1And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines. 2And he came up and told his father and mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines. And now get her for me for a wife. 3And his father and his mother said to him, Is there not a woman among the daughters of your brothers, and among all my people, that you must go to take a woman from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she pleases me very much. 4And his father and his mother did not know that it was from Jehovah, that He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel. 5And Samson and his father and his mother went down to Timnath. And they came to the vineyards of Timnath. And, behold, a young lion roaring to meet him. 6And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily on him. And he tore it as the cleaving of a kid. And there was nothing in his hand; and he did not tell his father and his mother what he had done. 7And he went down and talked with the woman. And she was pleasing in the eyes of Samson. 8And some days later he returned to take her, and turned aside to see the remains of the lion. And, behold, a bee-swarm in the carcase of the lion, and honey. 9And he took it out on his hands, and went on, eating and walking. And he went to his father and to his mother, and gave some to them. And they ate, but he did not tell them that he took the honey out of the body of the lion. 10And his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there, for so the young men usually did. 11And it happened when they saw him, they took thirty companions, and they were with him. 12And Samson said to them, Please let me riddle a riddle to you. If declaring you declare it to me in the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I shall give you thirty linen blouses and thirty changes of garments. 13And if you are not able to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen blouses and thirty changes of garments. And they said to him, Riddle your riddle, and we shall hear it. 14And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they were not able to declare the riddle in three days. 15And it happened on the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called for us to make us poor? Is it not so? 16And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, You only hate me, and do not love me. You have riddled the riddle to the sons of my people, and you have not declared it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not declared it to my father and to my mother, and shall I declare it to you? 17And she wept before him the seven days on which they feasted. And it was on the seventh day, he told her, for she distressed him. And she told the riddle to the sons of her people. 18And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before the sun went in, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, Unless you had plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle. 19And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him. And he went down to Ashkelon and struck thirty men of them, and took their plunder. And he gave the changes to those who told the riddle; and his anger burned. And he went up to his father’s house. 20And Samson’s wife became his companion’s, who had been his friend.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 Here, I. Samson, under the extraordinary guidance of Providence, seeks an occasion of quarrelling with the Philistines, by joining in affinity with them - a strange method, but the truth is Samson was himself a riddle, a paradox of a man, did that which was really great and good, by that which was seemingly weak and evil, because he was designed not to be a pattern to us (who must walk by rule, not by example), but a type of him who, though he knew no sin, was made sin for us, and appeared
in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he might
condemn and
destroy sin in the flesh, Roma 8:3.
1. As the negotiation of Samson's marriage was a common case, we may observe, (1.) That is was weakly and foolishly done of him to set his affections upon a daughter of the Philistines; the thing appeared very improper. Shall one that is not only an Israelite, but a Nazarite, devoted to the Lord, covet to become one with a worshipper of Dagon? Shall one marked for a patriot of his country match among those that are its sworn enemies? He saw this woman (
Judg 14:1), and she
pleased him well, Judg 14:3. It does not appear that he had any reason to think her wise or virtuous, or in any way likely to be a help-meet for him; but he saw something in her face that was very agreeable to his fancy, and therefore nothing will serve but she must be his wife. He that in the choice of a wife is guided only by his eye, and governed by his fancy, must afterwards thank himself if he find a Philistine in his arms. (2.) Yet it was wisely and well done not to proceed so much as to make his addresses to her till he had first made his parents acquainted with the matter. He told them, and desired them to
get her for him to wife, Judg 14:2. Herein he is an example to all children. Conformably to the law of the fifth commandment, children ought not to marry, nor to move towards marrying, without the advice and consent of their parents; those that do (as bishop Hall here expresses it)
wilfully unchild themselves, and exchange natural affections for violent. parents have a property in their children as parts of themselves. In marriage this property is transferred; for such is the law of the relation that
a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife. It is therefore not only unkind and ungrateful, but very unjust, to alienate this property without their concurrence; whoso thus
robbeth his father or mother, stealing himself from them, who is nearer and dearer to them than their goods,
and yet
saith, It is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer, Prov 28:24. (3.) His parents did well to dissuade him from yoking himself thus unequally with unbelievers. Let those who profess religion, but are courting an affinity with the profane and irreligious, matching into families where they have reason to think the fear of God is not, nor the worship of God, let them hear their reasoning, and apply it to themselves:
Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or, if none of our tribe,
never a one among all thy people, never an Israelite, that pleases thee, or that thou canst think worthy of thy affection, that thou shouldest marry a Philistine? In the old world the sons of God corrupted and ruined themselves, their families, and that truly primitive church, by marrying with the
daughters of men, Gen 6:2. God had forbidden the people of Israel to marry with the devoted nations, one of which the Philistines were,
Deut 7:3. (4.) If there had not been a special reason for it, it certainly would have been improper in him to insist upon his choice, and in them to agree to it at last. Yet their tender compliance with his affections may be observed as an example to parents not to be unreasonable in crossing their children's choices, nor to deny their consent, especially to those that have seasonably and dutifully asked it, without some very good cause. As children must
obey their parents in the Lord, so parents must not
provoke their children to wrath, lest they be discouraged. This Nazarite, in his subjection to his parents, asking their consent, and not proceeding till he had it, was not only an example to all children, but a type of the holy child Jesus, who
went down with his parents to Nazareth (thence called a
Nazarene ) and was subject to them,
Luke 2:51.
