Judges 16:9 (LSB)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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.”

Judges 16:11 And he said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes which have not been used for work, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lying", "wait", "sitting", "inner", "room", "said", "philistines", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lying" and "wait", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Then the lords of the Philistines brought..." into verse 10's "Then Delilah said to Samson Behold you...", so "lying" and "wait" 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 "lying" and "wait" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.