The text says that they will each
give 1,100 pieces of silver. If there were five Philistine lords, the leaders of the five Philistine cities, this would be 5,500 pieces of silver. This is an astronomical sum of money. Compare this with the 400 shekels that Abraham paid for Sarah’s burial plot (Genesis 23:15, Genesis 23:19). Exodus 23:32 lists the price of an ordinary slave at thirty shekels of silver. 1,000 pieces of silver was a king’s ransom (see 2 Samuel 18:12). Ten shekels was the standard annual wage of a labourer (see Judges 17:10). The 5,500 pieces of silver would equal 550 times the average annual wage. Some say the modern equivalent is $15 million (USD).1,2 This is how badly they want to get rid of this national menace. They were fed up. They give Delilah an offer she cannot refuse. And Delilah, the only woman Samson loved, loves money. She evidently accepts their offer.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”