One day, Samson went to Gaza, a Philistine town, and slept with a prostitute there. Word soon spread that Samson was in town, so the men of Gaza gathered and hid at the town gates, cutting off his escape. They made no move during the night, saying, “We’ll kill him at dawn when he tries to leave.”
But in the middle of the night, Samson got up and left. On his way out of Gaza, he took hold of the doors of the town gate and ripped them off their hinges—two posts, the gates, and the locking bar. He hoisted them all on his shoulders and carried them off a great distance to the top of the hill across from Hebron.
Some time later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah from the Sorek Valley. The rulers of the Philistines went to her with a plan: “Trick Samson into telling you the secret of his great strength. Find out how we can subdue him. We’ll tie him up and make him helpless. Then each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
So Delilah approached Samson and asked, “Please dear, won’t you tell me the secret of your strength and how you could be tied up and made helpless?”
Samson replied, “If someone bound me with seven new bowstrings that haven’t been dried, I’ll become as weak as an ordinary man.”
So the Philistine tyrants brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them. With men waiting in ambush in one of the inner rooms of her house, she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines are here to capture you!” But Samson snapped the bowstrings like a piece of string snaps when it is burned by a fire. So no one discovered the secret of his strength.
Afterward, Delilah said to him, “You’ve made fun of me and told me lies! Please tell me how you can be tied up securely.”
Samson replied, “If someone bound me with brand-new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as anyone else.”
So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and the men were waiting in ambush in the inner room as before. Delilah cried out, “Samson! The Philistines are here to capture you!” Once again, Samson easily snapped the ropes from his arms like they were threads.
Delilah reprimanded him, saying, “You’ve made a fool of me and lied to me again! Now tell me the truth—how can you be tied up?”
Samson replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as anyone else.”
So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric and pinned it with a peg. Again she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines are here to capture you!” But Samson woke up and yanked his hair from both the loom and the fabric.
“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ ” pouted Delilah, “and yet you don’t tell me your secrets? You’ve tricked me three times now, and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong!” She tormented him day after day until he was sick to death of her nagging.
Finally, he confessed to her everything: “I’ve never had my hair cut, because my parents dedicated me to God from birth. If anyone cuts my hair, my power will leave me, and I’ll become as weak as anyone else.”
When Delilah realized he had finally disclosed his secret, she sent for the Philistine rulers. “Come quickly!” she said. “He’s finally told me his secret!” So the Philistine rulers returned with the bribe money in their hands.
Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap. Then she called in a barber to cut off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she weakened him, and his strength drained from him.
Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!”
He woke up and thought, “I’ll do the same as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize that YAHWEH had turned away from him.
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