Judges 16:8 (LSB)

Passage

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

Nearby Context

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.”

Judges 16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

Judges 16:9 Now she had men lying in wait, sitting in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the cords as a string of tinder snaps when it touches fire. So his strength was still not known.

Judges 16:10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me how you may be bound.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lords", "philistines", "brought", "seven", "fresh", "cords", "been", and "dried". 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 7's "Samson said to her If they bind..." into verse 9's "Now she had men lying in wait...", 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.