Judges 16:9 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 2021

⁹ While men were lying in wait in an inner chamber, she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings as a strand of fiber snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

⁹ Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

⁹ Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he broke the bowstrings as a string of tow breaks when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

American Standard Version (1901)

⁹ Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

Common English Bible

⁹ While an ambush was waiting for her signal in an inner room, she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are on you!” And he snapped the bowstrings like a thread of fiber snaps when it touches a flame. So the secret of his strength remained unknown.

Catholic Public Domain Version

⁹ And so, those hiding in ambush with her, in the bedroom, were expecting the end of the matter. And she cried out to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he broke the cords, as one would break a thread of flax, twisted for cutting and singed by fire. And so it was not known wherein lay his strength.

Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version

⁹ Men lying privately in wait with her, and in the chamber expecting the event of the thing. And she cried out to him: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the bands, as a man would break a thread of tow twined with spittle, when it smelleth the fire. So it was not known wherein his strength lay.

Judges 16:9 Cross References

Psalm 58:9

Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

Judges 15:14

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him, and the spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.

Judges 16:10

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and told me lies; please tell me how you could be bound.”

Judges 16:7

Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried out, then I shall become weak and be like anyone else.”

Judges 16:8

Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not dried out, and she bound him with them.