Judges 16:19

Then Delilah “made him sleep on her knees and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him” (v.19). The story unfolds in the time of the judges (roughly 1380 BC–1050 BC), when Samson served as a judge for Israel. Delilah, who had already attempted multiple times to lure Samson into revealing the secret of his supernatural strength, finally succeeded by coaxing him to sleep upon her lap. In that vulnerable state, she called for a man to remove Samson’s hair—the outward sign of his Nazirite vow before God (Judges 13:5). Samson’s commitment to remain set apart for the Lord, including never cutting his hair, was symbolically undone in this subtle act of betrayal.

The verse next states that Delilah “began to afflict him,” implying she tested his helplessness and confirmed that his strength was gone. Since his hair represented a covenant symbol, the removal of it testified to his broken vow and the departure of the special power that God had granted him. Samson’s strength, described by the Hebrew term “kōaḥ” (noted in Judges 16:5, 6, 9) for physical might, was not merely in his hair but in his obedience to the Lord’s calling. Once that obedience was severed in a deliberate act of treachery, the Spirit of the Lord no longer empowered him.

Delilah’s role in this episode highlights the calculated nature of temptation and betrayal. Through her enticements and subtle manipulation, she delivered Samson into the hands of the Philistines, leaving him weak, humbled, and abandoned by the divine presence that once filled him. Although this moment marks the height of Samson’s downfall, the tragic loss of his strength also set the stage for his eventual repentance and last act of faith, reminding readers that God remains sovereign even in the midst of human failings.

Delilah coaxed Samson into revealing his secret, enabling the Philistines to rob him of his God-given strength and betray him completely.