Judges 16:2

Judges 16:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
• New International Version (NIV)The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here." And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, "Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him."
• New King James Version (NKJV)When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.”

Context of Judges 16:2

1One day, Samson went to Gaza. He met a prostitute there and he slept with her. The people of Gaza heard that Samson was in their city. The men met together and they waited for Samson to leave. They hid themselves all night at the gate of the city. They waited there quietly and they thought, ‘We will kill him at dawn when he tries to leave the city.’ 3But Samson only stayed with the woman until the middle of the night. Then he got up and he went to leave through the city gate. He took hold of its doors and the two posts that held them. He pulled them all down together, with the metal bar that locked them. He carried them all in one piece on his shoulders. He left them at the top of the hill near Hebron. 4Some time later, Samson met a woman who was called Delilah. She lived in Sorek valley. Samson loved her.

Judges 16:2 word by word

לַֽעַזָּתִ֣ים׀ לֵאמֹ֗ר בָּ֤א שִׁמְשׁוֹן֙ הֵ֔נָּה וַיָּסֹ֛בּוּ וַיֶּאֶרְבוּ־ל֥וֹ כָל־הַלַּ֖יְלָה בְּשַׁ֣עַר הָעִ֑יר וַיִּתְחָרְשׁ֤וּ כָל־הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר עַד־א֥וֹר הַבֹּ֖קֶר וַהֲרְגְנֻֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• the Gazitesעַזָּתִי‛azzâthîy · GazaH5841
• sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Samsonשִׁמְשׁוֹןshimshôn · SamsonH8123
• is comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• inסָבַבsâbab · to turn: surroundH5437
• and laid waitאָרַב'ârab · to ambushH693
• for him all nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• in the gateשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
• of the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• and were quietחָרֵשׁchârash · be quietH2790
• In the morningבֹּ֫קֶרbôqer · morningH1242
• when it is dayאוֹר'ôr · lightH216
• we shall killהָרַגhârag · to killH2026

Cross-references for Judges 16:2

• 1 Samuel 19:11Saul sent some of his servants to watch David's house. Saul told them to kill David when he came out in the morning. But David's wife Michal warned him. She said, ‘You must run away tonight. If you do not escape, tomorrow you will die!’
• 1 Samuel 23:26Saul and his men were going along one side of the mountain. David and his men were on the other side of the mountain. They were moving quickly to escape from Saul. Saul and his men were getting very near to David and his men. They would soon catch them.
• Psalms 118:10All the nations were ready to attack me, but I turned them away by the power of the Lord.
• Acts 9:24But someone told Saul about this. The Jews carefully watched the gates of the city all day and all night. They wanted to catch Saul and to kill him.
• 2 Corinthians 11:32When I was in Damascus, the ruler of that city sent soldiers to catch me. He was under the authority of King Aretas. The soldiers were watching carefully outside the city.
• Judges 15:18Samson was now very thirsty. He called out to the Lord for help. He said, ‘You have helped me to win a great battle. Should I now die because I am so thirsty? Then these Philistines would do whatever they want to me.’
• Matthew 21:38The farmers saw the master's son coming. They said to each other, “This is the master's own son. The garden will belong to him when his father dies. So we should kill the son and then the garden will be ours.”
• Matthew 27:1Early the next morning, all the leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together. They decided how to make the Roman rulers kill Jesus.
• Acts 23:15So now we want you and the group of Jewish leaders to send a message to the leader of the Roman soldiers. Ask him, “Please bring Paul to the meeting of the Jewish leaders. We want to know more about the wrong things that he has done.” That will be the message. But, we will wait for Paul and we will be ready to kill him. We will do this before he arrives here at the meeting.’

Commentaries on Judges 16:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2They compassed him in - They shut up all the avenues, secured the gates, and set persons in ambush near them, that they might attack him on his leaving the city early the next morning.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3During that time, city gates were locked at night to stop anyone from entering or leaving. The men of the city, seeing the gates locked, likely slept in a gatehouse. They planned to continue their watch in the morning.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-31-2. Gaza--now Guzzah, the capital of the largest of the five Philistine principal cities, about fifteen miles southwest of Ashkelon. The object of this visit to this city is not recorded, and unless he had gone in disguise, it was a perilous exposure of his life in one of the enemy's strongholds. It soon became known that he was there; and it was immediately resolved to secure him. But deeming themselves certain of their prey, the Gazites deferred the…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 16:2

• Friends
• Gazathites
• Samson

In the dictionaries

• Samson
• Feel
• Fenced cities
• Gaza
• Mock
• Quiet
• Sport
• Told
• Dagon
• Delilah

Commentaries on Judges 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings