What Does Judges 16:20 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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 That makes “departed” more than a change Samson fails to notice: the presence he assumes is still with him has withdrawn.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
“wist, knew” 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
“times” 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 Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:THE THREAD
But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled 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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