And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. — A deeply tragic clause. Men do not know how much they are changed “when the Lord departs from them” until they feel the effects of that departure in utter shame and weakness. (Comp. Numbers 14:43; 1 Samuel 16:14.) Samson was under a vow, but was, alas! too weak to resist the current which ran counter to his vow, particularly when he had come to rely on the mere external sign of it. For his strength was in no sense in his hair, but only in the dedication to God of which it was the symbol.
Related Commentaries of Judges 16:20
Judges 16:20
20 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.