And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
Parallel translations
- WEB She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
- BSB “How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”
- NKJV Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
- NASB Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.”
- NLT Then Delilah pouted, “How can you tell me, ‘I love you,’ when you don’t share your secrets with me? You’ve made fun of me three times now, and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Delilah charges that Samson cannot truly love her while hiding his secret, accusing him of mocking her three times. She weaponizes the language of love.
Overview
Delilah's manipulation echoes the emotional pressure Samson's first wife used (14:16). By tying his love to total disclosure, she exploits his affection against his consecration. The verse exposes how counterfeit love can be a tool of betrayal, and how Samson's misdirected desire leaves him vulnerable.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Judg 14:16And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
- John 15:10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
- Prov 23:26My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
- 1 Jn 2:15–16Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- John 14:15If ye love me, keep my commandments.
- 2 Cor 5:14–15For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
- Prov 5:3–14For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
- Song 8:6–7Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
- John 14:21–24He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
- Gen 29:20And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
- 2 Sam 16:17And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
- 1 Sam 15:13–14And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
- 1 Jn 5:3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
- Prov 2:16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
- Deut 6:5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 16:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.