Judges 16:4-21

Her Ministry: Conspirator / Traitor / Courtesan

Her Home Life: One reference to her genealogy places Delilah somewhere in the valley of Sorek between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea.

Her Family Connections: A Philistine prostitute with no noted family background.

Her Character: Wicked, deceitful, greedy, persistent

Her Physical Attributes: The way any one might look with little self-respect

Her Ultimate Purpose: To betray, wreck, and bring down the MIGHTY MAN of GOD called Samson

Meaning of her name: Delicate, Dainty One. Delilah tarnished that sweet name because of her contemptible deed causing the name "Delilah" to go down in history as ultimate deceiver. Her ill reputation far surpassed any other woman in scripture.

Backdrop:
An angel first appeared to the wife of Manoah in Judges 13. Manoah's wife had been barren, but in verse 5, the angel told her she would bear a son where no razor should come to his head. This son's ultimate purpose from the womb was to be a Nazarite unto God, who would one day deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

After the Angel of the Lord spoke to Manoah's wife, he spoke directly to Manoah in verses 11-18.

In verse 24, the Manoah's wife bore her Son, calling him Samson, and as the young boy grew, God blessed him.

In Judges 14, the man Samson eventually went seeking after of his own wife. Unfortunately, he searched in all the wrong places - specifically right in the arena of the Philistines. His parents implored him to marry his own kind but young Samson insisted in doing things his way. He was smitten.

In the meantime, He got in a tussle with a lion and killed the beast with his own hands, and then he trounced 1000 men with the jawbone of an ass, because the strength of the Lord was with him to do many mighty things. The Philistines all despised him.

Later in the same chapter, we read that Samson's dad, Manoah gave Samson's wife to his companion who was a former friend, so Sampson began carrying on with prostitutes. There, he met a Philistine prostitute who besotted him. Her name: Delilah.

(Once we start digging those holes, they ultimately get deeper!)

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