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

19She made him go to sleep on her lap and then called a man in to shave off the seven braids of his hair. She made him vulnerable and his strength left him. 20She said, “The Philistines are here, Samson!” He woke up and thought, “I will do as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 22His hair began to grow back after it had been shaved off. 23The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has 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 5:22The wicked will be captured by his own iniquities, and he will be held by the cords of his own sin.
• Proverbs 14:14The backslider will be paid back from his own ways, but a good person will be rewarded for his.
• Judges 2:19When a leader died, the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one. They would follow after other gods, worshiping them and bowing down to them. They did not give up their practices or their stubborn ways.
• 2 Kings 25:7Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.
• 2 Chronicles 33:11So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose, bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon.
• Psalms 107:10They sat in utter darkness, bound in painful iron chains,
• Psalms 149:8They bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in iron shackles,
• Exodus 11:5and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
• Isaiah 47:2Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams!
• Matthew 24:42“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

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