Judges 14

Samson went down to Timnah, and there he saw a woman who was one of the Philistine women.

1And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

NoteTimnah was a town in the low foothills between the Israelite hill country and the Philistine plain, about four miles from Samson's home at Zorah. "Went down" is literal geography: the hills drop away toward the coastal lowland, and the chapter keeps using "down" and "up" to track the slope. The Philistines were a people settled along the coast of Canaan, organized around five cities (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath), culturally distinct from the Israelites and, at this period, the dominant power over them.

2He came back home and told his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife."

2And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

NoteMarriages were arranged between families, not by the couple, so Samson's demand that his parents "get her for me" is the normal procedure, his parents would negotiate with the woman's father and pay a bride-price. What is not normal is his choice of family.

3His father and mother said to him, "Isn't there a woman among your own relatives, or among all our people? Do you have to go to the Philistines, who are not circumcised, to get a wife?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She is the one I want."

3Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

NoteCircumcision was the physical mark of belonging to Israel, so "the uncircumcised" is a standard scornful term for outsiders, the parents' objection is about the woman's people, not about the practice itself. "She is the one I want" translates a Hebrew phrase that literally means "she is right in my eyes"; the same wording runs through the book of Judges as a description of people acting on their own judgment.

4His father and mother did not know that this came from the LORD, who was looking for a reason to act against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

4But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Note"The LORD" in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which the King James translators, following Jewish custom, replaced with a title rather than pronouncing. The Hebrew of this verse is ambiguous about who "was seeking an occasion": grammatically it can be the LORD or Samson himself, and translations differ.

5So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. When they came to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came roaring at him.

5Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.

NoteLions still lived in the wooded hills of Canaan at this period; they disappeared from the region only much later. The mention of vineyards is a passing detail with weight for anyone who remembers chapter 13: Samson was dedicated as a Nazirite, and that vow barred him from grapes and anything else produced by the vine.

6The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on Samson, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands, as easily as a person tears apart a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

6And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "came mightily upon him" means to rush or force its way onto someone; it describes a sudden seizure of power rather than a lasting condition. Tearing apart a young goat was an ordinary kitchen task, which is the point of the comparison.

7Then he went on down and talked with the woman, and he liked her very much.

7And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

8Some time later he went back to marry her. He turned off the road to look at the dead body of the lion, and inside it was a swarm of bees, and honey.

8And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

9He scooped the honey into his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave them some, and they ate it too. But he did not tell them he had taken the honey from the lion's dead body.

9And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

NoteUnder Israelite law, touching a dead body made a person ritually unclean; a Nazirite like Samson (chapter 13) was under an even stricter ban on going near corpses at all. That is why the honey has to be scooped out in silence and why his parents are not told where it came from: they would not have eaten it.

10Samson's father went down to see the woman, and Samson held a feast there, as young men getting married used to do.

10So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

NoteThe Hebrew word for this feast comes from the verb "to drink"; it was a week-long wedding celebration hosted by the bridegroom, with heavy drinking as a normal part of it.

11When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty companions to stay with him.

11And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

NoteThese thirty "companions" are the bridegroom's attendants, supplied here by the local Philistines rather than brought by Samson: he is a stranger marrying into their town. The number, and the fact that they are provided for him, suggests they served as a watch on him as much as an honor guard.

12Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can give me the answer during the seven days of the feast, and figure it out, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.

12And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

NoteRiddle contests with wagers attached were an ordinary entertainment at such feasts. The stake is substantial: "linen garments" (Hebrew *sadin*) were fine sheet-like wraps worn next to the skin, and a "change of garments" was a complete outer outfit of the kind kept for special occasions. Thirty of each amounts to a serious debt for thirty working men.

13But if you cannot tell me the answer, then you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes." They said to him, "Tell us your riddle. We want to hear it."

13But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

14So he said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." For three days they could not solve the riddle.

14And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

NoteThe King James "meat" means food of any kind, not flesh specifically, the older English sense of the word. The riddle is a description of something the hearers have not seen, so it cannot be reasoned out; that is the kind of riddle it is.

15On the seventh day they said to Samson's wife, "Talk your husband into telling us the answer to the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?"

15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?

NoteThe Hebrew manuscripts read "the seventh day" here, but the ancient Greek and Syriac versions read "the fourth," which fits the sequence better, three days have already passed in verse 14, and she then weeps for the rest of the week in verse 17. Translations split between the two readings. Burning a household alive was a real form of execution in the region, and the threat is carried out in the next chapter.

16So Samson's wife cried in front of him and said, "You hate me. You don't love me at all. You gave my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer." He said to her, "Look, I haven't told my own father or mother. Why should I tell you?"

16And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?

Note"You hate me" is stronger in English than in Hebrew, where the verb also carries the sense of rejecting or setting aside: it was the standard legal word for repudiating a spouse. She is accusing him of treating her as an outsider rather than of personal loathing.

17She cried in front of him for all seven days of the feast. On the seventh day he finally told her, because she kept pressing him so hard. Then she told the answer to her people.

17And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

18Before the sun went down on the seventh day, the men of the town said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?" Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle."

18And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

NotePlowing was done with a yoked animal that belonged to the farmer; the insult accuses the men of using something of Samson's, his wife, to do their work for them. It is coarse, and deliberately so.

19The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty men there, took what they had, and gave their clothes to the men who had answered the riddle. Then, burning with anger, he went back to his father's house.

19And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.

NoteAshkelon was a Philistine city on the Mediterranean coast, roughly twenty-five miles from Timnah, far enough that the dead were strangers to the wedding party. Stripping the clothing from those killed in a fight was standard practice; Samson pays the wager with the garments of other Philistines.

20And Samson's wife was given to the companion who had served as his best man.

20But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

NoteThe "companion" is the chief attendant of verse 11, the man who acted as go-between and manager of the wedding, the role later called "the friend of the bridegroom." Handing the bride to him treats Samson's departure as an abandonment of the marriage.