Judges 16:2
New International Version
The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”

New Living Translation
Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the town gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, “When the light of morning comes, we will kill him.”

English Standard Version
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”

Berean Standard Bible
When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”

King James Bible
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

New King James Version
When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.”

New American Standard Bible
When it was reported to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let’s wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.”

NASB 1995
When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.”

NASB 1977
When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” so they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light; then we will kill him.”

Amplified Bible
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they surrounded the place and waited all night at the gate of the city to ambush him. They kept quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is light, we will kill him.”

Christian Standard Bible
When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let’s wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. While they were waiting quietly, they said, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”

American Standard Version
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And it was said: “Samson has come here”, and they Lie in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and they were whispering all night and they said, “When morning dawns we shall kill him!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Sampson is come hither: and they compassed him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, Let us wait till the dawn appear, and we will slay him.

Contemporary English Version
The people who lived in Gaza found out he was there, and they decided to kill him at sunrise. So they went to the city gate and waited all night in the guardrooms on each side of the gate.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when the Philistines had beard this, and it was noised about among them, that Samson was come into the city, they surrounded him, setting guards at the gate of the city, and watching there all the night in silence, that in the morning they might kill him as he went out.

English Revised Version
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The people of Gaza were told, "Samson's here!" So they surrounded the place and waited all night at the city gate to ambush him. They were quiet all night. They thought, "We'll kill him at dawn."

Good News Translation
The people of Gaza found out that Samson was there, so they surrounded the place and waited for him all night long at the city gate. They were quiet all night, thinking to themselves, "We'll wait until daybreak, and then we'll kill him."

International Standard Version
When the Gazites were informed, "Samson has come here!" they surrounded him, intending to lay in wait for him at the city gate throughout the entire night. They kept quiet all night, telling each other, "At first light, let's kill him!"

JPS Tanakh 1917
[And it was told] the Gazites, saying: 'Samson is come hither.' And they compassed him in, and lay in wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying: 'Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.'

Literal Standard Version
[it is told] to the Gazathites, saying, “Samson has come in here”; and they go around and lay wait for him all the night at the gate of the city, and keep themselves silent all the night, saying, “Until the morning light—then we have slain him.”

Majority Standard Bible
When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”

New American Bible
The people of Gaza were told, “Samson has come here,” and they surrounded him with an ambush at the city gate all night long. And all the night they waited, saying, “At morning light we will kill him.”

NET Bible
The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here!" So they surrounded the town and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. They relaxed all night, thinking, "He will not leave until morning comes; then we will kill him!"

New Revised Standard Version
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they circled around and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, thinking, “Let us wait until the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”

New Heart English Bible
And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, "Samson is here." They surrounded him, and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, "Wait until morning light, then we will kill him."

Webster's Bible Translation
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they encompassed him, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning when it is day we shall kill him.

World English Bible
The Gazites were told, “Samson is here!” They surrounded him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, “Wait until morning light; then we will kill him.”

Young's Literal Translation
it is told to the Gazathites, saying, 'Samson hath come in hither;' and they go round and lay wait for him all the night at the gate of the city, and keep themselves silent all the night, saying, 'Till the light of the morning -- then we have slain him.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Samson Escapes Gaza
1One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her. 2When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.” 3But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.…

Cross References
Luke 21:20
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.

Judges 16:3
But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.

1 Samuel 19:11
Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David's wife Michal warned him, "If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!"

1 Samuel 23:26
Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.

Psalm 118:10
All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.


Treasury of Scripture

And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come here. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

a compassed

1 Samuel 19:11
Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.

1 Samuel 23:26
And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.

Psalm 118:10-12
All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them…

quite.

Judges 15:18
And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

Matthew 21:38
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

Matthew 27:1
When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

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Judges 16
1. Samson at Gaza escapes, and carries away the gates of the city
4. Delilah corrupted by the Philistines, entices Samson
6. Thrice she is deceived
15. At last she overcomes him
21. The Philistines take him, and put out his eyes
22. His strength renewing, he pulls down the house upon the Philistines and dies














(2) And it was told.--Our version rightly supplies these words. They are found in all the versions, and there can be no doubt that the word vayyuggar (Genesis 22:20) has in this case accidentally dropped out of the text.

They compassed him in.--They apparently did not know in what house he was. The word might mean "they went round the city" (Psalm 59:7), i.e., to look for him.

Were quiet--i.e., they made no attack. Thinking that they had secured him, they seem to have retired to rest. (Comp. Acts 9:23-24.)

Verse 2. - And it was told. These words have no doubt accidentally fallen out of the Hebrew text, but they are necessary to the sense, and are expressed in all the ancient versions. We have no clue as to the motive of Samson's visit to Gaza, whether he was meditating its conquest, or an assault upon its inhabitants, or whether he came merely in the wild spirit of adventure, or upon civil business. We only know that he came there, that, with his usual weakness, he fell into the snare of female blandishments, that the Philistines thought to have caught him and killed him, but that he escaped by his supernatural strength. Gaza is about thirteen hours' march from Thimnathah. They compassed him in. The Hebrew does not express this idea, nor is it what the Gazites did. It should be rendered, They went about and lay in wait for him. Instead of attacking him directly, they took a round-about course, and set an ambush for him in the city gates, probably in the guard-room by the side of the gate, intending when he came forth unsuspectingly in the morning, at the hour of opening the gates, to rush upon him and kill him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When the Gazites
לַֽעַזָּתִ֣ים ׀ (la·‘az·zā·ṯîm)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 5841: Gazite -- inhabitant of Gaza

heard that Samson
שִׁמְשׁוֹן֙ (šim·šō·wn)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8123: Samson -- a deliverer of Israel

was there,
הֵ֔נָּה (hên·nāh)
Adverb
Strong's 2008: Hither, thither

they surrounded [that place]
וַיָּסֹ֛בּוּ (way·yā·sōb·bū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5437: To turn about, go around, surround

and lay in wait
וַיֶּאֶרְבוּ־ (way·ye·’er·ḇū-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 693: To lie in wait

for him
ל֥וֹ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

all
כָל־ (ḵāl)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

night
הַלַּ֖יְלָה (hal·lay·lāh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3915: A twist, night, adversity

at the city
הָעִ֑יר (hā·‘îr)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5892: Excitement

gate.
בְּשַׁ֣עַר (bə·ša·‘ar)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8179: An opening, door, gate

They were quiet
וַיִּתְחָרְשׁ֤וּ (way·yiṯ·ḥā·rə·šū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 2790: To cut in, engrave, plow, devise

throughout
כָל־ (ḵāl)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the night,
הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ (hal·lay·lāh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3915: A twist, night, adversity

saying,
לֵאמֹ֔ר (lê·mōr)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Let us wait until
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

dawn;
א֥וֹר (’ō·wr)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 216: Illumination, luminary

then we will kill him.”
וַהֲרְגְנֻֽהוּ׃‪‬ (wa·hăr·ḡə·nu·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common plural | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2026: To smite with deadly intent


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OT History: Judges 16:2 It was told the Gazites saying Samson (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 16:1
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