What Does Judges 16:20 Mean?
And she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he woke from his sleep, and said, I will go out as I have done before, time after time, and shake myself loose. But he did not perceive that the LORD had turned aside from him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.THE KEY
Samson repeats the old motion as though its source were still present, but the verse says that presence has turned aside.
THE MEANING
You can move from yesterday’s reflex, assuming the strength behind it is still present. Samson says he will act “as at other times,” while the verse says the LORD has departed and Samson does not know. His Hebrew name, שִׁמְשׁוֹן (Shimshon, echoing שֶׁמֶשׁ, shemesh, “sun”), carries a solar image beside his blindness to what is gone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that what worked before must still be available now; familiar movement does not prove its source remains.
THE ROOT
סָר
sār
GROWS FROM
סור
turn aside, depart, withdraw
The Hebrew says the LORD has turned aside from Samson. That makes “departed” more than a change Samson fails to notice: the presence he assumes is still with him has withdrawn.
ALSO GROWS
sūr: turn aside; depart
סוּר
This form preserves the same root consonants and makes departure an act of turning away.
lasūr: to turn aside; to depart
לָסוּר
The infinitive carries the same movement in an ongoing or intended action, clarifying the root beneath the verse’s “departed.”
יָדַע
yādaʿ
GROWS FROM
ידע
know, recognize, become aware
“did not perceive” in this verse is yādaʿ. Samson’s failure is stated as not knowing: he lacks recognition of the decisive change. The root also forms words for a person who knows and for making something known, linking awareness with what comes into view.
ALSO GROWS
yōdēaʿ: one who knows; knowing
יוֹדֵעַ
This participle keeps the root’s full consonants and shows knowing as an active state of recognition.
hōdīaʿ: to make known; to inform
הוֹדִיעַ
This causative form turns the same root outward: what Samson does not perceive is the very thing that could be made known.
פַּעַם
paʿam
GROWS FROM
פעמ
step, beat, occurrence, time
“time after time” in this verse is paʿam. The phrase כְּפַעַם בְּפַעַם (kə-paʿam bə-paʿam) repeats the word for an occasion, like one time after another. The root can also carry the sense of a step or beat, so Samson speaks as though the old rhythm will return while the verse reveals what has changed.
ALSO GROWS
pəʿāmīm: times; occasions
פְּעָמִים
This plural uses the same root consonants and echoes Samson’s expectation that the familiar pattern will repeat.
paʿămōn: bell; a striking or ringing object
פַּעֲמוֹן
This related word shares the root consonants and preserves the sense of a beat or strike behind the verse’s repeated “times.”
THE PATTERN
Familiar confidence can persist after reality has changed, leaving a person unaware of what has withdrawn.
But the breath of the LORD turned aside from Saul, and a harmful breath from the LORD shook him.So let the one who thinks he stands watch, lest he fall.Because you say, "I am rich, and have been enriched, and I need nothing." You have not seen that you are worn down, pitiable, emptied, blind, and bare.THE THREAD
But the breath of the LORD turned aside from Saul, and a harmful breath from the LORD shook him.Judges uses סָר (sār), from סור (sūr, “turn aside; depart”), and Samuel uses that same root for the LORD’s Spirit departing from Saul. The shared verb makes the withdrawal concrete, while Samson’s unchanged expectation shows how little he perceives it.
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