Judges 16:20 (GNV)

Passage

Then she said, The Philistims be vpon thee, Samson. And hee awoke out of his sleepe, and thought, I will go out now as at other times, and shake my selfe, but he knewe not that the Lord was departed from him.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:18 And when Delilah sawe that he had tolde her all his heart, she sent, and called for the Princes of ye Philistims, saying, Come vp once againe: for he hath shewed mee all his heart. Then the Princes of the Philistims came vp vnto her, and brought the money in their handes.

Judges 16:19 And she made him sleepe vpon her knees, and she called a man, and made him to shaue off the seuen lockes of his head, and shee began to vexe him, and his strength was gone from him.

Judges 16:20 Then she said, The Philistims be vpon thee, Samson. And hee awoke out of his sleepe, and thought, I will go out now as at other times, and shake my selfe, but he knewe not that the Lord was departed from him.

Judges 16:21 Therefore the Philistims tooke him, and put out his eyes, and brought him downe to Azzah, and bounde him with fetters: and hee did grinde in the prison house.

Judges 16:22 And the heare of his head began to growe againe after that it was shauen.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "philistims", "vpon", "thee", "samson", "awoke", "sleepe", and "thought". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "philistims", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And she made him sleepe vpon her..." into verse 21's "Therefore the Philistims tooke him and put...", so "said" and "philistims" 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 "said" and "philistims" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.