2. But this treaty of marriage is expressly said to be
of the Lord, Judg 14:4. Not only that God afterwards overruled it to serve his designs against the Philistines, but that he put it into Samson's heart to make this choice, that he
might have occasion against the Philistine. It was not a thing evil in itself for him to marry a Philistine. It was forbidden because of the danger of receiving hurt by idolaters; where there was not only no danger of that kind, but an opportunity hoped for of doing that hurt to them which would be good service to Israel, the law might well be dispense with. It was said (
Judg 13:25) that
the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times, and we have reason to think he himself perceived that Spirit to move him at this time, when he made this choice, and that otherwise he would have yielded to his parents' dissuasives, nor would they have consented at last if he had not satisfied them it was
of the Lord. This would bring him into acquaintance and converse with the Philistines, by which he might have such opportunities of galling them as otherwise he could not have. It should seem, the way in which the Philistines oppressed Israel was, not by great armies, but by the clandestine incursions of their giants and small parties of their plunderers. In the same way therefore Samson must deal with them; let him but by this marriage get among them, and he would be a
thorn in their sides. Jesus Christ, having to deliver us from this present evil world, and to cast out the prince of it, did himself visit it, though full of pollution and enmity, and, by assuming a body, did in some sense join in affinity with it, that he might destroy our spiritual enemies, and his own arm might work the salvation.
II. Samson, by a special providence, is animated and encouraged to attack the Philistines. That being the service for which he was designed, God, when he called him to it, prepared him for it by two occurrences: -
1. By enabling him, in one journey to Timnath, to
kill a lion, Judg 14:5,
Judg 14:6. Many decline doing the service they might do because they
know not their own strength. God let Samson know what he could do in the strength of the
Spirit of the Lord, that he might never be afraid to look the greatest difficulties in the face. David, who was to complete the destruction of the Philistines, must try his hand first upon
a lion and a bear, that thence he might infer, as we may suppose Samson did, that the uncircumcised Philistine should be as one of them,
1Sam 17:36. (1.) Samson's encounter with the lion was hazardous. It was a young lion, one of the fiercest sort, that set upon him, roaring for his prey, and setting his eye particularly upon him;
he roared in meeting him, so the word is. He was all alone in the vineyards, whither he had rambled from his father and mother (who kept the high road), probably to eat grapes. Children consider not how they expose themselves to the roaring lion that seeks to devour when, out of a foolish fondness for liberty, they wander from under the eye and wing of their prudent pious parents. Nor do young people consider what lions lurk in the vineyards, the vineyards of red wines, as dangerous as snakes under the green grass. Had Samson met with this lion in the way, he might have had more reason to expect help both from God and man than here in the solitary vineyards, out of his road. But there was a special providence in it, and the more hazardous the encounter was, (2.) The victory was so much the more illustrious. It was obtained without any difficulty: he strangled the lion, and tore his throat as easily as he would have strangled a kid, yet without any instrument, not only no sword nor bow, but not so much as a staff or knife; he had
nothing in his hand. Christ engaged the roaring lion, and conquered him in the beginning of his public work (
Matt 4:1, etc.), and afterwards spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them
in himself, as some read it, not by any instrument. He was
exalted in his own strength. That which added much to the glory of Samson's triumph over the lion was that when he had done this great exploit he did not boast of it, did
not so much as tell his father nor mother that which many a one would soon have published through the whole country. Modesty and humility make up the brightest crown of great performances.
