Judges 16:7 (ASV)

Passage

And 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.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:5 And 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.

Judges 16:6 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 16:7 And 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.

Judges 16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

Judges 16:9 Now 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "samson", "said", "bind", "seven", "green", "withes", "never", and "dried". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "samson" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "And Delilah said to Samson Tell me..." into verse 8's "Then the lords of the Philistines brought...", so "samson" and "said" 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 "samson" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.