Introduction:
Samson was one of several “miracle” babies, born to women who could not conceive a child except by God’s power. Other women facing that situation included Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, Rachel, Elisabeth, and the Shunammite woman mentioned in 2 Kings 4. The virgin Mary is of course a special case.
In Judges 13, Samson’s parents received instructions, directly from God through the Angel of the LORD about what Samson’s mother was supposed to do, and how Samson was supposed to live. He was to be a Nazarite from birth, meaning among other things he was never to cut his hair, never to drink wine nor strong drink and never to touch anything unclean (additional details about the Nazarite vow are in Numbers 6). By the time of chapter 14, Samson is at least old enough to consider marriage. Instead of choosing a possible spouse from either the women of Dan, or even other Israelite girls, he was smitten by a pagan Philistine woman.
Samson may not have known it, but this first encounter, as recorded in Scripture, would lead to a lifetime of problems, heartache, and a lot more. He was about to enter trouble in Timnath.
These first four verses set the stage for the rest of this story:
[Judges 14:1, KJV] 1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 And 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. 3 Then 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. 4 But 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.
One thing that stands out is just why Samson went to Timnath in the first place! Admittedly, the Philistines did rule over Israel at the time, so perhaps there was a political aspect to this (paying taxes, reporting in, or any number of things) but we do not know why, nor how often Samson made this journey. Dan had a relatively small amount of land as their original inheritance to begin with (Josh. 19:40-48), and their original territory was close to Philistine land anyway. It goes without saying that if Israel had followed the LORD’s commands completely, and removed the pagans who were still in the Promised Land, this problem may not have even come up.
But even worse than traveling to enemy land, Samson became attracted to a Philistine woman. This was wrong on many levels: first, intermarriage with pagans was strictly forbidden in the Law of Moses (Exodus 34:10-16). Second, there is no indication that she was attracted to him: Samson only said in so many words, “I saw her, I want her, now go get her for me”. Third, and finally, Samson is dragging his parents into this and they knew none of this was good!
Look at the response of his parents: “Isn’t there a Hebrew girl who pleases you? Why then are you looking among the uncircumcised Philistines for a mate?” They seemed to have not only better faith and stronger faith than Samson himself at this time, but also they were aware of the trouble bound to happen in any mixed marriage. The Philistines worshiped Dagon (some believe Dagon was half man and half fish) and had little if anything to do with Israel’s God. Besides, they had conquered Israel and they believed Dagon was stronger than the God of Israel.
How could any good come from any of that, whether marriage or anything else?
Incredibly, something good was going on, even though none of the parties involved knew it at the time. Certainly, God would never approve of an Israelite marrying a pagan but in this case, knowing how basically stubborn Samson was, God allowed him to follow his own course. Samson was going to accomplish God’s will even though Samson didn’t know it at the time. Remember that God had told Samson’s parents that their son would “begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines (Judges 13:5)”.
Could this be the beginning of the beginning?
Verses 5-9 describe, in summary, Samson’s second time of trouble.
5 Then 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. 6 And 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. 7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8 And 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. 9 And 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.
By now, Samson’s parents have agreed to Samson’s wishes and they are all traveling to Timnath. One of the first things mentioned in the text is the vineyards of Timnath. Why the writer mentioned this is not certain except that wine seemed to be part of everyday life back then. Gideon had threshed wheat in a winepress (Judges 6) and some years later, a group of people trod grapes, drank wine, and cursed Gideon’s son Abimelech—the man who would be king and in fact reigned as “king” for three years (see Judges 9). Besides, Samson was a lifelong Nazarite and he was forbidden to drink wine or other “strong drink”, so why walk near the vineyards?
Now Samson faced the first real test of his strength. Apparently he was alone—the text states that even though his parents went with him to Timnath, a young lion “roared against him”. Whether the lion actually attacked Samson, or whether he went chasing the lion, is not certain. One thing for certain, though, is that when the Spirit of the LORD came “mightily” upon Samson, he “rent” or tore him in pieces. The writer gives an additional detail: Samson “rent” the lion as he would have “rent a kid”. I have to confess that tearing any kind of flesh does not seem to be easy, no matter how much strength any person might have. That Samson was able to survive this attack is one more proof of God’s love and protection for him.
Something else that is puzzling is that Samson didn’t tell his parents about his encounter with the lion. Again, there is no reason why he didn’t tell them. Could it be he was afraid they might interpret this as God’s disapproval—proof that God didn’t want any of this to happen? Or would they be afraid for Samson? If he was attacked once, might this happen again? We do not know the answers nor any reason why. This was something Samson decided to keep to himself.
For now.
You see, Samson was still determined to win this Philistine woman to be his wife. In verse 7, we read that he went down and talked with the woman (was this the first time?), and she “pleased” Samson. We shouldn’t be surprised, he had already told his parents that she pleased him, and that was before, apparently, they had even met!
