Judges 16:5 (LSB)

Passage

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

Nearby Context

Judges 16:3 But Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and seized the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and brought them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

Judges 16:4 Now it happened afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, and her name was Delilah.

Judges 16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

Judges 16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you.”

Judges 16:7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lords", "philistines", "came", "said", "entice", "where", "great", and "strength". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lords" and "philistines", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Now it happened afterwards that he loved..." into verse 6's "So Delilah said to Samson Please tell...", so "lords" and "philistines" 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 "lords" and "philistines" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.