They said to him: This verse begins with a Hebrew waw conjunction, which is omitted by Revised Standard Version. Some languages may prefer a connector such as “Then.” The people of Judah continue their exchange with Samson. The pronoun They may be made explicit by saying “the men of Judah,” but in this dialogue it seems relatively clear who the participants are. No one person of the group stands out as a leader.

No …: Responses to negative questions and commands vary from one language to another. Here the people of Judah agree, but reply with No. However, in many languages the appropriate response to Samson here will be “Yes.” Other possible responses are “We agree,” “We promise” (Contemporary English Version), and even “All right” (Good News Translation).

We will only bind you and give you into their hands: The men of Judah agree to do no more than tie Samson up and hand him over to the Philistines. These two clauses begin with the Hebrew particle ki, which seems to mark emphasis in this context. It may be rendered “really” or “indeed.” We will only bind you is literally “binding we will bind you.” This is an important part of the dialogue that will be “mirrored” in the following narrative. Revised Standard Version adds the word only to convey the emphasis here. For bind see verse 15.10. Give you into their hands speaks of giving Samson over to the Philistines (see verse 1.2), with the word hands once again coming to the forefront in a tense situation. Again this expression is ironic, since usually God gives Israel’s enemies into their hands. Here we might say “OK, we agree. We will only tie you up and deliver you to the Philistines.”

We will not kill you renders another emphatic expression in Hebrew, which is literally “and killing we will not kill you.” It may be translated “we promise we will not kill you.” In many languages it will be better to switch the order of the clauses and say “We agree to not kill you. We will only tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

So they bound him with two new ropes: As the people of Judah agreed, they tie up Samson. The key Hebrew verb rendered bound appears for the third time in this verse. They use two new ropes to bind him. New ropes are supposedly stronger than old ones because they are made from fresh materials. Some languages may have to say “newly woven ropes.” To make doubly sure that Samson is tied securely, they use two ropes rather than just one. However, the text does not say where these ropes were placed. One rope may have tied his arms and hands, and the other, his legs and feet. However, according to 15.14, the ropes fall from his hands and arms, so it is also possible that both of them were placed there. Also Samson is led away, so he is probably walking by himself.

And brought him up from the rock: Brought … up renders a causative form of the key Hebrew verb ʿalah meaning “go up.” This verb indicates that Samson was down in the cave (see verse 15.8). The rock refers to the large rock at Etam, which was Samson’s hiding place (see verse 15.8).

According to the next verse, the men of Judah escort Samson to Lehi, so some languages may need a transition clause at the end of this verse, such as “and they came with him.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• The men said to Samson, “No, we won’t kill you, but we’ll only tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.” So, using two newly-made ropes, they tied up Samson. Then they took him from the cave.

• The men promised Samson that they would not kill him. They said, “We will only bind you and hand you over to the Philistines.” So then they bound him tightly with two new ropes and escorted him from the cave.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .