God’s Word Translation
Judges 16:5
5The Philistine rulers came to her and said, “Trick him, and find out what makes him so strong. Find out how we can overpower him. We want to tie him up in order to torture him. Each of us will 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.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)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."
- 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.”
Context of Judges 16:5
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. The Philistine rulers came to her and said, “Trick him, and find out what makes him so strong. Find out how we can overpower him. We want to tie him up in order to torture him. Each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong. How can you be tied up so that someone could torture you?” 7Samson told her, “If someone ties me up with seven new bowstrings that are not dried out, I will 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 3:3He left the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon to the border of Hamath.
- Joshua 13:3It extends from the Shihor River, east of Egypt, northward as far as the border of Ekron. This is considered to be Canaanite territory, even though there are five Philistine rulers over Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as the Avvim people
- 1 Samuel 29:6Then Achish called David and told him, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, you are a dependable man. I consider your campaigning with me a good thing, because I’ve never found anything wrong with you from the day you came to me until now. But the rulers don’t approve of you.
- Judges 14:15On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Trick your husband into solving the riddle for us. If you don’t, we’ll burn you and your family to death. Did the two of you invite us ⌞just to make us poor⌟?”
- Proverbs 2:16⌞Wisdom will⌟ also save you from an adulterous woman, from a loose woman with her smooth talk,
- Proverbs 5:3The lips of an adulterous woman drip with honey. Her kiss is smoother than oil,
- Proverbs 6:24to keep you from an evil woman and from the smooth talk of a loose woman.
- Proverbs 7:21With all her seductive charms, she persuades him. With her smooth lips, she makes him give in.
- 1 Corinthians 6:15Don’t you realize that your bodies are parts of Christ’s body? Should I take the parts of Christ’s body and make them parts of a prostitute’s body? That’s unthinkable!
- Judges 17:2He told his mother, “You were upset about the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you. I even heard you put a curse on them. Here’s the silver. I took it!” His mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”
- Genesis 33:16That day Esau started back to Seir.
- Numbers 22:17I will make sure you are richly rewarded, and I will do whatever you ask. Please, come and curse these people for me.”
- Micah 7:3Their hands are skilled in doing evil. Officials ask for gifts. Judges accept bribes. Powerful people dictate what they want. So they scheme together.
- Matthew 26:15He asked, “What will you pay me if I hand him over to you?” They offered him 30 silver coins.
- 1 Timothy 6:9But people who want to get rich keep falling into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires which drown them in destruction and ruin.
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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