Judges 16:21 BSB — MannaFest

Judges 16:21

Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.

KJV

But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

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Commentary

4 voices

Gregory of Nyssa

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.13.183 (395)

But the one who has taken root as "a fruitful olive tree in the house of God" composes those words against the tyrant which we have heard in the psalm, saying, "Why do you glory in evil, you who are mighty in iniquity," whose "tongue" is "like a sharp razor." It was by means of these two things that [Samson] was led off, after [Delilah] had removed the beauty of his hair and cut off the "seven locks of curls" in which our strength lies.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands of the Philistines. It is probable they had promised Delilah not to kill him, but they took an effectual course to disable him. The first thing they did, when they had him in their hands and found they could manage him, was to put out his eyes, by applying fire to them, says the Arabic version.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Put out his eyes - Thus effectually, as they thought, preventing any future mischief on his part, while they prolonged their own triumph and revenge. (Compare Num 16:14; 2Ki 25:7; Jer 39:7.) They applied to the two feet fetters of brass 2Sa 3:34; Jer 52:11, and made him “grind” - the special task of slaves and captives Exo 11:5; Isa 47:2; Lam 5:13.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

His security was made doubly sure by his being bound with fetters of brass (copper), not of leather, like other captives. he did grind in the prison-house--This grinding with hand-millstones being the employment of menials, he was set to it as the deepest degradation.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

14 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיֹּאחֲז֣וּהוּ	vai.yo.cha.Zu.hu	and they seized him	H270 →
פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים	fe.lish.Tim	[the] Philistines	H6430 →
וַֽיְנַקְּר֖וּ	vay.na.ke.Ru	and they gouged out	H5365 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
עֵינָ֑יו	'ei.Nav	eyes his	H5869 →
וַיּוֹרִ֨ידוּ	vai.yo.Ri.du	and they brought down	H3381 →
אוֹת֜וֹ	'o.To	<obj.> him	H853 →
עַזָּ֗תָה	'a.Za.tah	Gaza towards	H5804 →
וַיַּאַסְר֙וּהוּ֙	vai.ya.'as.Ru.hu	and they bound him	H631 →
בַּֽנְחֻשְׁתַּ֔יִם	ban.chush.Ta.yim	with <the> bronze fetters	H5178 →
וַיְהִ֥י	vay.Hi	and he was	H1961 →
טוֹחֵ֖ן	to.Chen	grinding	H2912 →
בְּבֵ֥ית	be.Veit	in [the] house of	H1004 →
הָאֲסוּרִֽים׃	ha.'a.si.rim	those imprisoned	H631 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Proverbs 14:14
The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.
leads to
- Galatians 6:8
  The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
- Proverbs 12:14
  By fruitful speech a man is filled with good things, and the work of his hands returns to him.
- Hebrews 3:12
  See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Jeremiah 8:5
  Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
- Jeremiah 2:19
  Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear…
Through
Isaiah 47:2
Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
leads to
- Exodus 11:5
  and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Proverbs 2:19
None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
  And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…
Through
Exodus 11:5
and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well…
leads to
- Psalms 78:51
  He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.

About Judges

Samson and Delilah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Judges: the study guide →Read chapter 16 →The featured study →

PlacePhilistine coastGazaChief Philistine city of the coastal road, judged in Amos 1:6-8 and Zephaniah 2:4; scene of Samson's end (Judg 16).

Continue: Judges 16 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Judges

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Judges