And Delilah said to Samson: Since the main characters are renamed at this point, many languages will begin a new paragraph here (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Delilah reacts to what the Philistine leaders have offered, so the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “So” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). The briefness of this account may imply she does not protest, but accepts their bargain immediately.

Please tell me: Please renders the Hebrew politeness particle naʾ. Here it carries a strong pleading or begging tone that translators should try to convey. The Hebrew verb for tell (nagad) is the same one used in the episode of Samson’s riddle (verse 14.10-20).

Wherein your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you repeats the words in verse 16.5. See the comments there. Delilah repeats the words of the Philistine leaders, only omitting the clause “we may overpower him.” In some languages the passive construction how you might be bound will be expressed as an active one: “what someone has to do to be able to tie you up.”

A translation model for this verse is:

• So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong, so that someone would be able to tie you up and control you.”

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 .