Judges 16:15-22
His Hair Began to Grow Again
15“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”
16Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,
17Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.”
18When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands.
19And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
20Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
21Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
22However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.
Berean Standard Bible
Delilah tells Samson that his heart is not with her, and her pressure finally drives him to reveal that his hair has never been cut.
Samson falls asleep on her knees, his hair is shaved, and the LORD leaves him. His strength is gone before he understands what has happened, and the Philistines blind him and put him to work in prison.
“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”
The sentence about Samson's hair growing again is quiet, and it does not cancel the consequences of what happened. He is blind, imprisoned, and made to grind at the mill, yet the narrator leaves the reader with a sign that the story is not finished. Restoration here is not a return to innocence; it is mercy working inside judgment.
Then the chapter gives one quiet sentence of hope: the hair on his head began to grow again. It does not promise that every loss will be reversed, but it leaves room for God to work after judgment has fallen.
However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.
Speak carefully about consequences and restoration. Ask what repentance might look like when a person cannot undo the harm but can still turn toward God.
Questions
1 What is happening in this reading?
AnswerDelilah tells Samson that his heart is not with her, and her pressure finally drives him to reveal that his hair has never been cut. Samson falls asleep on her knees, his hair is shaved, and the LORD leaves him.
2 Where do we see responsibility or failure?
AnswerThen the chapter gives one quiet sentence of hope: the hair on his head began to grow again. It does not promise that every loss will be reversed, but it leaves room for God to work after judgment has fallen.
3 What does this passage make clear?
AnswerThe sentence about Samson's hair growing again is quiet, and it does not cancel the consequences of what happened. He is blind, imprisoned, and made to grind at the mill, yet the narrator leaves the reader with a sign that the story is not finished. Restoration here is not a return to innocence; it is mercy working inside judgment.
4 What should our household remember?
AnswerSpeak carefully about consequences and restoration. Ask what repentance might look like when a person cannot undo the harm but can still turn toward God.
What This Means for Us
Samson's hair grows again, but the consequences of his betrayal remain real. Speak carefully about restoration: repentance may open a new future without erasing harm or returning a person to the exact place they held before.
A new beginning should be welcomed without pretending the old damage never happened. Restoration asks what has changed, who remains vulnerable, and what safeguards will make future faithfulness more than a hopeful promise.
Prayer
Lord, help us speak carefully about consequences and restoration. Keep our words and our choices under the rule of Your word. Amen.