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Withers, Philip, D.D.

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(יֶתֶר, yether, Judges 16:7-9, a rope; "cord," Job 30:11; "string," Psalms 11:2). In the passage of Judges cited we read that Delilah bound Samson with seven green withs which had not been dried." "Green ropes," as distinguished from "dry ropes," is the proper meaning, the peculiarity being in the greenness, not in the material. It may imply any kind of crude vegetable, commonly used for ropes, without restricting it to withs, or tough and pliable rods, twisted into a rope. Such ropes are used in the East, and while they remain green are stronger than any other. In India the legs of wild elephants and buffaloes newly caught are commonly bound with ropes of this sort. Josephus says (Ant. 5:9, 11) that the ropes which bound Samson were made with the tendrils of the vine. At the present day ropes in the East are rarely made of hemp or flax. Except some that are made with hair or leather, they are generally formed with the tough fibres of trees (particularly the palm-tree) and roots, with grasses, and with reeds and rushes. These ropes are, in general, tolerably strong, but are in no degree comparable to our hempen ropes. They are very light in comparison, and, wanting compactness, in most cases they are also rough and coarse to the eye. The praises which travellers bestow on ropes of this kind must not be understood as putting them in comparison with those in use among ourselves, but with the bands of hay which our peasants twist, and with reference to the simple and crude materials of which they are composed (Kitto, Pictorial Bible, note ad loc.). (See CORD).