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The five heads of the Philistine nation went personally to her and demanded that she find out from Samson what made him so strong, so that they would know how to overpower and subdue him and put him in chains.

“Each of us will give you a thousand dollars for this job,” they promised.

So Delilah begged Samson to tell her his secret. “Please tell me, Samson, why you are so strong,” she pleaded. “I don’t think anyone could ever capture you!”

“Well,” Samson replied, “if I were tied with seven raw-leather bowstrings, I would become as weak as anyone else.”

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The rulers of the Philistines(A) went to her and said, “See if you can lure(B) him into showing you the secret of his great strength(C) and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels[a] of silver.”(D)

So Delilah(E) said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:5 That is, about 28 pounds or about 13 kilograms