Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And he broke the cords, as a thread of yarn is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.
All Commentaries on Judges 16:9 Go To Judges 16
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
But when with free and untrammeled gait he passed not only beyond the limits of his home country but also the boundaries which his ancestors had been taught to observe by custom, he soon found that he was playing with death. With small faith he contracted a marriage with a foreign-born wife and should have been cautious then or later. But he did not refrain from again forming a union, this time with Delilah, who was a prostitute. Out of love for her he caused her to tempt him with the wiles of an enemy. For the Philistines came to her and each man promised her eleven hundred pieces of silver if she would find out in what lay the source of his strength. If they but possessed this secret, he could be surrounded and taken.
She who had once prostituted herself for money, cleverly and craftily amid the banquet cups and the charms of her love, in admiration, as it were, of his preeminent bravery, began to question him about it and to ask him how it was he so excelled others in strength. Then, too, as though she were fearful and anxious, she begged him to tell his beloved what bond precisely would put him in the power of another. But he was still prudent and strong-willed, and he countered deceit with deceit against the harlot’s treachery, saying that if he were bound with supple green boughs he would be as weak as other men. When they learned this, the Philistines had Delilah put boughs on him like chains while he slept. Then, as if suddenly awakened, the hero felt his famed and customary strength, broke his bonds and fought back against the many who had their strength untrammeled.
