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

1Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and slept with her. The people of Gaza were told, “Samson’s here!” So they surrounded the place and waited all night at the city gate to ambush him. They were quiet all night. They thought, “We’ll kill him at dawn.” 3But Samson was in bed ⌞with the prostitute⌟ only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors, door posts, and bar of the city gate and pulled them out. He carried them on his shoulders to the top of the hill facing Hebron. 4After ⌞leaving Gaza⌟, he fell in love with a woman in the Sorek Valley. Her name was Delilah.

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 messengers to watch David’s house and kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, advised him, “If you don’t save yourself tonight, you’ll be dead tomorrow!”
• 1 Samuel 23:26Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, and Saul and his men were going around ⌞the mountain⌟ toward David and his men, trying to capture them.
• Psalms 118:10All the nations surrounded me, ⌞but armed⌟ with the name of the Lord, I defeated them.
• Acts 9:24but Saul was told about their plot. They were watching the city gates day and night in order to murder him.
• 2 Corinthians 11:32The governor under King Aretas put guards around the city of Damascus to catch me.
• Judges 15:18Samson was very thirsty. So he called out to the Lord and said, “You have given me this great victory. But now I’ll die from thirst and fall into the power of godless men.”
• Matthew 21:38“When the workers saw his son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him and get his inheritance.’
• Matthew 27:1Early in the morning all the chief priests and the leaders of the people decided to execute Jesus.
• Acts 23:15Here’s our plan: You and the council must go to the Roman officer on the pretext that you need more information from Paul. You have to make it look as though you want to get more accurate information about him. We’ll be ready to kill him before he gets to you.”

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