Delilah
("the languishing one".) A Philistine harlot, of the valley of Sorek, whom the five Philistine lords, when they found Samson loved her, bribed for 1,100 shekels each to be their political emissary, to find out from Samson the secret of his strength. On four different occasions she tempted him to tell the secret.
On the third occasion Samson trifled so presumptuously with the divine gift committed to him as to suggest that his seven consecrated locks should be woven with the web; when we go to the edge of temptation our gall is near. This "languishing" prostitute, with her vile challenging of his "love," "How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?" and by daily vexing importunity, wrung the secret from him at the fourth time.
His strength lay in dedication to God, of which his Nazarite locks were the sign. Laying down his head in her lap he lost them, and with them lost God in him, the spring of a strength which was not his own. Lust, severing from God the source of strength, makes the strongest powerless; only by waiting on the Lord, we, like Samson, renew the strength which was lost by self-indulgence and self-reliance. Contrast Dan 1:8-16; Isa 40:30-31; Pro 7:6-27.
So Israel, strong while faithful to Jehovah, incurs the curse which Balaam, however wishing it, could not inflict, the moment that the people commits whoredom with the daughters of Moab (Num 25:1; Num 25:6; Num 31:15-16).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Delilah
Delilah de-li'-la (delilah, "dainty one," perhaps; Septuagint Daleida, Dalida): The woman who betrayed Samson to the Philistines (Jg 16:1-31). She was presumably a Philistine, though that is not expressly stated. She is not spoken of as Samson's wife, though many have understood the account in that way. The Philistines paid her a tremendously high price for her services. The account indicates that for beauty, personal charm, mental ability, self-command, nerve, she was quite a wonderful woman, a woman to be admired for some qualities which she exhibits, even while she is to be utterly disapproved. ⇒See a list of verses on DELILAH in the Bible. See SAMSON. Willis J. Beecher ⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Delilah
The woman who be- trayed Samson into the hands of the Philistines. The account as given in Jg 16 does not say whether she was an Israelite or a Philistine ; but she was doubtless the latter, and Sorek, her place of resid- ence, was then within the Philistine territory. Samson often sought her society, and allowed her to gain a great influence over him. That she was his wife is very improbable, notwithstanding that that is the opinion of Chrysostom and other patris- tic writers. See Samson. W. J. Beecher. DELOS ( A^Xos), a famous island in the j^Jgean Sea, has played a part in history quite out of proportion to its tiny size and rocky unproductive character. It was considered to have been anchored by Zeus to the bottom of the sea, and therefore not to be ex- posed to ordinary earthquakes. * It was the seat of a very ancient and widelj'-spread worship of Apollo, who, with his twin sister Artemis, was said to have been bom there ; and the Gr. peoples flocked from a great distance to the annual festival on the island, which is celebrated in the Homeric hymn to the Delian Apollo. The fest…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia