Judges 16:23 (ASV)

Passage

And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:21 And 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 did grind in the prison-house.

Judges 16:22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

Judges 16:23 And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

Judges 16:24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who hath slain many of us.

Judges 16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them. And they set him between the pillars:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lords", "philistines", "gathered", "together", "offer", "great", "sacrifice", and "dagon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lords" and "philistines", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "Howbeit the hair of his head began..." into verse 24's "And when the people saw him they...", so "lords" and "philistines" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "lords" and "philistines" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.