And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, {Or, When (or, Before) the morning is light}Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman {Or, by the brook}in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
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 {Or, humble}afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven {Or, new bowstrings}green withes that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven {Or, new bowstrings}green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it {Hebrew: smelleth.}toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
And he said unto her, If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.
So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake them off his arms like a thread.
And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.
And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death.
And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for {Or, according to another reading, he had told her}he hath told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand.
And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for {Or, the men}a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him.
And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who hath slain many of us.
And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them. And they set him between the pillars:
and Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them.
Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may {Or, be avenged…for one of my two eyes}be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left.
And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life.
Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Querverweise zu Richter 16,5 Ri 16,5
namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath.
And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to {Or, take that which we have}impoverish us? is it not so?
And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter {Or, an adjuration}a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah.
from {Commonly called, the brook of Egypt. See Numbers 34:5.}the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the border of Ekron northward, which is reckoned to the Canaanites; the five lords of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; {Or, also the Avvim; from the south, all &c.}also the Avvim,
To deliver thee from the strange woman,Even from the foreigner that {Hebrew: maketh smooth her words.}flattereth with her words;
That forsaketh the {Or, guide}friend of her youth,And forgetteth the covenant of her God:
For {Or, she sinketh down unto death, which is her house}her house inclineth unto death,And her paths unto {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead;
None that go unto her return again,Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:
So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.
Then Achish called David, and said unto him, As Jehovah liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not.
For the lips of a strange woman drop honey,And her mouth is smoother than oil:
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;Her steps take hold on Sheol;
{Or, Lest thou find the level &c. Or, Lest thou weigh carefully the path of life}So that she findeth not the level path of life:Her ways are unstable, and {Or, thou canest not know them}she knoweth it not.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,And depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far from her,And come not nigh the door of her house;
Lest thou give thine honor unto others,And thy years unto the cruel;
Lest strangers be filled with thy {Or, wealth}strength,And thy labors be in the house of an alien,
And thou {Or, groan}mourn at thy latter end,When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
To keep thee from the evil woman,From the flattery of the foreigner's tongue.
Lust not after her beauty in thy heart;Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread;And {Hebrew: a man's wife.}the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.
And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah my God, to do less or more.
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield;With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.
He goeth after her {Hebrew: suddenly.}straightway,As an ox goeth to the slaughter,Or as one in {The Hebrew is obsure.}fetters to the correction of the fool;
Till an arrow strike through his liver;As a bird hasteth to the snare,And knoweth not that it is for his life.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,And attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thy heart decline to her ways;Go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded:Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
Her house is the way to Sheol,Going down to the chambers of death.
{Or, Both hands are put forth for evil to do it &c.}Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid.
Or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, {Genesis 2:24.}The twain, saith he, shall become one flesh.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
and said, What are ye willing to give me, and I will {See chapter 10:4.}deliver him unto you? And they weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver.
But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all {Or, evils.}kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.