Judges 16:18: “And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, come up at this once for he has shown me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand.”
I remember as a child, Samson was one of my superheroes, right up there with Jack Jackson, The Lone Ranger, and of course Superman. Yet, even at that early age I detected a flaw in all my super-heroes, they were all such doofuses. I mean they would walk right into such obvious traps that even I, as a little seven year old, knew they were ambushes set up by the bad guys. Yet they felt they were so invulnerable they would march right in, head high, get punched right in the jaw and would be out for the count. Old Samson was right there on top of list. I mean, you would think that after pretending to tell Delilah the secret of his strength three times and each time he tells her she blabs it to the Philistines who come marching in to arrest him, he would begin to wake up. You think after three times of betrayal it would finally dawn on him that this old gal is trying to scam him. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, well shame on old Samson.
Come on, let’s face it, Samson was no dumb jock who just fell off the turnip truck. Three times he told Delilah the secret to his strength, and each time he told her the truth. The bow strings that she tied him with up were in the Hebrew yatarim. We would call this today cat gut something off a dead animal. Such material was used in those days to make the strings for their bows. Of course, as a Nazarite, Samson could not touch a dead animal, so bingo, he should have lost his strength right then and there, but he didn’t. That is quite interesting that he did not lose his strength and I am sure Samson was intrigued by this as well. So why not spill his guts (pun intended) to win a one night stand with a knock out like Delilah. So when she puts on the betrayed innocent girl next door act again he decides to drop another card and tells her to tie him up with avar kadeshim which many translations call new ropes. Actually avar refers to an entangling type vine and kadeshim means fresh or alive. This Hebrew word is typically used to describe a grape vine. As a Nazarite Samson could not drink or even touch wine. Once again he discovered he did not lose his strength. This was a new revelation for him. I am sure he was thinking about all those years of growing up in fundamentalism with all his no drinking, smoking and going out with girls that do when all along he could have been partying on.
Well old Delilah was not impressed and her employers were getting pretty impatient with her, so she really put on the nag. This third time she was to interweave the seven locks of his hair. Within the Nazarite vow the seven locks represented a divine act and a commitment to a divine call. To interweave the seven locks would symbolically be breaking his Nazarite vow. Yet, still he did not lose his strength.
The fourth time was when he blew it. It was not the cutting off of his seven locks that caused him to lose his strength; he already blew that hair part with the interweaving of his locks. It had to be something else. Something that is so obvious like what millions of viewers see on the Bachelor and Bachelorette series that continues to make the show a success. Everyone knows these little trysts and romantic expletives are a sham. I mean the whole thing is a game, after all, that each contestant is trying to win. Let’s face it; they are cast for this role because they can really put on the dog yet deep inside everyone wants to believe and fantasize that these bachelor or bachelorette are really in love. However, when the lights come on we all know better. Still everyone is waiting for that knight in shining armor who will show then one thing. The audience is waiting and hoping to hear or see one thing. They are waiting to see one contestant speak his or her heart.
We all have seen the dude Christian, you know the ones who have all the right words, appears happy, spiritual, spouting out praisealleuiahs faster than a sailor spews out profanities. You know it is all phony; it is all an act just to manipulate you into voting for him as the spiritual top dog in the church. He is vying for some key position on the worship team or on platform but to win your vote he has to appear so holy that he could be hired as a model for a holy card. But it is the ones who speaks their hearts that you know are the genuine article. It is the preacher who lives every sermon he preaches that wins the respect of his congregation and not the one preaching the newest fads and spiritual catch words like turn to your neighbor and say, “be blessed.” I mean it worked for the TV preachers it should work for the fifty people congregation of the Eighth Baptist Church in Cornersville.
Three times Sampson shared his secrets with Delilah, three times she called the Philistines, and three times they came and had to run for their lives without giving Delilah a drachma. Yet, this fourth time they came, not only trusting that Delilah had the secret but also so convinced that she had the secret, that they brought her money. Now why would they suddenly believe her after being fooled three times?
The answer is in the words: He has shown me all his heart. It was something was very different this time, it was not Sampson’s hair brained sounding story of being a Nazarite. Delilah probably knew about as much of a Nazarite as we do. But it was something else. Note in verse 19 that Sampson did not lose his strength when Delilah cut off his seven locks, he lost it when she afflicted him. The word afflict comes from the root word ’anah which has a wide range of meanings. But in its Semitic origins it has the idea of someone exercising control over someone else. Within the Canaanite culture the root form of this word has a sexual connotation. Yeah, that was some affliction. This word is in a Piel form so Delilah was not only exercising control over Sampson physically, but emotionally as well. The other times when she tried to afflict or anah him, it didn’t work, he was holding back, he still had his strength. This time, however, he lost his strength. The reason is, is because he gave her his heart, she had him not only physically, emotionally, but now she had him spiritually. What belonged only to God as a Nazarite, Sampson took from God and given it to Delilah. The bottom line is that Sampson said to God: “I love her more than I love you.” Like a broken hearted lover, and the gentleman that God is, he removed Himself from Sampson and the rest is history.
I have studied the Classical Hebrew for over forty years and I have always pondered what the word heart or lev in Hebrew really means. I cannot give it words, because, like Delilah, you have to see it or ra’ah it. Ra’ah is not only seeing with physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes as well. Poets may write hundreds of verses to describe it, but you only know it if you see it.
Many Christians are like the young woman candidate on the Bachelor series. When she is alone with each bachelor, she tells them how much she loves them, how she longs to be with them, how wonderful they are. Yet she is saying the same things to each bachelor, and is not really speaking her heart to any, at least not in the Biblical sense. We come to church on Sunday, tell God how we love Him, how wonderful He is, how we long to be with Him, and then walk outside the church and express the same love for the latest professional ball team, our job, hobby or bank account. But somewhere we have to make a choice as to who gets the rose. Somewhere we are going to speak our heart, give our hearts to one of these (G)god(s) in our lives. Are we going to speak our hearts, give our hearts to God Jehovah, or to a Delilah?
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