Verse 14:[1] And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
[And a pin, etc., thou fix, וַתִּתְקַע֙ בַּיָּתֵ֔ד] [They render it variously.] And thou fix on a nail (Montanus). [To him וַתִּתְקַע is in the second person, and he joins it with what precedes: similarly the Vulgate and Osiander, who place these things at the end of verse 13 as part of the response of Samson. But the second person is תִּתְקְעִי. To others, therefore, it is third person, feminine, and begins the following verse.] Thrusting in a nail (Munster, Tigurinus); she fastened with a nail. Something is to be understood, of this sort, And thus she wove it, and fixed with a nail, or lever, that cross-piece; that is, she made firm, or secured, or established, that cross-piece with a nail or wooden peg (Vatablus). And so she, with the wooden peg inserted, said to him (Junius and Tremellius). Understand, after she had doen what she had learned was to be done. Her perception: which is to say, With these things done she thrust a wooden peg into the beam, lest the cross-piece, with the cloth with which his hair was woven, might be able to be rolled (Junius). I translate it, she fastened the cross-piece with a wooden peg, and said. Now, there is here βραχυλογία/brachylogy,[2] and synecdoche of member. For there is a signifying of the action that preceded from the action that followed: namely, that first she wove the locks of Samson to the web wrapped around the cross-piece: then, she fixed that cross-piece with a nail or peg (Piscator).
With the pin: Having done what Samson directed, she adds this for sureness’ sake; she fastened the hair thus woven with a pin.
[Who extracted the pin, etc., וַיִּסַּ֛ע אֶת־הַיְתַ֥ד וגו״] He carried off the peg of the cross-piece (Vatablus), and the web that was rolled over the cross-piece (Vatablus). He departed with the peg (Junius and Tremellius, similarly Pagnine). The peg of the cross-piece he calls the peg with which the cross-piece had been fastened (Piscator): which is to say, he dragged everything with him (Vatablus).
[1] Hebrew: וַתִּתְקַע֙ בַּיָּתֵ֔ד וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו פְּלִשְׁתִּ֥ים עָלֶ֖יךָ שִׁמְשׁ֑וֹן וַיִּיקַץ֙ מִשְּׁנָת֔וֹ וַיִּסַּ֛ע אֶת־הַיְתַ֥ד הָאֶ֖רֶג וְאֶת־הַמַּסָּֽכֶת׃
[2] That is, a colloquial shortening of expression.
Matthew Henry: 'In the making of all these experiments, it is hard to say whether there appears more of Samson's weakness or Delilah's wickedness. (1.) Could any thing be more wicked than her restless and unreasonable importunity with him to discover a secret which she knew would endanger his life if ever it were lodged any where but in his own breast? What could be more base and disingenuous, more false and treacherous, than to lay his head in her lap, as one whom she loved, and at the same time to design the betraying of him to those by whom he was mortally hated? (2.) Could any thing be more weak than for him to continue a parley wit…
Matthew Henry: 'When she still pressed him to communicate the secret, and upbraided him with it as an unkindness that he had bantered her so long, he then told her that the weaving of the seven locks of his head would make a great alteration in him, Judges 16:13. This came nearer the matter than any thing he had yet said, but it would not do: his strength appeared to be very much in his hair, when, upon the trial of this, purely by the strength of his hair, he carried away the pin of the beam and the web.'
Points of interest in the Hebrew:
1. The lexical difficulties involved in the terminology of the art of ancient weavers continue.
2. Here, we get a little exercise and review in the formation of imperfect verbs in the feminine gender.
3. Is Piscator right? Is there brachylogy and synecdoche of member here?