Judges 16:9 (DBY)

Passage

Now she had liers in wait abiding in the chamber; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he broke the cords, as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire; and his strength was not known.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:7 And Samson said to her, If they should bind me with seven fresh cords which have not been dried, then should I be weak, and be as another man.

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

Judges 16:9 Now she had liers in wait abiding in the chamber; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he broke the cords, as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire; and his strength was not known.

Judges 16:10 And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou mightest be bound.

Judges 16:11 And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes, with which no work has been done, then should I be weak, and be as another man.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "liers", "wait", "abiding", "chamber", "said", "philistines", "upon", and "thee". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "liers" and "wait", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Then the lords of the Philistines brought..." into verse 10's "And Delilah said to Samson Behold thou...", so "liers" and "wait" 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 "liers" and "wait" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.