Judges 16:19 (WEB)

Passage

She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:17 He told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man.”

Judges 16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand.

Judges 16:19 She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

Judges 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him.

Judges 16:21 The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground at the mill in the prison.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "sleep", "knees", "shaved", "seven", "locks", "head", and "began". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "sleep", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "When Delilah saw that he had told..." into verse 20's "She said The Philistines are upon you...", so "called" and "sleep" 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 "called" and "sleep" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.