Judges 16:6

Easy-to-Read Version

So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me why you are so strong. How could someone tie you up and make you helpless?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does your great strength come from? How could someone tie you up and make you helpless?”

Hebrew Names Version
Delilah said to Shimshon, Tell me, Please, in which your great strength lies, and with which you might be bound to afflict you.

King James Version
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

Lexham English Bible
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?"

English Standard Version
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you."

New Century Version
So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me why you are so strong. How can someone tie you up and capture you?"

New English Translation
So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated."

Amplified Bible
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound and subdued."

New American Standard Bible
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you can be bound to humble you."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Delilah saide to Samson, Tell mee, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest bee bound, to doe thee hurt.

Legacy Standard Bible
Toe vra Delíla vir Simson: vertel my tog waardeur jou krag so groot is, en waarmee jy gebind kan word om jou te bedwing.

Contemporary English Version
The next time Samson was at Delilah's house, she asked, "Samson, what makes you so strong? How can I tie you up so you can't get away? Come on, you can tell me."

Complete Jewish Bible
D'lilah said to Shimshon, "Please tell me what it is that makes you so strong, and how someone could tie you up and subdue you."

Darby Translation
Then Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what is thy great strength, and with what thou mightest be bound to overpower thee.

George Lamsa Translation
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me wherein your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound, and how that you may become weak.

Good News Translation
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong. If someone wanted to tie you up and make you helpless, how could he do it?"

Literal Translation
And Delilah said to Samson, Now tell me in what your great strength lies , and with what you may be bound in order to afflict you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Dalila sayde vnto Samson: I praye the tell me, wherin thy greate stregth is, & how thou mightest be bounde to be subdued.

American Standard Version
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

Bible in Basic English
So Delilah said to Samson, Make clear to me now what is the secret of your great strength, and how you may be put in bands and made feeble.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Dalila sayde to Samson: Oh, tell me where thy great strength lyeth, and how thou myghtest be bounde and brought vnder.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Delilah said to Samson: 'Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.'

King James Version (1611)
And Delilah said to Samson, Tel me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lyeth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound, to afflict thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein is thy great strength, and wherewith thou shalt be bound that thou mayest be humbled.

English Revised Version
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

Berean Standard Bible
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you could be tied up and subdued."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Dalida spak to Sampson, Y biseche, seie thou to me, wher ynne is thi gretteste strengthe, and what is that thing, with which thou boundun maist not breke?

Young's Literal Translation
And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Declare, I pray thee, to me, wherein thy great power [is], and wherewith thou art bound, to afflict thee.'

Update Bible Version
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray you, wherein your great strength lies, and with which you might be bound to afflict you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what thy great strength [lieth], and with what thou mayest be bound to afflict thee.

World English Bible
Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, Please, in which your great strength lies, and with which you might be bound to afflict you.

New King James Version
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you."

New Living Translation
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely."

New Life Bible
So Delilah said to Samson, "I beg you. Tell me the secret of your powerful strength. Tell me how one can get power over you and tie you up and hold you."

New Revised Standard
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and how you could be bound, so that one could subdue you."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So Delilah said unto Samson, Do tell me, I pray thee, wherein lieth thy great strength, - and wherewith thou mightest be bound, to humble thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Dalila said to Samson: Tell me, I beseech thee, wherein thy greatest strength lieth, and what it is, wherewith if thou wert bound, thou couldst not break loose.

Revised Standard Version
And Deli'lah said to Samson, "Please tell me wherein your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you."

THE MESSAGE
So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, dear, the secret of your great strength, and how you can be tied up and humbled."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you."

Contextual Overview

⁴ Later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who was from Sorek Valley. ⁵ The rulers of the Philistines went to Delilah and said, "We want to know what makes Samson so strong. Try to trick him into telling you his secret. Then we will know how to capture him and tie him up. Then we will be able to control him. If you do this, each one of us will give you 28 pounds of silver." ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me why you are so strong. How could someone tie you up and make you helpless?" ⁷ Samson answered, "Someone would have to tie me up with seven fresh, new bowstrings. If someone did that, I would be as weak as any other man." ⁸ Then the rulers of the Philistines brought seven fresh, new bowstrings to Delilah, and she tied Samson with the bowstrings. ⁹ Some men were hiding in the next room. Delilah said to Samson, "Samson, the Philistine men are going to capture you!" But Samson easily broke the bowstrings. They snapped like a string when it comes too close to a flame. So the Philistines did not find out the secret of Samson's strength. ¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, "You lied to me. You made me look foolish. Please tell me the truth. How could someone tie you up?" ¹¹ Samson said, "Someone would have to tie me up with new ropes. They would have to tie me with ropes that have not been used before. If someone did that, I would become as weak as any other man." ¹² So Delilah took some new ropes and tied up Samson. Some men were hiding in the next room. Then Delilah called out to him, "Samson, the Philistine men are going to capture you!" But he broke the ropes easily as if they were threads. ¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, "You lied to me again. You made me look foolish. Now, tell me how someone could tie you up." Samson said, "If you use the loom to weave the seven braids of hair on my head and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Psalms 12:2, Proverbs 6:26, Proverbs 7:21, Proverbs 22:14, Proverbs 26:28, Jeremiah 9:2-5, Micah 7:2, Micah 7:5

Reciprocal: Judges 14:17 - she lay Nehemiah 6:4 - four times

Cross-References

Genesis 16:8
The angel said, "Hagar, Sarai's slave girl, why are you here? Where are you going?" Hagar said, "I am running away from Sarai."

Genesis 16:9
The angel of the Lord said to her, "Sarai is your owner. Go home to her and obey her."

Genesis 24:10
The servant took ten of Abraham's camels and left that place. The servant carried with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Mesopotamia, to Nahor's city.

Exodus 2:15
Pharaoh heard about what Moses did, so he decided to kill him. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and went to the land of Midian. Moses stopped near a well in Midian.

Job 2:6
So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, Job is in your hands, but you are not allowed to kill him."

Proverbs 14:29
A patient person is very smart. A quick-tempered person makes stupid mistakes.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer makes anger disappear, but a rough answer makes it grow.

Proverbs 27:8
A man away from home is like a bird away from its nest.

Proverbs 29:19
Servants will not learn a lesson if you only talk to them. They might understand you, but they will not obey.

Ecclesiastes 10:4
Don't quit your job simply because the boss is angry with you. If you remain calm and helpful, you can correct even great mistakes.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Delilah said to Samson,.... At a proper opportunity, when in his hands and caresses, as Josephus relates e, and introduced it in an artful manner, admiring his strange exploits, and wondering how he could perform them:

tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth; which she proposed seemingly out of mere curiosity, and as it would be a proof of his affection to her, to impart the secret to her:

and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee; not that she suggested to him that she was desirous to have him afflicted, or to try the experiment herself in order to afflict him, but to know by what means, if he was bound, it would be afflicting to him so that he could not relieve himself; she knew he might be bound, if he would admit of it, as he had been, but she wanted to know how he might be bound, so as to be held, and could not loose himself.

e Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 9.)