She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
Parallel Translations
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She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
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And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
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And she said unto him: 'How canst thou say: I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.'
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Judges 16:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 14:16 Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”
- Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
- John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.
- 1 John 2:15-16 Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.
- Proverbs 5:3-14 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it. Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house. You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed, and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me! I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”
- Song of Solomon 8:6-7 Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh. Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned.
- John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus, that one died for all, therefore all died. He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.
- Genesis 29:20 Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.
- Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
- 1 Samuel 15:13-14 Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.” Samuel said, “Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?”
- 2 Samuel 16:17 Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”
- Proverbs 2:16 to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,
- John 14:21-24 One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.
- 1 John 5:3 For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For this Samson used to say, I love thee.
For this Samson used to say, I love thee.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 16:15 And she said unto him, How canst…
Jdg 16:15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart [is] not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength [lieth].
Ver. 15. How canst thou say, I love thee?] This was, it seems, a great word in Samson’s mouth, "I love thee dearly, Delilah." This she twitteth him with, as if only from the teeth outward: and that he did not Medullitus et animitus eam amare. In amore sese comitantur ερως ετ ερις.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain When thine heart is not with me; when thy…
When thine heart is not with me; when thy love consists only in outward expression, not in affection, and thou wilt not open thy heart to me, as one true friend doth to another.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And she said unto him, how canst thou say,…
And she said unto him, how canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?.... She took an opportunity, when he was caressing her, to upbraid him with dissembled love, and a false heart: thou hast mocked me these three times; she had urged him to tell her where his strength lay, and by what it might be weakened, first pretending it might be done by binding him with green withs, and then with new ropes, and a third time by weaving his locks into the web:
and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth; the thing so frequently and so importunately requested.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Not with me - Not open to me.
Not with me - Not open to me.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 16:15-16. Thy heart is not with me —…
Jdg 16:15-16. Thy heart is not with me — Not open to me. His soul was vexed unto death — Being tormented by two contrary passions, desire to gratify her, and fear of betraying himself. So that he had no pleasure of his life.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) How canst thou say, I love thee .…
(15) How canst thou say, I love thee . . .?—Samson had undergone all these wiles before, and experienced their hollowness (Jdg_14:16), yet he had not learnt wisdom.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thy great strength lieth as before, ver. 6, thy…
Thy great strength lieth as before, ver. 6, thy strength is great.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Vers. 15-17. Samson"s weariness.
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Samson"s weakness is twofold. Through lack of moral strength he reveals the secret of his physical strength, and is thus betrayed into the loss of this also.
I SAMSON"S MORAL WEAKNESS. This is the man"s great failing, apparent throughout his history, but reaching a climax in the present incident. Physical endowments are no guarantees for spiritual graces. Must not some of our young athletic barbarians of the aristocracy, adored by the multitude for chest and muscle, be condemned by true standards of judgment for contemptible weakness of character? Such weakness is far more deplorable than the bodily weakness of palsy and paralysis. St. Paul was considered miserably deficient a physical power and presence, (2Co_10:10) yet his strength of soul exalts the apostle immeasurably above Samson. The moral weakness of Samson is illustrated by the circumstances of his great defeat.
1. Sin. Samson was neglecting his duty and degrading himself with those evil communications which corrupt good manners. There is nothing so enervating as the conscious pursuit of a guilty course.
2. Pleasure. Instead of toiling, fighting, and sacrificing himself for his country, Samson was wasting his hours in pleasure. Apart from the wrongness of this conduct, the lax, self-indulgent spirit it engendered was weakening. In seasons of pleasure we are off our guard.
3. The allurements of false affection. Samson can resist a host of Philistine warriors, but he cannot resist one Philistine woman. Strong against rude violence, he is weak before soft persuasion. Pure love is the loftiest inspiration for self-sacrificing devotion; but love degraded and corrupted is the deadliest poison to purity of character and vigour and independence of action. How many saints and heroes have found their humiliation in the same snares which caught the strong Samson and the famous St. Antony!
4. The self-confidence of strength. Samson plays with the curiosity of Delilah, sure of the power which will come to his aid in the moment of danger, till by degrees he is persuaded to betray the secret of that very power. Had he been less strong, he would have been less rash. Presumption is more dangerous than conscious weakness. (1Co_10:12)
II SAMSON"S PHYSICAL WEAKNESS. This resulted from his moral weakness. In the end the faults of the inner life will bear fruit in trouble to the outer life.
1. Samson"s strength was a Divine gift. He had not attained it by self-discipline nor merited it by service. It was a talent intrusted to his care to be used for God. What God gives God can withhold.
2. Samson"s strength was derived from spiritual sources. Samson was not a mere prodigy of brute force. He was one of God"s heroes, and the glory of his strength lay in this fact, that it was the outcome of an inspiration. The most exalted powers we have for earthly work are derived from spiritual sources. If these sources are cut off, the energies which issue from them will be exhausted. Samson grows weak through the departure of the Spirit of the Lord.
3. Samson"s strength depended on his observance of the Nazarite"s vow. When the vow was broken the strength fled. God has a covenant with his people. He is always true to his side, but if we fail on ours the covenant is void and the blessings dependent on it cease.
(1) The vow of the Nazarite implied consecration to God. God bestows graces on us so long as we live to him, but our departure from him necessitates the just withholding of those graces.
(2) The vow required obedience to certain regulations. These were trivial in themselves; but the obligation of obedience is determined not by the importance of the commands given, but by the authority of the person giving them. Disobedience is shown not to the law, but to the authority. A small test may be sufficient to reveal this. Disobedience to God is the fundamental element of all sin, and, as in Samson" s case, it will be the sure cause of our ruin. A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 How can you say, 'I love you,' when you…
How can you say, 'I love you,' when you do not share your secrets with me?
Delilah asks this question to say that if Samson really loved her he would tell her his secrets. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "When you say 'I love you,' you are lying because you do not share your secrets with me." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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pressed him hard ... pressured him
Here the author speaks of how Delilah tries to persuade Samson as if she were putting pressure on him to convince him to tell her what she wants to know. AT: "tried hard to persuade him ... kept trying to persuade him" (See: Idiom)
with her words
"by what she said to him"
that he wished he would die
The author used a hyperbole, an exaggeration, to emphasize how miserable Sampson felt. AT: "that he was completely miserable" or "that he was very unhappy" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
translationWords
love
mock
die
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.