Hallelujah, ha-ha-hallelujah. Roll call.
Hallelujah, ha-ha-hallelujah. Roll call.
My name’s Delilah…I’m hella fine.
Samson was my man–the strongest in the land.
He had them inches, flowing down his back. Ayy, I-gave-him-a-shape-up-he-lost-his-strength...and yeah, that was kinda whack.
Lol, I’m coming through with bars this time!
Okay, I stole them from a fellow Tik-Toker. I Am Not Ashamed! This rap game is harder than it sounds. Much respect to the Sugar Hill Gang for their eight-minute debut, Rapper’s Delight.
So up next on the list of The Women of the Bible from A to Z is Miss Hella Fine herself, Delilah– the cunning temptress. Coming in at number four on a list compiled of seven women, Miss Delilah is no heroine. I could have explored a biblical great, like Deborah– the prophetess and first woman judge, but let’s face it not everyone is perfect. There are scandalous women in the Bible too. However, everyone has a purpose.
Before I get into Delilah’s story I have to discuss her victim. Samson. There’s always a man lurking around. Trying to consume Every Breath You Take. But was Samson really a victim? I don’t know. Let’s find out.
In Judges 13 The angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s mother and said,
“You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.
Samson’s mother then agreed to a vow that she wouldn’t drink wine or any other fermented drink while she was pregnant. She wouldn’t eat anything unclean and the baby she was carrying, his head was never to be touched by a razor because he was to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He would grow to take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
Wow, now those are some big shoes to fill from birth.
So, Samson goes on to grow into a Greek God, if you will. The real life Hercules. Hercules was probably modeled after him, a real life Israelite beach body. Samson once massacred a lion with his bare hands.
It’s safe to say that Samson made some enemies along the way. The Philistines were afraid and in awe of his superhuman strength. Lucky for them, in walks Delilah, and their chance to defeat the Israelites. This is how the story goes.
The story of Samson and Delilah is often romanticized and dramatized. The truth of the matter is that Samson fell in love with a woman from the Valley of Sorek. Delilah. Miss Hella Fine. A working woman. The Book of Judges portrays Samson as being attracted to both Philistine women and prostitutes, so it’s assumed Delilah was both.
The rulers of the Philistines went to Deliah and said, “Can you lure Samson into revealing the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him…each of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
The Philistine rulers asked Delilah to deceive Samson because the two were indeed an item or at least regular companions.They weren’t simply Friends. The bible doesn’t mention a marriage either– unlike with the first young lady that Samson was with in Judges 14. However, it does say that he loved Deliaih and yes, they were having sleepovers– not so Secret Lovers.
Hollywood depicts a different type of picture. Two lovers divided by the government. The truth is, we don’t know if Delilah shared Samsons same feelings? Did the money tempt her, or was the thought of betraying her people or losing her life her deciding factor? I don’t know, but even though money was involved, I don’t believe that the Philistine rulers really gave her an option. Delilah had to deceive Samson– the one unlike any man in the land.
Instead of sharing the information with her young and strong suitor who by the way once killed 1000 men with the bone of a donkey, Delilah turned ‘Informer’ and said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
Yeah, it was probably for the money!
Teasing her, Samson responded,
“If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
“Gotcha!”
Delilah must have thought. She ran and told the authorities of her findings and they in return brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried.
Delilah wooed her lover asleep, most likely after a night of passion (their last night together, she probably thought). The Bible says, Delilah tied Samson with the bowstrings and the entire time there were men hidden in the room waiting to capture him.
Eww, that’s creepy!
Samson probably thought things were going in an entirely different direction when he allowed her to rope him up, but when he dozed off Delilah yelled,
“Samson, the Philistines are here!”
He jumped up and snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. Like a moth to a flame, burned by the fire. So, that’s what Janet was singing about.
Anyway, the men probably raced out, running in fear, attempting to escape a beat down. Delilah then said to Samson,
“All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”
Chile!
Samson never said, hey, there Deliliah, what’s up with you? He was obviously ‘whipped’ and responded to her foolishness again. “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
On their next night of passion Delilah tries it again. She took new ropes and tied Samson with them. Then, with men hidden in the room again, she called out,
“Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
Startled, Samson arose, and just like the Hulk he snapped the ropes off his arms like flimsy threads.
The secret of his strength was not discovered that night either.
“All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.” Delilah insisted.
The Philistines rulers were most likely harassing her– threatening her life and coaxing her with money. However, Samson lied again, keeping his vow as a Nazirite to himself.
“If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
And of course this doesn’t work either. Samson awoke from sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
Delilah was then forced to bring on the waterworks, pulling at Samson’s heartstrings.
“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”
The bible says with such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
And Samson told her everything!
“No razor has ever been used on my head, because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
Delilah saw something different in his eyes that time. She sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.
The Bible says after putting Samson to sleep on her lap, Delilah called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair.
SMH. Samson’s strength left him.
Then Delilah called,
“Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
Samson awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
As the story goes, the Philistines seized Samson, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze shackles, and assigned him to grinding grain in the prison. Keeping him around as the constant butt of the joke.
Just like that, we don’t hear from Delilah anymore. Her betrayal has been compared to Jesus’ betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Both Delilah and Judas were paid in pieces of silver for their respective deeds. However, some view Delilah in a somewhat sympathetic light, suggesting that she never intended Samson to be killed or wounded, merely weakened.
But, what did happen to Samson? The Bible says that after his hair had been shaved it began to grow again. Remember that his birth was to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
Samson prayed to the Lord,
“Sovereign Lord, remember me. (I love that part).
Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
God’s Word never returns void. Despite Samson’s many sins, God used him to fulfill His own purpose. Samson was tied near two pillars– structural beams. He said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Delilah’s name has become synonymous with a voluptuous, treacherous woman. The use of her name connotes deceit or betrayal and can be found in works such as The Invisible Man. Deliah may not be a popular character in the Bible, but her involvement with Samson led to a great defeat against the Philistines and earned her a place in the old testament. The only woman called by name in the story of Samson.
What is the lesson of Delilah in the Bible?
I don’t know if we can use Delilah as a good teaching example, do you? However, in her relationship with Samson I would say the lesson taught is to expose pretenders, be careful to whom you share your secrets, don’t be morally weak, rely on God’s strength and be obedient to God’s commandments.
Where to find Delilah in the Bible.
Women of the Bible with names starting with D.
D
Damaris – Acts
Deborah #1 – Nursemaid to Rebekah and later to Jacob and Esau.
Deborah #2 – Prophetess and the fourth, and the only female, Judge of pre–monarchic Israel in the Old Testament. Judges
Delilah – The ‘woman in the valley of Sorek’ who Samson loved.
Dinah – Daughter of Jacob, one of the patriarchs of the Israelites and Leah, his first wife.
Dorcas – also known as Tabitha.
Drusilla – The wife of a judge named Felix, mentioned in Acts.