Now, between verses 7 and 8, a period of time takes place; we’re not told how long, other than it was “after a time”. This is probably when Samson proposed marriage to the Philistine woman, and, incredibly, she accepted Samson’s proposal! Customs about proposals and marriage may vary depending on the situation: Rebekah left her family to marry Isaac, sight unseen (Genesis 24); Jacob worked seven years each for Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29); later, Jacob was offered “so much dowry and gift (Genesis 34)” for his daughter Dinah after she had been kidnapped and sexually abused! As for Philistine wedding customs, we have a glimpse of this later in the chapter but this may only be describing the wedding ceremony itself/
Then, in verses 8 and 8, we see another of Samson’s sins or violation of his Nazarite vow. Remember that Nazarites were “come at no dead body (Num. 6:6)” and a lion’s carcass would certainly meet that description. The lion’s body had decayed to the point where bees had built a hive and a honeycomb. Samson grabbed some of the honey, ate it, and even gave some to his parents. Perhaps not surprisingly, he didn’t say where he had found the honey. This makes at least the second secret that Samson had not shared with his parents.
But he figured that good things were about to happen. And, at first glance, he was right!
Verses 10-14 tell us a little about Samson’s wedding, which could have been a very happy day for him/ We’ll also see a glimpse of what may be a Philistine wedding custom—or more!
10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. 11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 And 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: 13 But 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. 14 And 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.
Manoah, Samson’s father, came down to the wedding but his mother is not mentioned. We don’t know why; some think she may have been ill or she may have died by this time. At any rate, Manoah did come to the wedding to show his support for his son.
Samson may have needed all the support he could get! Here he was, just one lone Hebrew and his father, in the midst of at least 30 Philistine enemies. Maybe, thanks to a wedding, there was at least a temporary truce or something similar. One of the things Samson did was make a feast but whether this was a Hebrew or Philistine custom, or both, is not specified here.
Something that Samson did was put forth a “riddle”, making it kind of a wager, in that if they could not guess the answer, they would have to provide 30 sets of clothes (“sheets” seems to be the inner garment and “changes of garments” the outer garments). Samson believed he would be able to outwit the Philistines with this riddle—otherwise, I personally doubt he would have made such a wager or challenge! Who wants to lose?
Now here is the riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat (food), and out of the strong came forth sweetness”. I would have had a hard time to figure out this one, so how would you do? Needless to say, the Philistines didn’t figure it out either.
And they didn’t want to lose, either, especially to an enemy or someone whose land they had already conquered and ruled over! So, in the next four verses, we see how they got the answer.
15 And 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]? 16 And 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? 17 And 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. 18 And 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.
The first thing that Samson’s “friends” did was put pressure on his bride to help them get the answer. Note how they accused her of wanting to “take what (they) have”—as though she wanted their clothing! Or did they expect Samson to abandon his Hebrew garments and begin to live with, and like, the Philistines themselves? And they didn’t stop with pressure to get the answer—they threatened to burn her and her father’s house “with fire”. Details are not certain but any form of death, especially by fire, would be a horrible way to die.
Then Samson’s bride began to show her true self. Instead of trusting her new husband (did she really love him, or even try to know him?), she used tears and maybe a tantrum to get what she wanted. She even said as much, by saying “you only hate me, you don’t love me, because you told my people (part of the problem, she didn’t want to leave the Philistine way of life) a riddle and you didn’t even tell me the answer!” Samson may have laughed it off, or at least simply brushed it off, saying “I didn’t tell my parents, either, so why would I tell you?”
The bride may have become desperate because she began to cry (wept, verse 17) for the whole seven days of the feast. How she was able to keep the tears going is not revealed and is almost too hard to believe, but she did it! Eventually, Samson had enough, gave up or threw in the towel, so to speak, and told her the answer.
And what did she do? Did she thank him for his answer? No. Did she express her love for him? I don’t see it. Did she ever reveal the threats that the other Philistines had expressed? No record of it anywhere. The one thing she did was promptly tell the others the answer to the riddle. Tell me, it that any kind of genuine love—that you try tears for days at a time to get what you want, and then don’t even express any gratitude for it? That’s what Samson’s bride did to him.
Then to add insult to injury, the Philistines came to him, apparently just before the deadline of the seventh day—the writer adds “before the sun went down”, signifying the end of the day. Probably with smirks on their faces, they came to Samson and said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” No wonder Samson replied, “You wouldn’t have the answer unless you plowed with my heifer” which is a strange way of describing his bride. At any rate, he wasn’t happy with what had happened. He’d been tricked and betrayed.
And that had to hurt, deeply.
The last two verses give a summary of what happened after the wedding feast.
19 And 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. 20 But Samson's wife was [given] to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
Briefly, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Samson for the second time. He went to Ashkelon, several miles away, then killed 30 men and gave their clothing to the “friends” or guests. After this, understandably, he was angry and went back home.
What about Samson’s bride? Her father then gave her to the “best man”, perhaps thinking Samson was absolutely done with his bride. Thus ends the trouble in Timnath. The guests got the clothes, in payment for the wager; the girl got a husband, but not the man she married; her father probably “saved face” by not having a jilted bride.
But Samson left Timnath with nothing but heartache. Did he learn anything from this trouble?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
