“after this he loved a woman.” Once again, Samson gets involved with a Philistine woman and ends up hurting the Philistines, showing the world that with God’s help, Israel could defeat the Philistines. But the Israelites were not listening.

[For more on Samson and the cycles of destruction that begin with him being with a Philistine woman, see commentary on Judges 14:1]

“Delilah.” Different meanings have been suggested for the name Delilah, but scholars have not reached any conclusion about it. However, one of the possible meanings of “Delilah” is “languishing” (“pining away,” “wasting away”). It was common for God to give people names that were related to the events they were involved with, thus, for example, “Job” basically means, “the attacked one,” and “Abraham” means “Father of a multitude.” Methuselah basically means, “When he dies it will come,” and he died the year of Noah’s Flood, likely even in the Flood. Given that, and given what happened to Samson, that “Delilah” would mean “wasting away” would fit the narrative because that is exactly what happened to Samson in his relationship with her.