So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web: As noted above, this sentence comes from the Septuagint. Good News Translation renders So while he slept as “Delilah then lulled him to sleep,” which follows the ver Septuagintver* very closely. Contemporary English Version says “While Samson was asleep.” For Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web, see verse 16.13.

And she made them tight with the pin: See verse 16.13. The Hebrew text begins here.

And said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!”: Delilah says the same thing as in the previous two incidents. See verse 16.9, verse 12.

But he awoke from his sleep: Samson was fast asleep, but Delilah’s cry woke him up. But translates the Hebrew waw conjunction, but here it introduces a sequential action or even a consequence, so a more appropriate connector is “And,” “Then,” or “So.” He awoke from his sleep is a literal rendering of the Hebrew, but translators may use idiomatic expressions, for example, “he woke up” (Good News Translation).

And pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web: The Hebrew verb here can mean pulled away, “pulled up” (New International Version), or “pulled out” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh seem to imply that Samson walked off with the huge loom with its pin and web. This is possible since it follows the same pattern as Samson walking off with the huge gates of the city of Gaza (see verse 16.3, where the same verb is translated “pulled … up”). However, several versions think he worked loose his hair. For example, Good News Translation says “and pulled his hair loose from the loom.” Contemporary English Version sees a complicated series of actions here, saying “and pulled the loom free from its posts in the ground and from the nails in the wall. Then he pulled his hair free from the woven cloth.” This rendering makes good sense in the context, but it goes far beyond the text.

Beyond this problem of determining what actually happened, most languages will find it challenging to find three different words for pin, loom, and web (see comments on verse 16.13). So it may be necessary to reduce these three items. Good News Translation simply says simply “loom,” which may be a better solution than trying to find words for each of these three technical terms.

Though the conclusion of the first incident is not repeated here (“So the secret of his strength was not known” [verse 16.9]), this information seems implied here.

Translation models for this verse are:

• Then Samson fell asleep, and Delilah wove his seven plaits into a cloth, making sure they were very tight. Then she cried out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” He woke up, and tore his hair loose from the whole loom.

• While Samson slept, Delilah wove his seven braids into the cloth of the loom and packed them down hard. Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines have come!” At this, Samson jumped up and pulled out his hair away from the loom and weaving stick.

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 .