Judges 14: Samson's wedding and the riddle
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What happens?
Samson sees a Philistine woman in Timnah and tells his father and mother to get her for him as his wife; they object, but the text says it was from Yahweh, for he (Yahweh, or: Samson) was looking for an occasion against the Philistines. On the way to Timnah Yahweh's Spirit rushes on Samson and he tears apart a young lion with his bare hands, and later he finds bees and honey in its body. At the wedding feast he gives the thirty Philistine companions a riddle. They threaten to burn his wife and her father's house, she weeps until he tells her the answer, and she tells them. Yahweh's Spirit rushes on him, he kills thirty men of Ashkelon to pay the bet, goes home angry, and his wife is given to his companion.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. No verse is in gold. Samson speaks to his parents in verses 2 and 3, and they answer him in verse 3. Samson gives his riddle in verses 12 to 14, and the companions answer him in verse 13. The companions threaten Samson's wife in verse 15. She speaks to Samson in verse 16, and he answers her. In verse 18 the men of the city give the answer, and Samson replies. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.
In plain English: Samson went down to Timnah, and in Timnah he saw a woman, one of the daughters of the Philistines.
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2He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as my wife.”
In plain English: He came back up and told his father and his mother, "I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So now get her for me as my wife."
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3Then his father and his mother said to him, “Isn’t there a woman among your brothers’ daughters, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”
In plain English: His father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives (literally: your brothers), or among all my people, that you must go and take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, because she pleases me (literally: she is right in my eyes)."
Good to know: The text gives the parents' words and Samson's answer, and does not comment. forbids marrying the nations named in ; the Philistines are not in that list. Verse 4 says his father and mother did not know that this was from Yahweh.
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4But his father and his mother didn’t know that it was of Yahweh; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
In plain English: His father and his mother did not know that this was from Yahweh, because he (Yahweh, or: Samson) was looking for an occasion against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
The Hebrew word: "Occasion" is to'anah, which the dictionary gives as "an opportunity or (subjectively) purpose". It is used in only one other verse, , of a wild donkey.
What changes: The Hebrew says only "he was seeking". Read of Yahweh, it was Yahweh who was looking for an occasion against the Philistines, through Samson's choice of wife. Read of Samson, it was Samson who was looking for a quarrel with them. Either way, the verse says the matter was "of Yahweh", and that his father and mother did not know it.
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5Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at him.
In plain English: Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother. They came to the vineyards of Timnah, and suddenly a young lion came roaring at him (literally: roaring to meet him).
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6Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat with his bare hands, but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done.
In plain English: Yahweh's Spirit (or: spirit) rushed on him (this Bible: came mightily on him), and he tore the lion apart as one would tear apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
The Hebrew word: "Came mightily" is tsalach, which the dictionary gives as "to push forward, in various senses". "Spirit" is ruach, the word explained in the note on .
How it is translated: This Bible says "prosper" or a longer form in 48 of the 64 verses that use tsalach, and "mightily" in 8. All 8 are of a spirit coming on someone: Samson here, in verse 19 and in , and Saul and David in 1 Samuel (, ). In it is "an evil spirit from God".
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7He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.
In plain English: He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson (literally: she was right in Samson's eyes).
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8After a while he returned to take her, and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
In plain English: Some time later (literally: after days) he went back to take her, and he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. There in the lion's body was a swarm of bees, and honey.
Good to know: says a Nazirite "shall not go near a dead body", and says that whoever touches the carcass of an animal that walks on paws is unclean until evening. The text here tells that Samson took the honey from the lion's body, and that he did not tell his parents where it came from (verse 9). It does not comment, and readers differ on what it means for his vow.
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9He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave to them, and they ate, but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body.
In plain English: He scooped the honey out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey out of the lion's body.
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10His father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men used to do so.
In plain English: His father went down to the woman, and Samson held a feast there, because that is what the young men used to do.
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11When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
In plain English: When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
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12Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. If you can tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing;
In plain English: Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.
The Hebrew words: "Let me tell you a riddle" is literally "let me riddle you a riddle". "Riddle" is chidah, which the dictionary gives as "a puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum, sententious maxim" (a wise saying). In Judges this Bible says "riddle" in all 8 verses that use chidah, all of them in this chapter.
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13but if you can’t tell me the answer, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” They said to him, “Tell us your riddle, that we may hear it.”
In plain English: But if you cannot tell me, then you are to give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes." They said to him, "Tell us your riddle, so that we can hear it."
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14He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle.
In plain English: He said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet." For three days they could not tell the answer to the riddle.
Good to know: The answer comes in verse 18: the eater and the strong one is the lion, and the food and the sweet thing is the honey Samson found in its body (verses 8 and 9). He had not told even his father and mother (verses 6, 9 and 16).
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15On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?”
In plain English: On the seventh day they said to Samson's wife, "Trick (this Bible: entice) your husband into telling us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Did you invite us here to make us poor (or: to rob us)? Is that not so?"
Good to know: Verse 14 says they could not tell the riddle for three days, and verse 17 says she wept over him for the seven days of the feast. Here the Hebrew says "the seventh day". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) says "the fourth day". The text does not explain how the days fit together.
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16Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”
In plain English: Samson's wife wept over him (this Bible: before him) and said, "You only hate me. You do not love me. You have told my people (literally: the sons of my people) a riddle, and you have not told it to me." He said to her, "Look, I have not told it to my father or my mother. Why should I tell you?"
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17She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
In plain English: She wept over him for the seven days that their feast lasted. On the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him so hard. Then she told the riddle to her people.
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18The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.”
In plain English: On the seventh day, before the sun went down, the men of the city said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" He said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."
Good to know: Verse 17 tells how they found out: his wife told the riddle to her people. "Plowed with my heifer" is Samson's own picture for it; the text does not explain it further.
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19Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck thirty men of them. He took their plunder, then gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the riddle. His anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.
In plain English: Yahweh's Spirit (or: spirit) rushed on him (this Bible: came mightily on him). He went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of their men. He took what he stripped from them (this Bible: their plunder) and gave the changes of clothes to those who had told the answer to the riddle. His anger burned, and he went up to his father's house.
Good to know: The Ashkelonites are named among the five lords of the Philistines in . The text says plainly what Samson did: he killed thirty men and paid the bet of verse 12 with their clothes.
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20But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.
In plain English: And Samson's wife was given to his companion (literally: became his companion's), the one who had been his friend.
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