Judges 14:9

Judges 14:9 a

‘And he took it in his hands, and went on, eating as he went.'

As a Nazirite Samson had to avoid dead carcasses for they would render him ‘unclean', but while he was fastidious about his hair he was possibly slacker about the other requirements. Perhaps as a lifelong Nazirite some leeway was given. On the other hand it may be that in collecting the honey he used some instrument and thus avoided touching the carcass, and satisfied his conscience in that way. He would have become used to different methods of keeping ‘clean'. There does not appear to be any condemnation of his action.

Judges 14:9 b

‘And he came to his father and mother, and he gave some to them, and they ate, but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.'

Moving towards Timnah he met up with his father and mother and gave them some honey without telling them where he had obtained it from. This was something he should have done for they may have considered it wrong to eat honey from a carcass, especially his mother who may have seen herself as still ‘dedicated' to Yahweh. But again the main point is that they would not know the answer to the riddle that is shortly coming, and he did not talk about his feat.