Judges 16:11 (DRB)

Passage

And he answered her: If I shall be bound with new ropes, that were never in work, I shall be weak and like other men.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:9 Men lying privately in wait with her, and in the chamber, expecting the event of the thing, and she cried out to him: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the bands, as a man would break a thread of tow twined with spittle, when it smelleth the fire: so it was not known wherein his strength lay.

Judges 16:10 And Dalila said to him: Behold thou hast mocked me, and hast told me a false thing: but now at least tell me wherewith thou mayest be bound.

Judges 16:11 And he answered her: If I shall be bound with new ropes, that were never in work, I shall be weak and like other men.

Judges 16:12 Dalila bound him again with these, and cried out: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson, there being an ambush prepared for him in the chamber. But he broke the bands like threads of webs.

Judges 16:13 And Dalila said to him again: How long dost thou deceive me, and tell me lies? Shew me wherewith thou mayest be bound. And Samson answered her: If thou plattest the seven locks of my head with a lace, and tying them round about a nail, fastenest it in the ground, I shall be weak.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "answered", "shall", "bound", "ropes", "never", "weak", and "like". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "answered" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "And Dalila said to him Behold thou..." into verse 12's "Dalila bound him again with these and...", so "answered" and "shall" 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 "answered" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.