), which signifies the lord of men, but now Dagon;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the people saw him,.... In the condition he was, blinded and fettered, of whom and of his great exploits they had heard so much: they praised their god; as Belshazzar did his, Daniel 5:4 in hymns and songs composed for them, the substance of which was as follows: for they said, our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the...