English Standard Version
Judges 16:5
5And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver."
Judges 16:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
- New International Version (NIV)The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice Samson to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”
Context of Judges 16:5
3But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron. 4After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver." 6So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you." 7Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man."
Read all of Judges 16Judges 16:5 word by word
וַיַּעֲל֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יהָ סַרְנֵ֣י פְלִשְׁתִּ֗ים וַיֹּ֨אמְרוּ לָ֜הּ פַּתִּ֣י אוֹת֗וֹ וּרְאִי֙ בַּמֶּה֙ כֹּח֣וֹ גָד֔וֹל וּבַמֶּה֙ נ֣וּכַל ל֔וֹ וַאֲסַרְנֻ֖הוּ לְעַנֹּת֑וֹ וַאֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ נִתַּן־לָ֔ךְ אִ֕ישׁ אֶ֥לֶף וּמֵאָ֖ה כָּֽסֶף׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the lordsסֶ֫רֶןseren · lordH5633
- of the Philistinesפְּלִשְׁתִּיpelishtîy · PhilistineH6430
- came upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- unto her, and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto her, Enticeפָּתָהpâthâh · to enticeH6601
- him, and seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- wherein his greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- strengthכֹּחַkôach kôach · strengthH3581
- we may prevailיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
- against him, that we may bindאָסַר'âsar · to bindH631
- him to afflictעָנָה‛ânâh · to afflictH6031
- him: and we will giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- thee every oneאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
- of us eleven hundredמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
- of us eleven hundredאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousandH505
- of silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
Cross-references for Judges 16:5
- Judges 3:3These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.
- Joshua 13:3(from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim,
- 1 Samuel 29:6Then Achish called David and said to him, "As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you.
- Judges 14:15On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?"
- Proverbs 2:16So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words,
- Proverbs 5:3For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Proverbs 6:24to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
- Proverbs 7:21With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
- 1 Corinthians 6:15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
- Judges 17:2And he said to his mother, "The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the Lord."
- Genesis 33:16So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
- Numbers 22:17for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.'"
- Micah 7:3Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.
- Matthew 26:15and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
- 1 Timothy 6:9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
Commentaries on Judges 16:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5See wherein his great strength lieth - They saw that his stature was not remarkable: and that, nevertheless, he had most extraordinary strength; therefore they supposed that it was the effect of some charm or amulet. The lords of the Philistines were the five following: Gaza, Gath, Askelon, Ekron, and Ashdod. All these considered Samson as a public enemy; and they promised this bad woman a large sum of money if she would obtain from him the important…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5And the lords of the Philistines - See Judges 3:3 note. His great strength lieth - Rather, “wherein his strength is great.” Eleven hundred pieces of silver - The greatness of the bribe offered to Delilah, 5,500 shekels of silver, nearly two talents (Exodus 38:24, note), shows the importance attached to Samson‘s capture.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-17Verses 4-17 Samson had been more than once brought into mischief and danger by the love of women, yet he would not take warning, but is again taken in the same snare, and this third time is fatal. Licentiousness is one of the things that take away the heart. This is a deep pit into which many have fallen; but from which few have escaped, and those by a miracle of mercy, with the loss of reputation and usefulness, of almost all, except their souls. The…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5The Philistine leaders knew they could not defeat Samson directly, so they used deceit. The generous offer from the leaders (lords) of the five Philistine cities (Judges 3:3) shows how seriously they took this issue.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. the lords of the Philistines--The five rulers deemed no means beneath their dignity to overcome this national enemy. Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth--They probably imagined that he carried some amulet about his person, or was in the possession of some important secret by which he had acquired such herculean strength; and they bribed Delilah, doubtless by a large reward, to discover it for them. She undertook the service and made…Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 16:5
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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