2. By providing him, the next journey, with honey in the carcase of this lion,
Judg 14:8,
Judg 14:9. When he came down the next time to solemnize his nuptials, and his parents with him, he had the curiosity to turn aside into the vineyard where he had killed the lion, perhaps that with the sight of the place he might affect himself with the mercy of that great deliverance, and might there solemnly give thanks to God for it. It is good thus to
remind ourselves of God's former favours to us. There he found the carcase of the lion; the birds or beasts of prey, it is likely, had eaten the flesh, and in the skeleton a swarm of bees had knit, and made a hive of it, and had not been idle, but had there laid up a good stock of honey, which was one of the staple commodities of Canaan; such plenty there was of it that the land is said to
flow with milk and honey. Samson, having a better title than any man to the hive, seizes the honey with his hands. This supposes an encounter with the bees; but he that dreaded not lion's paws had no reason to fear
their stings. As by his victory over the lion he was emboldened to encounter the Philistine-giants, if there should be occasion, notwithstanding their strength and fierceness, so by dislodging the bees he was taught not to fear the multitude of the Philistines; though they
compassed him about like bees, yet in the name of the Lord he should destroy them, Pss 118:12. Of the honey he here found, (1.) He ate himself, asking no questions for conscience' sake; for the dead bones of an unclean beast had not that ceremonial pollution in them that the bones of a man had. John Baptist, that Nazarite of the New Testament, lived upon wild honey. (2.) He gave to his parents, and they did eat; he did not eat all himself.
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, and no more,
Prov 25:16. He let his parents share with him. Children should be grateful to their parents with the fruits of their own industry, and so
show piety at home, 1Tim 5:4. Let those that by the grace of God have found sweetness in religion themselves communicate their experience to their friends and relations, and invite them to come and share with them. He told not his parents whence he had it, lest they should scruple eating it. Bishop Hall observes here that
those are less wise and more scrupulous than Samson that decline the use of God's gifts because they find them in ill vessels. Honey is hone still, though in a dead lion. Our Lord Jesus having conquered Satan, that roaring lion, believers find honey in the carcase, abundant strength and satisfaction, enough for themselves and for all their friends, from that victory.
10 We have here an account of Samson's wedding feast and the occasion it gave him to fall foul upon the Philistines.
I. Samson conformed to the custom of the country in making a festival of his nuptial solemnities, which continued seven days,
Judg 14:10. Though he was a Nazarite, he did not affect, in a thing of this nature, to be singular, but did
as the young men used to do upon such occasions. It is no part of religion to go contrary to the innocent usages of the places where we live: nay, it is a reproach to religion when those who profess it give just occasion to others to call them covetous, sneaking, and morose. A good man should strive to make himself, in the best sense, a good companion.
II. His wife's relations paid him the accustomed respect of the place upon that occasion, and brought him thirty young men to keep him company during the solemnity, and to attend him as his grooms-men (
Judg 14:11):
When they saw him, what a comely man he was, and what an ingenuous graceful look he had, they brought him these to do him honour, and to improve by his conversation while he staid among them. Or, rather, when they saw him, what a strong stout man he was, they brought these, seemingly to be his companions, but really to be a guard upon him, or spies to observe him. Jealous enough they were of him, but would have been more so had they known of his victory over the lion, which therefore he had industriously concealed. The favours of Philistines have often some mischief or other designed in them.
III. Samson, to entertain the company, propounds a riddle to them, and lays a wager with them that they cannot find it out in seven days,
Judg 14:12-
Judg 14:14. The usage, it seems, was very ancient upon such occasions, when friends were together, to be innocently merry, not to spend all the time in dull eating and drinking, as bishop Patrick expresses it, or in other gratifications of sense, as music, dancing, or shows, but to propose questions, by which their learning and ingenuity might be tried and improved. This becomes men, wise men, that value themselves by their reason; but very unlike to it are the infamous and worse than brutish entertainments of this degenerate age, which send nothing round but the glass and the health, till reason is drowned, and wisdom sunk. Now, 1. Samson's riddle was his own invention, for it was his own achievement that gave occasion for it:
Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. Read my riddle, what is this? Beasts of prey do not yield meat for man, yet
food came from the devourer; and those creatures that are strong when they are alive commonly smell strong and are every way offensive when they are dead, as horses, and yet
out of the strong, or out of
the bitter, so the Syriac and Arabic read it,
came sweetness. If they had but so much sense as to consider what eater is most strong, and what meat is most sweet, they would have found out the riddle, and neither lions nor honey were such strangers to their country that the thoughts of them needed to be out of the way; and the solving of the riddle would have given him occasion to tell them the entertaining story on which it was founded. This riddle is applicable to many of the methods of divine providence and grace. When God, by an over-ruling providence, brings good out of evil to his church and people, - when that which threatened their ruin turns to their advantage, - when their enemies are made serviceable to them, and the wrath of men turns to God's praise, - then comes
meat out of the eater and
sweetness out of the strong. See
Phili 1:12. 2. His water was more considerable to him than to them, because he was one against thirty partners. It was not a wager laid upon God's providence, or upon the chance of a die or a card, but upon their ingenuity, and amounted to no more than an honorary recompence of wit and a disgrace upon stupidity.
