This verse is an aside that informs the audience about the great number of Philistines in Dagon’s temple. It slows down the narrative, thus building suspense. The Hebrew waw conjunction here rendered Now introduces this background information. Translators can use a similar marker in their language.

Many of the Hebrew words in this verse contain the sh sound, which is often associated with mockery in Hebrew. This sound actually occurs here ten times! The phrase men and women is repeated twice, emphasizing the great crowd gathered around Samson, foreshadowing their death to come.

The house was full of men and women: The house refers to Dagon’s temple, which was huge, given the numbers mentioned. Here it is described as full of men and women, which adds an emotional impact and heightens the suspense, as the audience knows that all these people will soon die.

All the lords of the Philistines were there is literally “and there all the lords of the Philistines [were].” This detail is added to let the audience know that the leaders of the Philistines, who tried so many times to capture Samson, will be among those killed. For the lords of the Philistines, see verse 3.3. Good News Translation says “All five Philistine kings were there,” adding the number “five,” based on 3.3, but this addition is unwarranted.

And on the roof there were about three thousand men and women: A roof in ancient times was often flat, permitting people to gather on it (see comments on verse 3.20). There were about three thousand men and women on the roof of Dagon’s temple. It is possible that even more people were in other areas watching Samson perform. Indeed, the preposition about could imply that there were even more than three thousand people on the roof. One manuscript of the ver Septuagintver* gives the number as only “seven hundred,” but virtually all versions follow the Hebrew here. The number three, along with its multiples, is a crucial element in this book, especially in the stories of Gideon and Samson. Men and women is repeated for emphasis and perhaps shock value. Up till now, most of those killed by the judges of Israel were men, but here women are also a target. Contemporary English Version uses the more general word “people,” but this weakens the impact. If possible, men and women should be retained.

Who looked on while Samson made sport: This clause describes the Philistine people who were on the temple roof. Who looked on renders a participle of the Hebrew verb meaning “see.” For made sport, see verse 16.25.

Translation models for this verse are:

• Now the building was full of men and women, and all the Philistine leaders were there as well. There were about three thousand men and women on the roof, all watching Samson perform.

• At that time the temple was crowded with men and women. All the leaders of the Philistines were also there. And about 3,000 people were up on the roof, watching Samson perform.

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 .