15 So on the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, Get from your husband the answer to his question by some trick or other, or we will have you and your father's house burned with fire; did you get us here to take all we have?
Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his friend. So the Philistines came up and had her and her father's house burned.
And the chiefs of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Make use of your power over him and see what is the secret of his great strength, and how we may get the better of him, and put bands on him, so that we may make him feeble; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.
Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden? And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden: But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you. And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you: For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.
Now the men of Ephraim came together and took up arms and went over to Zaphon; and they said to Jephthah, Why did you go over to make war against the children of Ammon without sending for us to go with you? Now we will put your house on fire over you.
If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;
For a loose woman is looking for a cake of bread, but another man's wife goes after one's very life.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Judges 14
Commentary on Judges 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
Jud 14:1-5. Samson Desires a Wife of the Philistines.
1, 2. Timnath—now Tibna, about three miles from Zorah, his birthplace.
saw a woman … of the Philistines; and told his father and his mother, and said, … get her for me to wife—In the East parents did, and do in many cases still, negotiate the marriage alliances for their sons. During their period of ascendency, the Philistine invaders had settled in the towns; and the intercourse between them and the Israelites was often of such a friendly and familiar character as to issue in matrimonial relations. Moreover, the Philistines were not in the number of the seven devoted nations of Canaan [De 7:1-3]—with whom the law forbade them to marry.
3, 4. Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren—that is, "of thine own tribe"—a Danite woman.
Samson said … Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well—literally, "she is right in mine eyes"; not by her beautiful countenance or handsome figure, but right or fit for his purpose. And this throws light on the historian's remark in reference to the resistance of his parents: they "knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines"—rather, "from the Philistines"—originating on their side. The Lord, by a course of retributive proceedings, was about to destroy the Philistine power, and the means which He meant to employ was not the forces of a numerous army, as in the case of the preceding judges, but the miraculous prowess of the single-handed champion of Israel. In these circumstances, the provocation to hostilities could only spring out of a private quarrel, and this marriage scheme was doubtless suggested by the secret influence of the Spirit as the best way of accomplishing the intended result.
Jud 14:5-9. He Kills a Lion.
5-9. a young lion—Hebrew, a lion in the pride of his youthful prime. The wild mountain passes of Judah were the lairs of savage beasts; and most or all the "lions" of Scripture occur in that wild country. His rending and killing the shaggy monster, without any weapon in his hand, were accomplished by that superhuman courage and strength which the occasional influences of the Spirit enabled him to put forth, and by the exertion of which, in such private incidental circumstances, he was gradually trained to confide in them for the more public work to which he was destined.
7. he went down, and talked with the woman—The social intercourse between the youth of different sexes is extremely rare and limited in the East, and generally so after they are betrothed.
8. after a time he returned to take her—probably after the lapse of a year, the usual interval between the ceremonies of betrothal and marriage. It was spent by the bride elect with her parents in preparation for the nuptials; and at the proper time the bridegroom returned to take her home.
he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion—In such a climate, the myriads of insects and the ravages of birds of prey, together with the influences of the solar rays, would, in a few months, put the carcass in a state inviting to such cleanly animals as bees.
Jud 14:10, 11. His Marriage Feast.
10, 11. his father went down—The father is mentioned as the head and representative of Samson's relatives.
Samson made there a feast—The wedding festivity lasted a week. The men and women were probably entertained in separate apartments—the bride, with her female relatives, at her parents' house; Samson, in some place obtained for the occasion, as he was a stranger. A large number of paranymphs, or "friends of the bridegroom," furnished, no doubt, by the bride's family, attended his party, ostensibly to honor the nuptials, but really as spies on his proceedings.
Jud 14:12-18. His Riddle.
12-18. I will now put forth a riddle—Riddles are a favorite Oriental amusement at festive entertainments of this nature, and rewards are offered to those who give the solution. Samson's riddle related to honey in the lion's carcass. The prize he offered was thirty sindinim, or shirts, and thirty changes of garments, probably woolen. Three days were passed in vain attempts to unravel the enigma. The festive week was fast drawing to a close when they secretly enlisted the services of the newly married wife, who having got the secret, revealed it to her friends.
18. If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle—a metaphor borrowed from agricultural pursuits, in which not only oxen but cows and heifers were, and continue to be, employed in dragging the plough. Divested of metaphor, the meaning is taken by some in a criminal sense, but probably means no more than that they had resorted to the aid of his wife—an unworthy expedient, which might have been deemed by a man of less noble spirit and generosity as releasing him from the obligation to fulfil his bargain.
Jud 14:19, 20. He Slays Thirty Philistines.
19, 20. went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them—This town was about twenty-four miles west by southwest from Timnah; and his selection of this place, which was dictated by the Divine Spirit, was probably owing to its bitter hostility to Israel.
took their spoil—The custom of stripping a slain enemy was unknown in Hebrew warfare.
20. Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend—that is, "the friend of the bridegroom," who was the medium of communicating during the festivities between him and his bride. The acceptance of her hand, therefore, was an act of base treachery, that could not fail to provoke the just resentment of Samson.