Delilah Trivia Quiz

Answer: Honest

By the virtue of her actions toward Samson, the name Delilah has also come to mean temptress and (she who) weakens. Prior to her deeds the name was probably one to be coveted, because it did mean delicate or the dainty one. The interesting association that has surfaced is that in Arabic the name Layla and, by extension, Lilah means night. On the other hand Samson (Shimshon) is linked to the word shemesh, meaning sun. So, just as the night overcomes the power of sun to bring darkness to the earth, so too did Delilah overcome the strength of the mighty Samson which, in turn, led to his being blinded.

Answer: Judges

Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and it deals with the histories of the biblical judges. These were usually leaders who showed rare wisdom in their undertakings and great faith toward God. They became the champions of the Israelites in their quest to shake off the oppressive rule of foreign leaders.

There are passages that cover the six major judges of which Samson is one. His story and his battles with the Philistines and, as a consequence, that of Delilah appears in chapters thirteen to sixteen.

In providing the above descriptions of the judges it seems rather ironic that Samson should be brought down by his passions and the breaking of his vow with God.

Answer: The Valley of Sorek

Today this area is known as Wadi Surar. In the Bible, where it is also known as Nahal Sorek, it is shown to be a border between the ancient Philistines and the Israelites' Tribe of Dan. Whilst Delilah is the only woman mentioned by name in the story of Samson, little is known of her. We know that she lived here, that it was here that Samson met her for the first time, where she seduced him into revealing the secret of his strength and where she saw Samson captured and taken away.

Answer: It is not mentioned

Whilst it isn't mentioned, there are no clues given either. Her home, Sorek, gives us little to go on with as it sat between Israelite and Philistine territory. There is an assumption that she was Philistine and the case for this is built on the fact that (a) Samson had a soft spot for Philistine women (b) it is highly unlikely that the Philistine rulers would endeavour to deal with an Israelite to betray one of their own and finally (c) it would be less likely that an Israelite woman would be prepared to betray the hero of her people. None of these are any proof of nationality. Further to this there are three women linked to Samson in the Bible and the nationality of only one of those, his wife, a Philistine, was disclosed. Note, Delilah was Samson's lover, not his wife.

Answer: 1100

Now that's not eleven hundred pieces of silver in total, remember that each of the Philistine leaders promised her this amount. There were five very important Philistine cities/states in existence at the time so we could guess that there were five leaders or representatives. Five thousand five hundred silver shekels which, in today's market, would be worth in the vicinity of ten million dollars or more. All I can say is that Judas, at thirty pieces to deliver Jesus Christ, was not in the same league.

This, however, is a good indication as to how desperate the Philistines were to overcome Samson and they didn't pull their punches when they instructed Delilah. The New International Version of the Bible uses the word "lure" when the orders are given but other Bibles use much stronger language; the American Standard Version (ASV) and the King James Version (KJV) use "entice him", the New Century Version (NCV) "trick him" and the Message delivers "seduce him".

Answer: Three

Three times Samson deceived Delilah and on the fourth occasion he revealed to her the truth at which point God abandoned him. The three deceptions Samson put forth were:
-Binding him with fresh bow-strings. In some versions these are described as vines.
-Binding him with newly made ropes and
-Having his seven locks woven into a weaver's loom.

On each occasion, upon waking, Samson either broke the bonds or destroyed the loom with ease. The Bible indicates that it was Delilah that attended to the above-named tasks herself, yet there are varying versions as to who attended to the cutting of Samson's hair. In some quarters it is said that Delilah lulled Samson to sleep and then cut the hair herself, whilst in others she supposedly calls in another, possibly a barber, a servant or a soldier, to do the cutting.

Answer: Tears

In some respect it was a combination of tears and guilt. After all her womanly wiles had been toyed with and swept aside by her lover, Delilah broke down and sobbed "How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou has mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth".

These were great words indeed from someone who had shown little love for her partner. Now Samson had a documented weakness for women and there were a number of occasions when his passions were allowed to rule him.

Despite his great strength he could not deal with a weeping woman. His heart melted and he confessed. There is no mention in Judges that there were any sexual relations between Samson and Delilah.

Answer: The Bible does not say

Yet again the Bible is no help in this area and we are left with conjecture. If she were a Philistine there is a good chance that she may have been in that temple at Dagon celebrating with the rest of the nation when Samson brought down the walls. The Bible does state that the collapse killed only Samson and Philistines.

However, if she were an Israelite (a) she had little or no reason to be there and (b) she'd be looking to get as far away from her own people as she could. Guess we'll never know.

Answer: True

With each generation there is a tendency for authors/creators to reshape characters so that they are more readily identifiable to their immediate audiences. Cecil B. DeMille in his 1949 film "Samson and Delilah" casts Hedy Lamarr as a Delilah who is pathologically jealous and emotionally volatile. David Maine in "The Book of Samson" (2006) paints her as a conniving whore bordering on being sociopathic and Camille Saint-Saëns in his opera "Samson et Dalila" shows us a vindictive harpy. None of this is revealed in the Bible, nor does the Bible indicate that Delilah worked as a prostitute. Even the artist Peter Paul Rubens, in his work "Samson and Delilah", presents her as a faithless harlot.

The scene shows Delilah as bare breasted to emphasise her overt sexuality and has an old woman peering at the pair over Delilah's left shoulder.

This was a tool used by 17th century Dutch artists to indicate sexual favours for financial gain. Rubens takes it a step further by having Delilah place a motherly (caring) arm over the sleeping (vulnerable) Samson to underscore the absolute treachery of her betrayal.

Answer: John Milton

"Samson Agonistes" appears with Milton's publication "Paradise Regain'd" in 1671. Within it he describes Delilah throwing herself at Samson and begging his forgiveness, claiming that she only did what she did because of her love for her country. Samson, reportedly, took this for another deception and issued the stern reply of:

"Out! out! hyena, these are thy wonted arts,
And arts of every woman false like thee;
To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray".

Despite Milton's narrative, there is no evidence in the Bible to support this notion.