EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Judges 16:21
21The Philistines took hold of Samson. They cut out his eyes. They tied him up with bronze chains. They made him do hard work as their prisoner. He had to push a heavy stone to make grain into flour.
Judges 16:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
- New International Version (NIV)Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
Context of Judges 16:21
19Delilah made Samson sleep with his head on her knees. She called a man to come and he cut off the seven tails of Samson's hair. This made Samson helpless, so that he had no more strength. 20Then Delilah shouted, ‘Samson, the Philistines are here!’ He woke up and he thought, ‘I will make myself free as I have always done before.’ But he did not realize that the Lord had gone away from him. The Philistines took hold of Samson. They cut out his eyes. They tied him up with bronze chains. They made him do hard work as their prisoner. He had to push a heavy stone to make grain into flour. 22But after they had cut off Samson's hair, it began to grow again. 23One day, the rulers of the Philistines met together to have a big feast. They offered a great sacrifice to their god, Dagon. They said, ‘Dagon has put our enemy, Samson, under our power.’
Read all of Judges 16Judges 16:21 word by word
וַיֹּאחֲז֣וּהוּ פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים וַֽיְנַקְּר֖וּ אֶת־עֵינָ֑יו וַיּוֹרִ֨ידוּ אוֹת֜וֹ עַזָּ֗תָה וַיַּאַסְר֙וּהוּ֙ בַּֽנְחֻשְׁתַּ֔יִם וַיְהִ֥י טוֹחֵ֖ן בְּבֵ֥ית הָאֲסוּרִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- But the Philistinesפְּלִשְׁתִּיpelishtîy · PhilistineH6430
- tookאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
- him, and put outנָקַרnâqar · to digH5365
- his eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- and brought him downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
- to Gazaעַזָּה‛azzâh · GazaH5804
- and boundאָסַר'âsar · to bindH631
- him with fetters of brassנְחֹ֫שֶׁתnechôsheth · bronzeH5178
- and he did grindטָחַןţâchan · to grindH2912
- houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
Cross-references for Judges 16:21
- Proverbs 5:22The sins of a wicked person will be the trap that catches him. They will hold him like strong ropes.
- Proverbs 14:14If someone turns away from what is right, he will receive the punishment that he deserves. But good people will receive the good things that they deserve.
- Judges 2:19But when the leader died, the people would stop serving the Lord. They would do even more wicked things than their fathers had done. They would serve false gods and they would worship them. They refused to stop doing the wicked things that they wanted to do.
- 2 Kings 25:7They killed all Zedekiah's sons as their punishment, while Zedekiah watched. Then they cut out Zedekiah's eyes to make him blind. They tied him with chains and they took him to Babylon.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11So the Lord brought the officers of the king of Assyria's army to attack them. They took hold of Manasseh. They put metal hooks in his nose and they tied bronze chains around him. Then they took him away to Babylon.
- Psalms 107:10Some people sat in a completely dark place. Iron chains held them as prisoners, and they were very sad.
- Psalms 149:8They must tie up the foreign kings with chains, and put the rulers in prison.
- Exodus 11:5I will cause all the firstborn sons in Egypt to die. The firstborn son of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, will die. The firstborn son of the female slave who makes flour, will die. Even the firstborn of the farm animals will die.
- Isaiah 47:2Use heavy stones to make grain into flour. Take the veil off your face. Lift up your skirt. Walk through streams of water with bare legs.
- Matthew 24:42So you must watch carefully! You do not know the day when your Master will come back.
Commentaries on Judges 16:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Put out his eyes - Thus was the lust of the eye, in looking after and gazing on strange women, punished. As the Philistines did not know that his strength might not return, they put out his eyes, that he might never be able to plan any enterprise against them. He did grind in the prison-house - Before the invention of wind and water-mills, the grain was at first bruised between two stones, afterwards ground in hand-mills. This is practiced in China and in…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Put out his eyes - Thus effectually, as they thought, preventing any future mischief on his part, while they prolonged their own triumph and revenge. (Compare Numbers 16:14; 2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 39:7.) They applied to the two feet fetters of brass 2 Samuel 3:34; Jeremiah 52:11, and made him “grind” - the special task of slaves and captives Exodus 11:5; Isaiah 47:2; Lamentations 5:13.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-21Verses 18-21 See the fatal effects of false security. Satan ruins men by flattering them into a good opinion of their own safety, and so bringing them to mind nothing, and fear nothing; and then he robs them of their strength and honour, and leads them captive at his will. When we sleep our spiritual enemies do not. Samson's eyes were the inlets of his sin, (ver. #(1),) and now his punishment began there. Now the Philistines blinded him, he had time to…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-22Samson's downfall and defeat by Delilah, the temptress, is a universally appealing tragedy.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes--To this cruel privation prisoners of rank and consequence have commonly been subjected in the East. The punishment is inflicted in various ways, by scooping out the eyeballs, by piercing the eye, or destroying the sight by holding a red-hot iron before the eyes. His security was made doubly sure by his being bound with fetters of brass (copper), not of leather, like other captives. he did grind in the…Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 16:21
In the dictionaries
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
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