IV. His companions, when they could not expound the riddle themselves, obliged his wife to get from him the exposition of it,
Judg 14:15. Whether they were really of a dull capacity, or whether under a particular infatuation at this time, it was strange that none of the thirty could in all this time stumble upon so plain a thing as that,
What is sweeter than honey and
what stronger than a lion? It should seem that in wit, as well as manners, they were barbarous - barbarous indeed to threaten the bride that, if she would not use means with the bridegroom to let them into the meaning of it, they would
burn her and her father's house with fire. Could any thing be more brutish? It was base enough to turn a jest into earnest, and those were unworthy of conversation that would grow so outrageous rather than confess their ignorance and lose so small a wager; nor would it save their credit at all to tell the riddle when they were told it. It was yet more villainous to engage Samson's wife to be a traitor to her own husband, and to pretend a greater interest in her than he had. Now that she was married she must
forget her own people. Yet most inhuman of all was it to threaten, if she could not prevail, to burn her and all her relations with fire, and all for fear of losing each of them the value of a shirt and a coat:
Have you called us to take what we have? Those must never lay wagers that cannot lose more tamely and easily than thus.
V. His wife, by unreasonable importunity, obtains from him a key to his riddle. It was
on the seventh day, that is, the seventh day of the week (as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures), but the fourth day of the feast, that they solicited her to entice her husband (
Judg 14:15), and she did it, 1. With great art and management (
Judg 14:16), resolving not to believe he loved her, unless he would gratify her in this thing. She knew he could not bear to have his love questioned, and therefore, if any thing would work upon him, that would:
Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not, if thou deniest me; whereas he had much more reason to say, Thou dost but
hate me, and
lovest me not, if thou insistest on it. And, that she might not make this the test of his affection, he assures her he had not told his own parents, notwithstanding the confidence he reposed in them. If this prevail not, she will try the powerful eloquence of tears: she
wept before him the rest of
the days of the feast, choosing rather to mar the mirth, as the bride's tears must needs do, than not gain her point, and oblige her countrymen,
Judg 14:17. 2. With great success. At last, being quite wearied with her importunity, he told her what was the meaning of his riddle, and though we may suppose she promised secresy, and that if he would but let her know she would tell nobody, she immediately told it to the
children of her people; nor could he expect better from a Philistine, especially when the interests of her country were ever so little concerned. See
Mic 7:5,
Mic 7:6. The riddle is at length
unriddled (
Judg 14:18):
What is sweeter than honey, or a better meat?
Prov 24:13.
What is stronger than a lion, or a greater devourer? Samson generously owns they had won the wager, though he had good reason to dispute it, because they had not declared the riddle, as the bargain was (
Judg 14:12), but it had been declared to them. But he only thought fit to tell them of it:
If you had not ploughed with my heifer, made use of your interest with my wife,
you would not have found out my riddle. Satan, in his temptations, could not do us the mischief he does if he did not plough with the heifer of our own corrupt nature.
VI. Samson pays his wager to these Philistines with the spoils of others of their countrymen,
Judg 14:19. He took this occasion to quarrel with the Philistines, went down to Ashkelon, one of their cities, where probably he knew there was some great festival observed at this time, to which many flocked, out of whom he picked out thirty, slew them, and took their clothes, and gave them to those that had expounded the riddle; so that, in balancing the account, it appeared that the Philistines were the losers, for one of the lives they lost was worth all the suits of clothes they won: the body is more than raiment.
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, both to authorize and to enable him to do this.
VII. This proves a good occasion of weaning Samson from his new relations. He found how his companions had abused him and how his wife had betrayed him, and therefore
his anger was kindled, Judg 14:19. Better be angry with Philistines than in love with them, because, when we join ourselves to them, we are most in danger of being ensnared by them. And, meeting with this ill usage among them, he
went up to his father's house. It were well for us if the unkindnesses we meet with from the world, and our disappointments in it, had but this good effect upon us, to oblige us by faith and prayer to return to our heavenly Father's house and rest there. The inconveniences that occur in our way should make us love home and long to be there. No sooner had he gone than his wife was disposed of to another,
Judg 14:20. Instead of begging his pardon for the wrong she had done him, when he justly signified his resentment of it only by withdrawing in displeasure for a time, she immediately marries him that was the chief of the guests, the friend of the bridegroom, whom perhaps she loved too well, and was too willing to oblige, when she got her husband to tell her the riddle. See how little confidence is to be put in man, when those may prove our enemies whom we have used as our friends.
