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.”
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.”
- KJV 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.
- 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!”
- 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 14:16Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”
- John 15:10If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.
- Prov 23:26My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
- 1 Jn 2:15–16Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
- John 14:15If you love me, keep my commandments.
- 2 Cor 5:14–15For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus, that one died for all, therefore all died.
- Prov 5:3–14For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
- Song 8:6–7Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh.
- John 14:21–24One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”
- Gen 29:20Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.
- 2 Sam 16:17Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”
- 1 Sam 15:13–14Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.”
- 1 Jn 5:3For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
- Prov 2:16To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;
- Deut 6:5You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your 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.