Judges 16:6

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."

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.

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?"

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."

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

⁴Some time later he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek (Grapes). Her name was Delilah. The Philistine tyrants approached her and said, "Seduce him. Discover what's behind his great strength and how we can tie him up and humble him. Each man's company will give you a hundred shekels of silver." ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, dear, the secret of your great strength, and how you can be tied up and humbled." ⁷ Samson told her, "If they were to tie me up with seven bowstrings—the kind made from fresh animal tendons, not dried out—then I would become weak, just like anyone else." ⁸The Philistine tyrants brought her seven bowstrings, not dried out, and she tied him up with them. The men were waiting in ambush in her room. Then she said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He snapped the cords as though they were mere threads. The secret of his strength was still a secret. ¹⁰ Delilah said, "Come now, Samson—you're playing with me, making up stories. Be serious; tell me how you can be tied up." ¹¹ He told her, "If you were to tie me up tight with new ropes, ropes never used for work, then I would be helpless, just like anybody else." ¹² So Delilah got some new ropes and tied him up. She said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" The men were hidden in the next room. He snapped the ropes from his arms like threads. ¹³Delilah said to Samson, "You're still playing games with me, teasing me with lies. Tell me how you can be tied up." He said to her, "If you wove the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on the loom and drew it tight, then I would be as helpless as any other mortal." When she had him fast asleep, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the fabric on the loom and drew it tight. Then she said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He woke from his sleep and ripped loose from both the loom and fabric! ¹⁵ She said, "How can you say ‘I love you' when you won't even trust me? Three times now you've toyed with me, like a cat with a mouse, refusing to tell me the secret of your great strength." ¹⁶She kept at it day after day, nagging and tormenting him. Finally, he was fed up—he couldn't take another minute of it. He spilled it. He told her, "A razor has never touched my head. I've been God's Nazirite from conception. If I were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would be as helpless as any other mortal."

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 16:9
The angel of God said, "Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse." He continued, "I'm going to give you a big family, children past counting. From this pregnancy, you'll get a son: Name him Ishmael; for God heard you, God answered you. He'll be a bucking bronco of a man, a real fighter, fighting and being fought, Always stirring up trouble, always at odds with his family."

Genesis 24:10
The servant took ten of his master's camels and, loaded with gifts from his master, traveled to Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. Outside the city, he made the camels kneel at a well. It was evening, the time when the women came to draw water. He prayed, "O God , God of my master Abraham, make things go smoothly this day; treat my master Abraham well! As I stand here by the spring while the young women of the town come out to get water, let the girl to whom I say, ‘Lower your jug and give me a drink,' and who answers, ‘Drink, and let me also water your camels'—let her be the woman you have picked out for your servant Isaac. Then I'll know that you're working graciously behind the scenes for my master."

Exodus 2:15
Pharaoh heard about it and tried to kill Moses, but Moses got away to the land of Midian. He sat down by a well.

Job 2:6
God said, "All right. Go ahead—you can do what you like with him. But mind you, don't kill him."

Proverbs 14:29
Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.

Proverbs 27:8
People who won't settle down, wandering hither and yon, are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.

Proverbs 29:19
It takes more than talk to keep workers in line; mere words go in one ear and out the other.

Ecclesiastes 10:4
If a ruler loses his temper against you, don't panic; A calm disposition quiets intemperate rage.

Jeremiah 38:5
King Zedekiah caved in: "If you say so. Go ahead, handle it your way. You're too much for me."

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.)