Delilah(1100 av. J.-C. — 1100 av. J.-C.)
Delilah
Philistie
7 min read
Delilah is a female figure from the Book of Judges, in the Hebrew Bible. Loved by Samson, she is bribed by the Philistine lords to discover the secret of the hero's superhuman strength: his hair. She betrays him by having his head shaved, thus delivering him to his enemies.
Key Facts
- Appears in the Book of Judges (chapter 16) of the Hebrew Bible, a narrative set around the 12th–11th century BC
- Bribed by the five Philistine lords, who each promise her 1,100 pieces of silver to hand over Samson
- After several ploys, uncovers the secret of Samson's strength: his seven locks of hair that had never been cut (Nazirite vow)
- Has Samson's head shaved while he sleeps, stripping him of his strength and allowing the Philistines to capture and blind him
- Becomes a major figure in the arts: the opera “Samson and Delilah” by Camille Saint-Saëns (1877), paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt
Works & Achievements
The foundational source for the character: it is in these chapters that Delilah appears and the episode of the betrayal unfolds.
A famous opera that popularized the couple in operatic culture, notably through the aria “Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix”.
A Baroque canvas held at the National Gallery in London, depicting the moment when the hair of the sleeping Samson is being cut.
A dramatic painting showing the consequence of Delilah's betrayal: the capture and blinding of the hero.
A grand Hollywood epic that widely spread the story among 20th-century audiences.
Anecdotes
The five lords of the Philistines each promise Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver to uncover the secret of Samson's strength (Judges 16:5). The total sum, 5,500 shekels, was a genuine fortune for the time. The story thus makes the lure of money the engine of the betrayal.
Before giving in, Samson lies to Delilah three times about the source of his strength: he claims he can be subdued with seven fresh bowstrings, then with new ropes never used before, and finally by weaving his seven braids into a loom (Judges 16:7-14). Each time he frees himself effortlessly, turning the story into a suspenseful series of trials.
Samson's strength does not come magically from his hair, but from the Nazirite vow that has forbidden him to cut his hair since birth (Judges 16:17). By having him shaved, Delilah does not sever a supernatural power: she makes him break his consecration to God, and it is this breach that makes him weak.
Delilah lulls Samson to sleep on her lap, then sends for a man to shave off his seven braids (Judges 16:19). When he wakes, the hero believes he can free himself as before, but the text gravely notes that he did not know the Lord had departed from him.
Contrary to a widespread belief, the Bible never explicitly states that Delilah is a Philistine. The text says only that she lives in the Valley of Sorek (Judges 16:4), a borderland where Hebrews and Philistines live side by side and clash.
Primary Sources
After this, he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines went up to her and said: Coax him, to find out where his great strength comes from.
Delilah said to Samson: Tell me, I beg you, where your great strength comes from, and with what you would have to be bound to be subdued.
He opened his whole heart to her and said: No razor has ever touched my head, because I have been consecrated to God from my mother's womb. If I were shaved, my strength would leave me.
Josephus relates that Samson, worn down by the repeated entreaties of the woman he loved, finally confessed to her that his hair, never touched by iron, was the pledge of the protection God granted him.
Key Places
Border valley between the hills of Judah and the Philistine plain, where Delilah lived and where the whole drama unfolds (Judges 16:4).
Great Philistine city where Samson, betrayed and then blinded, is imprisoned and dies by bringing down the temple of Dagon (Judges 16:21-30).
Town of the Shephelah linked to Samson's first exploits among the Philistines, before his encounter with Delilah (Judges 14).
City of the Philistine Pentapolis where Samson strikes down thirty men during his earlier clashes (Judges 14:19).
Philistine city of the Pentapolis, neighboring the Sorek Valley, representative of the world hostile to the Hebrews at that time.