The story of Delilah is a story of betrayal. It tells us how she prevented Samson, an Israelite judge, from achieving his full potential by manipulating his weakness. Delilah was a deceitful woman with honey on her lips and poison in her heart. She was cold and calculating and pretended to love Samson while looking for personal gain. She took advantage of his infatuation with her which must have been too much for him to realize her motives as she sent Philistines to overpower him so many times. It is a story that warns us to beware of our weaknesses because they can be used by our enemies to defeat us. Delilah’s story is told in Judges 16.  The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of you will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

Samson was born as part of God’s plan to deliver the people of Israel from the hands of the Philistines. He was born to his elderly parents Manoah and his wife and brought up as a Nazirite; set apart for God’s service As a Nazirite.

Samson could not cut his hair, touch a dead body or drink anything containing alcohol. Samson was very strong and fought many battles against the Philistines. The Philistines hated Samson because of the damage he caused to their cities and fields. At one time he removed the gigantic gates of the city and carried them away on his shoulders after ripping it off its hinges all by himself. Samson also set their fields on fire and ruined their crops. In one battle he slew 1000 of the Philistines by himself using the jawbone of a donkey.

After this great battle God gave peace to the children of Israel and Samson became judge who ruled Israel for twenty years. The Bible records that Samson broke all of his Nazarite vows. He drank wine, he ate grapes, he touched a dead body and he did not dedicate himself totally to the Lord God. Samson's great weakness was beautiful women. He fell in love with a beautiful Philistine woman named Delilah. Night after night he visited her residence to spend hours with her. He was hopelessly in love with her because of her great beauty and charm. When the Philistine leaders learnt about the affair, they promised Delilah a great sum of money if she could discover the secret of his incredible strength.

Every day Delilah teased and begged Samson to tell her the secret of his tremendous strength. She said; Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be subdued. Judges16:6 NIV.. To get her to stop begging him on several different occasions he told her false things that would destroy his strength.  First he told her, "If you tie me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man" While Samson was sleeping she tied him with seven fresh thongs and shouted, "Samson! Wake up! The Philistines are upon you!" Samson awoke, shook himself free of the thongs and fought the Philistines. He overcame all of them with his great strength. The story repeated itself as Samson lied that tying him with new ropes would make him as weak as any man. Delilah tied him with new ropes, called in the Philistines but Samson freed himself and overpowered them.

The third time she asked and he told her if she weaved the seven locks of his hair with a loom he would lose his strength. After weaving his hair with a loom, she yet again called in the Philistines but Samson overpowered them. It is incredible that even by the forth time Delilah asked, Samson did not wake up to her real intentions. Lust often completely blinds people. When Delilah cried and begged and said he did not love her if he could not tell her the real secret of his strength, he gave in and told her. The Bible says he was tired to death of her nagging and prodding day after day. Judges16:16. That night she was told the real source of his strength. She called in the Philippines who cut off all his hair as he slept on Delilah’s lap. His strength left him and he was taken prisoner. The Philippines then burned out his eyes with a hot poker, bound him with bronze shackles and set him to grinding grain in prison.

Samson was frequently put on display for the Philistine people to mock and heap scorn as their former mighty enemy. During one such time when his hair had begun to grow again, there was a great festival in the Temple of Dagon (the Philistines’ false god) and three thousand people, including the Philistines’ most powerful political, military and religious leaders were gathered. Samson prayed earnestly, " O Sovereign Lord, remember me O God, please strengthen me once more, and let me with one blow revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes” ( Judges 16:28 NIV). Samson stretched his mighty arms around the two pillars and pulled with all of his great strength which had returned. The temple crashed killing Samson and the 3000 Philistines. Because the Philistines lost their greatest leaders they became weakened and the Israelites were eventually able to overcome them. Thus Samson redeemed himself by turning to God in his last days. It is never too late for anybody to turn to God no matter how far they have fallen.

Are people helped by knowing you? Does knowing you challenge people to be the best they can be, or contribute to their ruin?

Are your actions driven by greed for money like Delilah, or lust and infatuation like Samson? Or could it be the quest for power, jealousy or envy that drives your passions? Does the true love for God and others motivate you in your conduct with people?

Seek to be God’s instrument in the lives of others - to build and not destroy.

This article first appeared in the June--July 2010 issue of Woman of Faith magazine. Copyright Woman of Faith Magazine. All rights reserved. For comments write to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it