And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
If thou weavest the seven locks of my head - braids or tresses, into which, like many in the East who wore long hair, he chose to plait his hair. It appears from the Egyptian monuments that two sorts of looms were anciently used for weaving-the horizontal loom, at which men worked; the upright loom, which was chiefly employed by women. Of this description was that into which Delilah entwined the seven locks of Samson's hair. It was of a very simple construction: the woof was driven into the warp, not by a reed, but by a wooden spatula; the extremity of the web was fastened to a pin or stake fixed in the wall or ground; and while Delilah sat squatting at her loom in a recess of the chamber, Samson lay stretched on the floor, with his head reclining on her lap-a position very common in the East.