So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison.
Parallel translations
- WEB The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground at the mill in the prison.
- KJV But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
- BSB Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
- NKJV Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
- NASB Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and restrained him with bronze chains, and he became a grinder in the prison.
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
The Philistines seize Samson, gouge out his eyes, and set him grinding at the mill in a Gaza prison. The mighty deliverer is humiliated and enslaved.
Overview
Blinded and bound, Samson is reduced to slave labor among the very enemies he once terrorized. The man who walked by his eyes—chasing what looked good to him—now has none. His captivity portrays the bitter wages of sin and the depth to which compromise can bring even a chosen servant of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 2:19None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:
- Prov 14:14The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.
- Matt 24:41two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left.
- Isa 47:2Take the millstones, and grind flour. Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs, and wade through the rivers.
- Exod 11:5and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of livestock.
- 2 Kgs 25:7They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
- Ps 107:10–12Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
- Ps 149:8To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
- Prov 5:22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- 2 Chr 33:11Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
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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 16:21 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
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