Delilah

AI summary: Delilah matters because the cross references present her as the human instrument by which Samson's strength is exposed and his downfall set in motion. She presses, tests, and finally obtains the truth in exchange for Philistine reward, turning affection into treachery. Her role intensifies the recurring pattern of Samson's vulnerability in relationships. Taken together, the material presents Delilah as a betrayer whose manipulation helps bring Israel's judge to humiliation and captivity.¹

Languishing, a Philistine woman who dwelt in the valley of Sorek (Judg. 16:4-20). She was bribed by the “lords of the Philistines” to obtain from Samson the secret of his strength and the means of overcoming it (Judg. 16:4-18). She tried on three occasions to obtain from him this secret in vain. On the fourth occasion she wrung it from him. She made him sleep upon her knees, and then called the man who was waiting to help her; who “cut off the seven locks of his head,” and so his “strength went from him.” (See SAMSON.) ³