Judges 16:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

The Gazites were told,“Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. They relaxed all night, thinking,“He will not leave until morning comes; then we will kill him!”

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 1 Sam 23:26 : 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, while David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, but Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men so they could capture them.
  • Ps 118:10-12 : 10 All the nations surrounded me. Indeed, in the name of the LORD I pushed them away. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. Indeed, in the name of the LORD I pushed them away. 12 They surrounded me like bees. But they disappeared as quickly as a fire among thorns. Indeed, in the name of the LORD I pushed them away.
  • Acts 9:24 : 24 but Saul learned of their plot against him. They were also watching the city gates day and night so that they could kill him.
  • Acts 23:15 : 15 So now you and the council request the commanding officer to bring him down to you, as if you were going to determine his case by conducting a more thorough inquiry. We are ready to kill him before he comes near this place.”
  • 2 Cor 11:32-33 : 32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to arrest me, 33 but I was let down in a rope-basket through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands.
  • Judg 15:18 : 18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the LORD and said,“You have given your servant this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of these uncircumcised Philistines?”
  • 1 Sam 19:11 : 11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David’s wife Michal told him,“If you do not save yourself tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”
  • Matt 21:38 : 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves,‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’
  • Matt 27:1 : 1 Jesus Brought Before Pilate When it was early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to execute him.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Judg 16:1
    81%

    1Samson’s Downfall Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and slept with her.

  • Judg 16:3-6
    4 verses
    78%

    3Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.

    4After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley.

    5The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her,“Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

    6So Delilah said to Samson,“Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”

  • Judg 15:7-13
    7 verses
    73%

    7Samson said to them,“Because you did this, I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.”

    8He struck them down and defeated them. Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.

    9The Philistines went up and invaded Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle in Lehi.

    10The men of Judah said,“Why are you attacking us?” The Philistines said,“We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.”

    11Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson,“Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them,“I have only done to them what they have done to me.”

    12They said to him,“We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them,“Promise me you will not kill me.”

    13They said to him,“We promise! We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff.

  • Judg 16:8-10
    3 verses
    73%

    8So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and she tied him up with them.

    9They hid in the bedroom and then she said to him,“The Philistines are here, Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. The secret of his strength was not discovered.

    10Delilah said to Samson,“Look, you deceived me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.”

  • Judg 9:31-33
    3 verses
    73%

    31He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, reporting,“Beware! Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you.

    32Now, come up at night with your men and set an ambush in the field outside the city.

    33In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him.”

  • Judg 16:18-21
    4 verses
    72%

    18When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, she sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying,“Come up here again, for he has told me his secret.” So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.

    19She made him go to sleep on her lap and then called a man in to shave off the seven braids of his hair. She made him vulnerable and his strength left him.

    20She said,“The Philistines are here, Samson!” He woke up and thought,“I will do as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the LORD had left him.

    21The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison.

  • Judg 16:12-14
    3 verses
    71%

    12So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him,“The Philistines are here, Samson!”(The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) But he tore the ropes from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

    13Delilah said to Samson,“Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her,“If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on the loom and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

    14So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him,“The Philistines are here, Samson!” He woke up and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

  • Judg 16:23-25
    3 verses
    69%

    23Samson’s Death and Burial The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said,“Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”

    24When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,“Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!”

    25When they really started celebrating, they said,“Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. They made him stand between two pillars.

  • Acts 9:24
    69%

    24but Saul learned of their plot against him. They were also watching the city gates day and night so that they could kill him.

  • Judg 9:35
    69%

    35When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places.

  • Judg 16:27
    69%

    27Now the temple was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain.

  • Judg 20:37
    69%

    37The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city.

  • Judg 14:15-16
    2 verses
    69%

    15On the fourth day they said to Samson’s bride,“Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. If you refuse, we will burn up you and your father’s family. Did you invite us here to make us poor?”

    16So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder and said,“You must hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her,“Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?”

  • Judg 15:1
    68%

    1Samson Versus the Philistines Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. He said to her father,“I want to sleep with my bride in her bedroom!” But her father would not let him enter.

  • Judg 15:3
    67%

    3Samson said to them,“This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!”

  • Josh 2:5
    67%

    5When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. I don’t know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!”

  • 2 Kgs 18:8
    67%

    8He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

  • Judg 14:7
    67%

    7Samson continued on down to Timnah and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one.

  • Judg 14:19
    67%

    19The LORD’s Spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men. He took their clothes and gave them to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.

  • Judg 20:5
    66%

    5The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.

  • Josh 2:7-8
    2 verses
    66%

    7Meanwhile the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River near the fords. The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them.

    8Now before the spies went to sleep, Rahab went up to the roof.

  • 1 Sam 23:7
    66%

    7When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said,“God has delivered him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.”

  • Judg 14:11
    66%

    11When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.

  • Judg 20:29
    66%

    29So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.

  • 1 Sam 25:16
    65%

    16Both night and day they were a protective wall for us the entire time we were with them, while we were tending our flocks.

  • Judg 19:22
    65%

    22They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house,“Send out the man who came to visit you so we can take carnal knowledge of him.”