Judges 16:13 (DRB)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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.

Judges 16:14 And when Dalila had done this, she said to him: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking out of his sleep, he drew out the nail with the hairs and the lace.

Judges 16:15 And Dalila said to him: How dost thou say thou lovest me, when thy mind is not with me? Thou hast told me lies these three times, and wouldst not tell me wherein thy greatest strength lieth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dalila", "said", "again", "long", "dost", "thou", "deceive", and "tell". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dalila" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Dalila bound him again with these and..." into verse 14's "And when Dalila had done this she...", so "dalila" 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 "dalila" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.