Chapter Fourteen

1–10. Samson’s marriage. 11–18. Samson’s riddle and the way it was solved. 19–20. Payment for solving the riddle, Samson’s anger, and his wife’s betrayal.

Judges 14:1. And Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines. Judges 14:2. He went up and told his father and his mother, saying: I have seen a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines; now get her for me as a wife. Judges 14:3. His father and mother said to him: Is there no woman among the daughters of your kindred and among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? But Samson said to his father: Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. Judges 14:4. His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, and that he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Judges 14:5. And Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah; and as they approached the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came roaring toward him. Judges 14:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one tears apart a young goat; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. Judges 14:7. And he went and spoke with the woman, and she was right in his eyes. Judges 14:8. After some days, he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the carcass of the lion, and honey. Judges 14:9. He scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went; and when he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they ate; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. Judges 14:10. And his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there; for so the young men used to do. During his visit to Timnah (the same as Opina; cf. Josh 15:10, now Tibne), a city that belonged to the tribe of Judah but was occupied by the Philistines, Samson saw a Philistine woman who pleased him, and he married her, contrary to his parents’ objection, who considered it unlawful for an Israelite to enter into a union with the uncircumcised (cf. Exod 34:16; Deut 7:3).

Judges 14:11. And when they saw him, they selected thirty companions to be with him. Judges 14:12. And Samson said to them: Let me put a riddle to you; if you can indeed explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments. Judges 14:13. But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments. And they said to him: Put your riddle, that we may hear it. Judges 14:14. And he said to them: Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet. And they could not answer the riddle for three days. Judges 14:15. On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife: Coax your husband to explain the riddle to us, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us? Judges 14:16. And Samson’s wife wept before him and said: You hate me and do not love me; you have posed a riddle to the children of my people, and you will not explain it to me. He said to her: I have not even explained it to my father and mother, why should I explain it to you? Judges 14:17. And she wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted; and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. And she explained the riddle to the children of her people. Judges 14:18. And on the seventh day before the sun went down, the men of the city said to him: What is sweeter than honey? And 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. Judges 14:19. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their clothing and gave the festal garments to those who had explained the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. Judges 14:20. And Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his best man. During the wedding feast, Samson posed a riddle to his groomsmen, and for explaining it he promised them 30 robes of fine linen and 30 changes of clothes, and when they, having learned the meaning of the riddle from his wife, told him its solution, he went to the Philistine city of Ashkelon, killed 30 men there and, stripping them of their clothes, gave them to those who had solved the riddle, after which he himself angrily departed to his father’s house, and his wife went to one of the groomsmen, thus proving to be unfaithful to Samson. * * * A linen robe