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Judges 16:6

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Judges 16:6 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
Judges 16:6 — American Standard Version

Context — Judges 16

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
3And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
4And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred [pieces] of silver.
6And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.
8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Delilah said to Samson, etc.] At a proper opportunity, when in his hands and caresses, as Josephus relates f333, and introduced it in an artful manner, admiring his strange exploits, and wondering how he could perform them: tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth; which she proposed seemingly out of mere curiosity, and as it would be a proof of his affection to her, to impart the secret to her: and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee; not that she suggested to him that she was desirous to have him afflicted, or to try the experiment herself in order to afflict him, but to know by what means, if he was bound, it would be afflicting to him so that he could not…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Psa 12:2; Pro 6:26, Pro 7:21, Pro 22:14, Pro 26:28; Jer 9:2-5; Mic 7:2, Mic 7:5 Judges 16:7”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification