Samson replied, “If I were tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I would become as weak as anyone else.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
- KJV And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
- BSB Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.”
- NKJV And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
- NASB And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh animal tendons that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”
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
Samson lies, saying seven fresh bowstrings would make him weak. He begins deceiving Delilah rather than fleeing temptation.
Overview
Samson treats the question of his strength as a game, not yet revealing the truth about his Nazirite consecration. His first false answer shows he senses the danger but refuses to break off the relationship. This toying with a deadly secret reveals a man presuming on God's gift while courting the very people seeking his life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Col 3:9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
- Prov 12:19Truth’s lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.
- Gal 6:7Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
- Prov 17:7Arrogant speech isn’t fitting for a fool, much less do lying lips fit a prince.
- Rom 3:8Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let us do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned.
- Judg 16:10Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now please tell me with which you might be bound.”
- 1 Sam 27:10Achish said, “Against whom have you made a raid today?” David said, “Against the South of Judah, against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites.”
- 1 Sam 21:2–3David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me to do something, and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you. I have sent the young men to a certain place.’
- 1 Sam 19:17Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he is escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”
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 16:7 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.