The scene shifts in this verse back to Delilah and Samson. It begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction, which Revised Standard Version omits. However, it may be rendered “Later” or even “Meanwhile.” While this verse might seem to be background information, probably the story line continues here.

She made him sleep upon her knees: Both Delilah and Samson are mentioned by pronoun here, but due to the shift in scene, it may be appropriate to use their names in some languages (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Delilah did not force Samson to go to sleep, as Revised Standard Version‘s rendering might make it sound. The Hebrew has a causative form of the verb meaning “sleep,” so we might say “She lulled him to sleep” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “she put him to sleep.” Upon her knees is a literal rendering of the Hebrew, but in English it is more natural to say “on her lap” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version). Contemporary English Version provides a good model: “Delilah had lulled Samson to sleep with his head resting in her lap.” Under normal circumstances, this scene might express a great deal of tenderness, but the audience knows Delilah’s plan is to betray Samson.

And she called a man: After Samson falls asleep, Delilah summons someone to cut his hair. A man is literally “the man,” which certainly refers to a known individual who had the job of cutting people’s hair. If the general word man causes problems, translators may use a more specific term, such as a “hairdresser” or “barber.” We might say “and she had someone come” or “and she called in a man to shave off his hair.”

And had him shave off the seven locks of his head is literally “and she shaved off the seven locks of his head.” Delilah is the subject of this clause, but in reality she uses an intermediary to cut Samson’s hair. We can follow Revised Standard Version or say “and she had his seven braids shaved.” Shave off may be rendered “cut off” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Samson did not wake up, so some scholars suggest the barber carefully “snipped off” his braids, rather than completely shaving off all his hair. For the seven locks of his head, see verse 16.13. The phrase of his head may be redundant in some languages and if so, translators may omit it. However, this redundancy underlines the fact that Samson is losing his source of strength.

Then she began to torment him: There is a textual problem here. The Hebrew verb rendered torment does not fit well in this context (see verse 16.6, where it is translated “subdue”), so New Revised Standard Version and some other versions follow the Septuagint, which reads “and he began to weaken.” However, Good News Translation and most other versions follow the Hebrew text, which is preferred by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. For example, New International Version says “and so began to subdue him,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “Thus for the first time she got control over him.” Translators may follow either reading and put the other one in a footnote, if desired.

And his strength left him is literally “and his strength turned aside from on him.” See verse 16.17. This clause is part of the story climax and translators should try to render some of the drama. Contemporary English Version says “Samson’s strength was gone,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “his strength slipped away from him.” Another possible model is simply “and Samson lost his strength.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• Later she lulled Samson to sleep on her lap. Then she had a man come and cut off his seven braids. So Samson began to grow weak and his strength left him.

• Sometime later Samson fell asleep on her knee, so she signaled to a man, who came and shaved off his seven locks. Thus she began to get control over him and he lost his strength.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .