Delilah: Tempting a Man to Death
By Derrick G. Jeter
“The lips of an adulteress drip honey
And smoother than oil is her speech” (Proverbs 5:3).
How true of a woman who uses her feminine charm to beguile and deceive morally weak men to fall into sin.
Delilah was one such woman. And Samson was one such man.
Delilah made her home in the valley of Sorek; a valley Samson knew well. At one end was the Philistine town of Timnah, where he had fallen in love with a Philistine woman (Judges 14:1–2). At the other end was Zorah, the hometown of Samson’s father (13:2).
It was there, in the valley of Sorek, that the rulers of the Philistines bribed Delilah to entice Samson into her bedroom to discover the secret of his strength. Samson was physically strong but morally weak and an easy conquest for Delilah. On three separate occasions, as Samson enjoyed himself at Delilah’s home, she pressed him to tell her his secret. Toying with her, Samson told Delilah that seven fresh bowstrings or brand new ropes or the locks of his hair woven into a loom would sap his strength—but none did. Yet the cunning Delilah soon discovered his real weakness—illustrating the powerful charms of a deceptive and persistent woman. The secret was in his long and beautiful hair—grown since birth in observance of Samson’s Nazirite vow never to cut it (Judges 13:5).
Lulling Samson to sleep in her lap, Delilah alerted the Philistine rulers who waited in the shadows to capture him. They sheared Samson’s hair and, in his newly weakened state, bound him, gouged out his eyes, and forced him to grind grain in the prison at Gaza.
And Delilah? She simply walked off the pages of history.
Delilah knew that her body could be used as a weapon. Preying on weak men or even strong men in weak moments, women can use the visual advantage to manipulate and control. When a woman uses her body as a tool, trouble is soon to follow.
Excerpted from Derrick G. Jeter, “Delilah: Tempting a Man to Death,” in The Wise and the Wild: 30 Devotions on Women of the Bible (Plano, Tex.: IFL Publishing House, 2010). Copyright © 2010 by Insight for Living. All rights reserved worldwide.
About the author
Derrick G. Jeter
Derrick G. Jeter holds a master of theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and served as a writer for the Creative Ministries Department of Insight for Living Ministries. He has authored or coauthored more than twenty-five books. Derrick's writing has appeared on influential Web sites, and he is a contributing writer for The Christian Post. He and his wife, Christy, have five children and live in the Dallas area. He blogs at www.DerrickJeter.com.
