Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 7. Her, in jest. Bible.—Sinews; such were frequently used for strength. Vegetius 4:9. Psalms 10:2. Cato often speaks of loreos funes, ( Calmet.) or “leathern thongs.” Bible.—Moist. Hebrew “seven bands, green and moist;” as if he were speaking of willow twigs, or bands made of the rind of trees, and so forth But we need not abandon the Septuagint and Vulg. to follow the moderns in this place, as yetharim unquestionably means cords of sinews, and the epithet, green, is applied to the eyes of Moses, (Deuteronomy 24:7) to denote their shining vigour and strength; so here it may signify, that the sinews were to be fresh and in full perfection. Calmet.—Dalila might easily think that such bands would make Samson her prisoner. She had people to assist her, in case she proved successful. But Samson probably broke the bands before they made their appearance; otherwise he would have resented the woman’s infidelity, and not exposed himself again. He supposed she only made these exclamations to see what he would do, verse 9. and so forth