Judges 16:21

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 put Samson to sleep on her lap. She called for a man to shave off his seven braids. Then she began to torture him because his strength had left him. 20She said, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!” Samson woke up. He thought, “I’ll get out of this as usual and shake myself free.” (He didn’t realize that the Lord had left him.) The Philistines grabbed him. They poked out his eyes and took him to the prison in Gaza. They tied him up with double chains and made him grind grain in the mill there. 22But his hair started to grow back as soon as it was shaved off. 23Now, the Philistine rulers gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, “Our god handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”

Judges 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 5:22A wicked person will be trapped by his own wrongs, and he will be caught in the ropes of his own sin.
• Proverbs 14:14A heart that turns ⌞from God⌟ becomes bored with its own ways, but a good person is satisfied with God’s ways.
• Judges 2:19But after each judge died, the people went back to their old ways and acted more corruptly than their parents. They followed, served, and worshiped other gods. They never gave up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
• 2 Kings 25:7They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons as he watched, and then they blinded Zedekiah. They put him in bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
• 2 Chronicles 33:11So the Lord made the army commanders of the king of Assyria invade Judah. They took Manasseh captive, put a hook in his nose, put him in bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.
• Psalms 107:10Those who lived in the dark, in death’s shadow were prisoners in misery. They were held in iron chains
• Psalms 149:8to put their kings in chains and their leaders in iron shackles,
• Exodus 11:5Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who rules the land, to the firstborn children of female slaves who use their handmills, including every firstborn domestic animal.
• Isaiah 47:2Take millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil. Take off your skirt. Uncover your legs, and cross the river.
• Matthew 24:42“Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know on what day your Lord will return.

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

• Brass
• Captive
• Conspiracy
• Fetters
• Gaza
• Mill
• Prisoners
• Samson

In the dictionaries

• Gaza
• Philistines
• Brass
• Chain
• Eye
• Feel
• Grind
• Mock
• Prison
• Quiet

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