# Judges 14 📖: Samson's Riddle [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Judges Overview]] | [[Judges 13]] | [[Judges 15]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Samson’s Unconsummated Marriage [[#Verse 01.]] Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye.  [[#Verse 02.]] When he got home, he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. Now get her for my wife.”  [[#Verse 03.]] But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is the right one for me.” [[#Verse 04.]] Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel). [[#Verse 05.]] Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him.  [[#Verse 06.]] The Lord’s Spirit empowered him, and he tore the lion in two with his bare hands as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. [[#Verse 07.]] Samson continued on down to Timnah and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one.  [[#Verse 08.]] Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. [[#Verse 09.]] He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. [[#Verse 10.]] Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. Samson hosted a party there, for this was customary for bridegrooms to do.  [[#Verse 11.]] When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.  [[#Verse 12.]] Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.  [[#Verse 13.]] But if you cannot solve it, you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.”  [[#Verse 14.]] He said to them, “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong one came something sweet.” They could not solve the riddle for three days. [[#Verse 15.]] On the fourth day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. If you refuse, we will burn up you and your father’s family. Did you invite us here to make us poor?”  [[#Verse 16.]] So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder and said, “You must hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?”  [[#Verse 17.]] She cried on his shoulder until the party was almost over. Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle.  [[#Verse 18.]] On the seventh day, before the sun set, 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 solved my riddle!” [[#Verse 19.]] The Lord’s Spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men. He took their clothes and gave them to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.  [[#Verse 20.]] Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Timnah (14:1) was a town on the border between Dan and Philistine territory. 2. Lions lived in the land of Israel in biblical times and are mentioned often in the Old Testament. 3. Bees making honey in the carcass (14:8) shows time had passed and the body had dried out. 4. Samson's honey came from a dead body, which Nazirites were not to go near (Numbers 6:6). 5. The wedding feast lasted seven days (14:12), a common length for celebrations (Genesis 29:27). 6. The Hebrew word for feast (*mishteh*) comes from the word for "drink," suggesting a drinking party. 7. Thirty companions were assigned to Samson (14:11), possibly as escorts or as guards. 8. Riddles were a popular form of entertainment and contest in the ancient world. 9. Ashkelon (14:19) was one of the five main Philistine cities. 10. Samson's wife was given to his companion (14:20), a deep insult. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the strong One who overcomes the lion. Samson tore a lion apart and later found sweetness in it (14:6, 8), and Jesus, the Lion of Judah, has conquered and brings life out of death (Revelation 5:5; Hebrews 2:14). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Samson chose a wife because she looked right to him (14:3). How do we let what looks good override what God says? 2. Samson took honey from a dead lion and kept it secret (14:9). How does hidden compromise grow over time? 3. God was using even Samson's poor choices to confront the Philistines (14:4). How does God's sovereignty comfort us without excusing sin? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 3: Samson insists on a Philistine wife because she looks right to him. - 📖 verse 4: The Lord was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. - 📖 verse 6: The Spirit of the Lord empowers Samson to tear apart a lion. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Revelation 05#Verse 05.|Revelation 5:5]] - The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered. - 🔗 [[2 Corinthians 06#Verse 14.|2 Corinthians 6:14]] - Do not be unequally yoked. - 🔗 [[Numbers 06#Verse 06.|Numbers 6:6]] - A Nazirite must not go near a dead body. - 🔗 [[Romans 08#Verse 28.|Romans 8:28]] - God works all things for good. - 🔗 [[Proverbs 25#Verse 02.|Proverbs 25:2]] - It is God's glory to conceal a matter. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Judges 14 - SOAP|A Promise is a Promise]] ## 📂 Internal Notes