Judges 16:21 (YLT)

Passage

And the Philistines seize him, and pick out his eyes, and bring him down to Gaza, and bind him with two brazen fetters; and he is grinding in the prison-house.

Nearby Context

Judges 16:19 and she maketh him sleep on her knees, and calleth for a man, and shaveth the seven locks of his head, and beginneth to afflict him, and his power turneth aside from off him;

Judges 16:20 and she saith, `Philistines <FI>are<Fi> upon thee, Samson;' and he awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, `I go out as time by time, and shake myself;' and he hath not known that Jehovah hath turned aside from off him.

Judges 16:21 And the Philistines seize him, and pick out his eyes, and bring him down to Gaza, and bind him with two brazen fetters; and he is grinding in the prison-house.

Judges 16:22 And the hair of his head beginneth to shoot up, when he hath been shaven,

Judges 16:23 and the princes of the Philistines have been gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; and they say, `Our god hath given into our hand Samson our enemy.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "philistines", "seize", "pick", "eyes", "bring", "down", "gaza", and "bind". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "philistines" and "seize", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "and she saith Philistines FI are Fi..." into verse 22's "And the hair of his head beginneth...", so "philistines" and "seize" 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 "seize" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.