Judges 16:22
in Judges 16However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
KJV
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
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This verse in Judges 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again--It is probable that he had now reflected on his folly; and becoming a sincere penitent, renewed his Nazarite vow. "His hair grew together with his repentance, and his strength with his hairs" [BISHOP HALL].
This site's exposition
gouged out his eyes
on Judges 16:21-22
His eyes go first, the organ the account has tracked from the start, since 14:1 and 16:1 both open on what he saw. Grinding grain was the work of slaves and of women, as Exodus 11:5 and Isaiah 47:2 show, and he is set to it in Gaza, whose gate he once carried off. Verse 22 reports the hair beginning to grow and says nothing more.
This site's exposition
the hair of his head began to grow back
Wesley reads the hair growing back as a sign that Samson repented and renewed his Nazirite vow, as the law allowed. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown quote Bishop Hall: his hair grew with his repentance. Henry wonders that the Philistines left it to grow.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But in process of time his hair began to grow again.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The hair - This circumstance, though in itself inconsiderable, is noted as a sign of the recovery of God's favour, and his former strength, in some degree, upon his repentance, and renewing his vow with God, which was allowed for Nazarites to do.
Howbeit, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
It is strange that the Philistines in whose hands he was were not jealous of the growth of his hair again, and did not cut it; but perhaps they were willing his great strength should return to him, that they might have so much the more work out of him, and now that he was blind they were in no fear of any hurt from him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
LET me introduce the text to you. Samson was set apart from his birth to be the champion of Israel—to break the power of the Philistines who lorded over God's people. Everything in his bringing up had reference to his peculiar calling as the hero of Israel, the hammer of Philistia. He was to be a Nazarite from his birth. Among other things which concerned the Nazarite, he never touched wine.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
LET me introduce the text to you. Samson was set apart from his birth to be the champion of Israel—to break the power of the Philistines who lorded over God's people. Everything in his bringing up had reference to his peculiar calling as the hero of Israel, the hammer of Philistia. He was to be a Nazarite from his birth. Among other things which concerned the Nazarite, he never touched wine. No, nor grapes, nor husks of grapes, nor anything that came of the vine— which goes to show that the greatest physical strength is attainable without the use of wine or strong drink. Whatever else overcame Samson, he was never overcome with drunkenness, and yet he greatly sinned, which goes to show that total abstinence is not, of itself, enough to form a character. A Nazarite, in addition to abstinence from wine, also abstained from wearing the common appearance of men. He was not to have his hair at any time shaved or cut away—so that when Samson was grown up to manhood, he was covered with a shaggy mass of hair. He must have looked like the lion that he was. Those locks of his were the token of his consecration to God, the outward marks of his being set apart to be the servant of the God of Israel. Can you not see him with the terrible glory of his hair upon him? Poor Samson was as weak morally as he was strong physically and he fell a prey, first to one evil woman and then to another. Perhaps the extraordinary strength of his physical frame placed him under stronger temptation than is common to man—at any rate, he was peculiarly constituted and seemed more like a wanton boy than a judge in Israel. Through this peculiar sin of his, the Philistines found opportunity to assail him. They tempted Delilah, whom he loved, to extract from him the secret of his great strength. He was so strong that he tore a lion as though it had been a kid.
The hair of his head began to grow again - And may we not suppose that, sensible of his sin and folly, he renewed his Nazir vow to the Lord, in consequence of which his supernatural strength was again restored?
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֧חֶל | vaiyachel | and it began | H2490 → | 143 times |
| שְׂעַר־ | sear- | [the] hair of | H8181 → | |
| רֹאשׁ֛וֹ | rosho | head his | H7218 → | 599 times |
| לְצַמֵּ֖חַ | letzameach | to grow back | H6779 → | |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | kaasher | <just> when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| גֻּלָּֽח׃ פ | gulach | it had been shaved | H1548 → | 23 times |
וַיָּ֧חֶלand it began
vaiyachelH2490 →143 times
שְׂעַר־[the] hair of
sear-H8181 →
רֹאשׁ֛וֹhead his
roshoH7218 →599 times
לְצַמֵּ֖חַto grow back
letzameachH6779 →
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר<just> when
kaasherH834 →5497 times
גֻּלָּֽח׃ פit had been shaved
gulachH1548 →23 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Deuteronomy 32:36For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
it leads to
- Psalms 135:14
For the LORD will vindicate His people and will have compassion on His servants.
- Psalms 106:45
And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
- Judges 2:18
Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was…
- Psalms 135:14
Through
Leviticus 26:44Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I…
it leads to
- Romans 11:2
God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:
- Deuteronomy 4:29–31
But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Nehemiah 9:31
But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- 2 Kings 13:23
But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been…
- Psalms 94:14
For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.
- Romans 11:2
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1939: “Shaved and Shorn, But Not Beyond Hope” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.