Delilah
“Languishing or dainty one”
Summary
A woman of the valley of Sorek who betrayed Samson to the Philistines by discovering the secret of his strength for a large bribe.
☩The Betrayal
Delilah dwelt in the valley of Sorek, and Samson loved her. The lords of the Philistines each offered her 1,100 pieces of silver—an enormous sum totaling 5,500 shekels—to discover the source of Samson's supernatural strength. Whether she was Israelite or Philistine is not stated, but her role as political agent for the Philistine lords suggests she was likely one of them.
☩Three Deceptions
Three times Delilah pressed Samson for his secret, and three times he gave false answers: binding with seven fresh bowstrings, binding with new ropes, and weaving his seven locks into a web. Each time she tested his answer while Philistines waited in ambush, and each time Samson broke free. Remarkably, despite these obvious betrayals, Samson continued in his infatuation.
☩The Fatal Revelation
Finally, Delilah 'pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death.' Samson revealed that his strength lay in his Nazirite dedication, symbolized by his unshorn hair. While he slept on her lap, she had his seven locks shaved off. When he awoke and attempted to shake himself free as before, 'he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.' The Philistines seized him, put out his eyes, and bound him with fetters of brass.
☩A Warning
Delilah stands as a powerful warning against the seductive power of sin and the danger of trifling with sacred trusts. Samson's progressive compromise—first revealing partial truths, then edging closer to the full secret—illustrates how those who go to the edge of temptation often fall over it. His example shows that strength without self-control leads to destruction.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Delilah," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Delilah," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.George Morrish, "Delilah," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).