Judges 16:21 (LSB)

Passage

Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:19 Then she made him sleep on her knees and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him.

Judges 16:20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that Yahweh had left him.

Judges 16:21 Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.

Judges 16:22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

Judges 16:23 Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to be glad; and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "philistines", "seized", "gouged", "eyes", "brought", "down", "gaza", and "bound". 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 "However the hair of his head began...", 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.