Judges 16:16–22
Samson was tired of Delilah’s pleading and nagging. Day after day, she begged him for the secret of his strength. So he finally told her the mystery. “My hair has never been cut,” he said. “I’ve been a Nazarite priest for God since my birth. If my hair was cut, my Nazarite vow would be broken. God would leave me and so would my great strength.”
Delilah smiled. At last she had the secret. The Philistine chiefs came with money in their hands. That night Samson slept with his head in her lap. He was sound asleep. The Philistines quietly cut off Samson’s long hair. He began to weaken and all his strength left. Then Delilah shouted, “Wake up, Samson! The Philistines are after you!”
Samson jumped up, thinking, “This is like the other times. I’ll shake them off.” He didn’t know that the Lord had left him. His hair was cut and his vow was broken. The Philistines easily took Samson prisoner and gouged out his eyes.
They took him down to Gaza. Locked in bronze shackles, Samson turned the grindstone in their mill. But slowly his hair began to grow long again.
Questions: What was the secret of Samson’s strength—his long hair or his vow to God? What did the Philistines do to Samson?