Judges 16:5

Money and wealth Temptation

³ But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.

⁴ Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

⁷ Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
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.
WEB: The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
ASV: 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.
DARBY: And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Persuade him, and see in what his great strength is, and with what we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to overpower him; and we will each give thee eleven hundred silver-pieces.
BLB: And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him and find out in what [is] his great power, and by what we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him. And we will give to you, each man, a thousand and a hundred [shekels] of silver.”

ÅB: Da kom filistrenes høvdinger opp til henne og sa til henne: Lokk ham til å si deg hvori hans store styrke ligger, og hvordan vi kan rå med ham og binde ham, så vi får bukt med ham! Så vil vi gi deg hver elleve hundre[^1] sekel sølv.
OTB: Lederne av filisterne nærmet seg henne og sa: "Lokke ham til å avsløre kilden til hans store styrke og hvordan vi kan overmanne ham, så vi kan binde ham og underkue ham. Hver av oss vil gi deg elleve hundre sølvstykker."
B1930: Da kom filistrenes høvdinger op til henne og sa til henne: Lokk ham til å si dig hvori hans store styrke ligger, og hvorledes vi kan rå med ham og binde ham, så vi får bukt med ham! Så vil vi gi dig hver elleve hundre sekel sølv. / < d.e. over tusen.>

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Joshua 13:3
from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites;
Read in context
Judges 14:15
So on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”
Read in context
1 Timothy 6:9–10
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
Read in context
1 Corinthians 6:15–18
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
Read in context
Proverbs 5:3–11
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
Read in context
Proverbs 7:21–27
With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
Read in context
Proverbs 2:16–19
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
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1 Samuel 29:6
So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright in my sight, and it seems right that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you have no favor in the sight of the leaders.
Read in context