Judges 14, A Lion and a Wife

We now follow the story of an impulsive, powerful Hebrew named Samson. Samson has been set aside since before his conception, set aside as a Nazirite (Numbers 6), fully consecrated to YHWH.

Judges 14: 1-4, I want that woman

Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."

His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?" 

But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She's the right one for me." (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)

Timnah was in Philistine territory, probably just west of the region given to Dan. Samson's first recorded statement as an adult is "I want her!" This sets the tone for Samson's life: he is impulsive and demanding -- and often chasing women. There seems to be little self-control. His life follows the mantra of Judges, "each did what was right in his own eyes."

Samson's parents want him to choose an Israelite woman for his wife. But Samson is stubborn and demands the unnamed Philistine woman.

This may "be from the LORD" but Samson's impulsive desire for different women will end his life. That desire will also force Israel into conflict with the Philistines and greatly weaken the Philistine control of the region.

Judges 14: 5-9, Killing a lion

Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.

Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.

Samson,goes with his parents to the woman's home in Timnah.  At some point he is separated from his parents (does he insist on traveling by himself) and a young lion attacks him.  Samson is endowed by the Spirit of YHWH with inhuman strength and so kills the lion.  On a later trip, presumably for the marriage ceremony, he gets honey from a beehive built in the lion's carcass.

Judges 14: 10-14, A riddle for Philistine companions

Now his father went down to see the woman. And Samson made a feast there, as was customary for bridegrooms. When he appeared, he was given thirty companions.

"Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes." 

"Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."

He replied, "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." 

For three days they could not give the answer.

This has the feel of ancient stories -- a wedding riddle and a challenge. Although this might seem to be part of the party, Samson's wager attached to the riddle has raised the stakes to the point that one side or the other will be financially ruined. (In that day and culture, in which many people only had a single robe (see Deuteronomy 24: 12-13) thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes is a serious investment.) There is also an undercurrent of hostility in this feast (says Barry Webb): Samson has been "given" thirty Philistine companions. Are the Philistines suspicious of this Israelite who has demanded this woman as a wife?

As far the expensive wager, solving the riddle requires inside information. Only someone who observed the events with the lions, or who heard about it, could possibly have a guess at the answer.

Judges 13: 15-17, The fourth day

On the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father's household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?"

Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer." 

"I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?"

She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

(According to the NIV footnotes, some ancient manuscripts have the men talking to Samson's wife on the seventh day, not the fourth.)

The companions are friends and relatives of the wife. They are unhappy about Samson's riddle and threaten to kill the woman and her family.  The unnamed woman then goes to her husband, begging, weepig, crying, until he gives in. She then betrays Samson passes on the story.

Judges 14: 18-19, Revenge

Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? 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."

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house.

The Philistine men come to Samson just before the riddle deadline and give him the solution. Samson knows how they got the answer and angrily accuses them of "plowing his heifer." He then (under the Spirit of YHWH!) gets angry and pays his debt by killing thirty Philistines and taking their belongings. He then goes home. 

Although Samson's act is empowered by YHWH's Spirit, it is violent and impulsive. Samson seems to have no genuine affection for the woman or her family.  His murders and robberies certainly stir up the Philistines.

Judges 13: 20, Of course

And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.

Samson created violence and murder and then went home. So the father of his Philistine wife gives her away to someone else.