Judges 16:21 (DRB)

Passage

Then the Philistines seized upon him, and forthwith pulled out his eyes, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up in prison made him grind.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:19 But she made him sleep upon her knees, and lay his head in her bosom. And she called a barber and shaved his seven locks, and began to drive him away, and thrust him from her: for immediately his strength departed from him.

Judges 16:20 And she said: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking from sleep, he said in his mind: I will go out as I did before, and shake myself, not knowing that the Lord was departed from him.

Judges 16:21 Then the Philistines seized upon him, and forthwith pulled out his eyes, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up in prison made him grind.

Judges 16:22 And now his hair began to grow again,

Judges 16:23 And the princes of the Philistines assembled together, to offer great sacrifices to Dagon their god, and to make merry, saying: Our god hath delivered our enemy Samson into our hands.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "philistines", "seized", "upon", "forthwith", "pulled", "eyes", "bound", and "chains". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "philistines" and "seized", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And she said The Philistines are upon..." into verse 22's "And now his hair began to grow...", so "philistines" and "seized" 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 "philistines" and "seized" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.