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Judges 14:17

in Judges 14

She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer. And in turn she explained the riddle to her people.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

KJV

And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

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This verse in Judges 14

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
And she wept before him the seven days, while the feast lasted,.... Those that remained of the seven days, from the fourth to this time, as Kimchi seems rightly to interpret it; though some think she began to beseech him with tears, on the first day of the feast, to impart the secret to her for her own satisfaction; and then, after the men had urged her on the fourth day to persuade her husband to it, she continued pressing him more earnestly with tears unto the seventh day.

This site's exposition

we will burn you and your father’s household to death

on Judges 14:15-17

The threat to burn her “and your father’s household to death” is carried out at 15:6, so the fire she betrays her husband to escape reaches her one chapter later. He tells her on the seventh day “because she had pressed him so much”, the pressure Delilah repeats at 16:16. His answer at verse 16 sets his parents and his wife on one footing, since he had told neither.

This site's exposition

because she had pressed him so much

John Gill follows Kimchi in reading the seven days as the days left from the fourth onward, while others think her tears began on the first day of the feast. Adam Clarke reads her weeping as done to serve the Philistine men. She passes the answer to her people at once.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

I will now put forth a riddle--Riddles are a favorite Oriental amusement at festive entertainments of this nature, and rewards are offered to those who give the solution. Samson's riddle related to honey in the lion's carcass. The prize he offered was thirty sindinim, or shirts, and thirty changes of garments, probably woolen.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And she wept before him - Not through any love to him, for it appears she had none, but to oblige her paramours; and of this he soon had ample proof.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

The seven days. What remained of the seven days, after the fourth day.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Judges 14:17:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתֵּ֤בְךְּand she wept

    vatevekH1058 →114 times

  • עָלָיו֙over him

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • שִׁבְעַ֣ת[the] seven

    shivatH7651 →394 times

  • הַיָּמִ֔יםthe days

    haiyamimH3117 →2304 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הָיָ֥הit belonged

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • לָהֶ֖םto <the> them

    lahem

  • הַמִּשְׁתֶּ֑הthe feast

    hamishtehH4960 →46 times

  • וַיְהִ֣י׀and it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day

    baiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י<the> seventh

    hasheviiH7637 →98 times

  • וַיַּגֶּד־and he told

    vaiyaged-H5046 →370 times

  • לָהּ֙to <the> her

    lah

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • הֱצִיקַ֔תְהוּshe pressed him

    hetzikathuH6693 →

  • וַתַּגֵּ֥דand she told

    vatagedH5046 →370 times

  • הַחִידָ֖הthe riddle

    hachidahH2420 →17 times

  • לִבְנֵ֥יto [the] sons of

    livneiH1121 →4930 times

  • עַמָּֽהּ׃people her

    ʾamahH5971 →1873 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Luke 18:4–5For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,3 worksJudges 16:16Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,3 worksLuke 11:8I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.2 worksProverbs 2:16–17It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words2 worksProverbs 7:21With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.2 worksJob 2:9Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Judges 16:6So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”2 worksJudges 16:13Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man.”2 worksGenesis 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Luke 11:8

    I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as…

    it leads to

    • Genesis 32:26

      Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

    • Luke 18:1–8

      Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

    • Romans 15:30

      Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

    • Colossians 4:12

      Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the…

    • Matthew 15:22–28

      And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”

  • Through

    Proverbs 7:21

    With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 5:3

      Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,

    • Proverbs 7:5

      that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.

  • Through

    Judges 16:16

    Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 7:21–23

      With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Samson Slays a Lion — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Samson Slays a Lion — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 14 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 14 →