2tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”

3tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.

4tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”

5tn Heb “were silent.”

6tn Heb “saying.”

7tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

8tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

9tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”

10tn Heb “with the bar.”

11tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”

12tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”

13tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”

14tn Or “moist.”

15tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.

16tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (v˙ha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).

17tn Heb “are upon you.”

18tn Heb “when it smells fire.”

19tn Heb “His strength was not known.”

20tn See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II תָּלַל, talal), which also occurs in v. 13.

21tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”

22tn Heb “are upon you.”

23tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”

24tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

25tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.

26tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.

27tn Heb “are upon you.”

28tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.

29tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

30tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”

31tn Heb “forced him with her words.”

32tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”

33tn Heb “all his heart.”

34tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

35tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

36tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

37tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

38tn Heb “all his heart.”

39tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”

40tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).

41tn Heb “all his heart.”

42tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

43tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.

44tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

45tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.

46tn Heb “are upon you.”

47tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

48tn Heb “and said.”

49tn Heb “I will go out as before.”

50tn Heb “the hair of his head.”

51tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.

52tn Heb “multiplied our dead.”

53tn Heb “When their heart was good.”

54tn Heb “before them.”

55tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”

56tn Heb “house.”

57tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).

58tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”

59tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house was founded.”

60tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”

61tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”

62tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”

63tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”

64tn Traditionally, “judged.”