Judges 16:17
That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
Samson was consecrated as a Nazarite to God from his mother's womb, and his uncut hair was the outward sign of that lifelong consecration. His great strength lay not in his body or in the hair itself, but in his consecration and loyalty to God, so when he surrendered that sign in disobedience the divine power departed from him. After Delilah persistently pressed him he told her all his heart, and when his hair was shaved his strength failed and he learned that the Lord had departed from him and left him to the Philistines. Infatuated with her, he betrayed the secret of his strength and gave to a woman the love and service due to God, and by yielding to her influence he was separated from God, enslaved to sin, and sacrificed honor, conscience, reputation and usefulness to his own ruin. His fall came from failure to govern his passions, for though he had the same access to divine strength and the same power of choice as Joseph, he yielded to temptation instead of relying on God, ending in shame, disaster and death where Joseph stood pure and obedient.
Nazarite Consecration and Strength
Samson was set apart as a Nazarite to God from his mother's womb, even from before birth, with a lifelong consecration whose sign was his unshorn, uncut hair. His extraordinary strength was bound to that Nazarite condition and consecration to God, not to his physical build. The strength did not lie in the hair itself; the hair marked his loyalty to God. Disobedience to the divine commands led him away from the purpose for which he had been set apart. He himself identified the cutting of that sign with becoming weak and like any other man.
When he surrendered that sign, God's power departed from him. Yet even after he had broken his vow, while his conscience reminded him of it, God's mercy had not yet forsaken him and his strength still delivered him.
Betrayal and Loss of Strength
Pressed again and again by Delilah, he at last opened his whole heart to her and told her that his uncut hair was the mark of his lifelong consecration to God from birth, and that to shave it would take his extraordinary strength and leave him like any other man. When she had that hair shaved off, his strength failed him. In that failure he came to understand that the Lord had departed from him, and by that betrayal his strength was delivered into the hands of the Philistines.
Infatuated with Delilah, he betrayed to her the secret source of his strength and broke his sacred pledge to God. He gave to a woman the love and service that belonged to God alone, so that his passion became idolatry. By yielding to her influence he was separated from God and made himself a captive to sin. That sinful indulgence cost him his strength, reputation and usefulness, and in bringing ruin upon himself he sacrificed his honor, his conscience and other most valuable interests.
His fall came because he did not govern his passions. He had the same source of strength open to him as Joseph had, and the same power to choose between right and wrong, but instead of relying on God he yielded to temptation. That choice led to shame and disaster and death, in direct contrast to Joseph’s choice of purity and obedience.
Delilah used her influence over him to draw out the secret of his strength in order to bring about his downfall. That history illustrates how attachment to a woman can blind and deceive a man, as seen when Elder Cornell was blinded and deceived by his attachment to Mrs. Harris just as Samson was by Delilah. He was warned that he was being deceived and destroyed by a woman’s power in the same way. Such deception destroys, for lust keeps a person from discerning the working of Satan.
Warnings for Spiritual Life
The uncut hair was the mark of a lifelong consecration to God, and to be shaved was to lose the strength that belonged to that consecration. Through Delilah the verse warns that letting a spouse become a snare draws the heart farther from God until spiritual strength diminishes. In the same loss of strength when he was shorn is seen what years of indulging appetite and violating the laws of health do, leaving a person powerless to resist temptation when obedience would have spared the penalty of transgression.
The verse therefore warns to guard words and avoid carelessness in conversation, lest one be shorn of spiritual strength and fail to grow in grace and religious experience. To be shorn of strength also describes the loss of courage and inner power felt when another worker is more accepted.