Samson Praying Among the Temple PillarsBible World
16:22Judges 16:22
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
The verse belongs to Samson's story, in which strength was available to him from God but he yielded to passion instead of relying on it, and the course he chose ended in shame, disaster, and death. His unshorn hair had no power in itself but was the symbol of his Nazarite condition and of his loyalty to God. His extraordinary strength depended not on his physical build or sinews but on that consecrated condition, so the mention of his hair growing again concerns the return of the symbol rather than strength arising from his body.
The blessing of strength was connected with that loyalty, and when he sacrificed the sign he forfeited the blessings it represented. While he was imprisoned and suffering, his hair began to grow again gradually, marking the gradual return of his strength. Its growth indicated that affliction was leading him to repentance, and with that repentance his strength was returning.
The verse belongs to Samson's story, in which strength was available to him from God but he yielded to passion instead of relying on it, and the course he chose ended in shame, disaster, and death. His unshorn hair had no power in itself but was the symbol of his Nazarite condition and of his loyalty to God. His extraordinary strength depended not on his physical build or sinews but on that consecrated condition, so the mention of his hair growing again concerns the return of the symbol rather than strength arising from his body.
The blessing of strength was connected with that loyalty, and when he sacrificed the sign he forfeited the blessings it represented. While he was imprisoned and suffering, his hair began to grow again gradually, marking the gradual return of his strength. Its growth indicated that affliction was leading him to repentance, and with that repentance his strength was returning.