XIV. Judges 14:1. Samson desires a woman of Timnath to wife. Judges 14:5. He kills a lion on his way. Judges 14:8. He finds honey in the carcass. Judges 14:10. The wedding feast. Judges 14:12. Samson’s riddle. Judges 14:15. It is treacherously revealed by his wife. Judges 14:19. He slays thirty Phi... [ Continue Reading ]
TO TIMNATH. — This town, of which the site still retains the name Tibneh, is perhaps the same as that in Genesis 38:12, unless that be a town in the mountains of Judah, as Judah is there said to have “gone _up”_ not as here, “down” to it. In Joshua 15:10 it is assigned to Judah, but appears to have... [ Continue Reading ]
GET HER FOR ME TO WIFE. — These arrangements were always left to parents, who paid the marriage dower (Genesis 34:4). (Comp. Judges 12:9; Nehemiah 10:30, &c.)... [ Continue Reading ]
OF THE UNCIRCUMCISED PHILISTINES. — This on the lips of Israelites was a term of peculiar hatred (1 Samuel 17:36). How repugnant such a marriage would be in the eyes of Manoah and his wife we may see from the story of Simeon, Levi, and the Shechemites (Gen. xxxiv). SHE PLEASETH ME WELL. — Literally... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT IT WAS OF THE LORD. — All that can be meant is that in this marriage God was overruling the course of events to the furtherance of His own designs. He makes even the weakness and the fierceness of man redound to His praise. (Comp. Joshua 11:10; 2 Chronicles 25:20.) See the same phrase in the st... [ Continue Reading ]
(5) THE VINEYARDS OF TIMNATH. — All this part of Palestine, and especially the neighbouring valley of Sorek (Judges 16:4), was famous for its vines (Isaiah 5:2; Jeremiah 2:21). The hills of Judah, which at that time were laboriously terraced up to the summit, like the hill-sides of the Italian vall... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. — Implying here an access of courage and strength. The verb rendered “came mightily” literally means _pervaded,_ as in Judges 14:19; Judges 15:14; 1 Samuel 10:10. (Comp. 1 Samuel 18:10 — of the evil spirit rushing upon Saul; LXX., “leapt upon him;” Vulg., _irruit._) RENT HIM.... [ Continue Reading ]
TALKED WITH THE WOMAN. — His father and mother seem to have preceded him, and made the betrothal arrangements; otherwise he would not have been allowed by Eastern custom to talk with her. It cannot mean “talked _about_ the woman,” as Rosenmüller says.... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER A TIME. — There is nothing to show how long this time was. A betrothal might last a year. In Judges 11:4 the same phrase (“after days “) is used of many years. TO TAKE HER. — To lead her to his own home after the bridal feast. A SWARM OF BEES AND HONEY IN THE CARCASE OF THE LION. — This incid... [ Continue Reading ]
HE TOOK THEREOF IN HIS HANDS. — Unless he considered that a skeleton could not be regarded as a dead body, he could not have done this without breaking the express conditions of his Nazarite vow (Numbers 5:6). HE TOLD NOT THEM. — Perhaps from the general reticence of his character, but more probabl... [ Continue Reading ]
WENT DOWN UNTO THE WOMAN. — Formally, to claim her as the bride of his son. MADE THERE A FEAST. — According to the universal custom in all ages (Genesis 29:22; Revelation 19:9). The LXX. add the words “seven days.” (Comp. Genesis 29:27.)... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY SAW HIM. — The reason why this clause is added is somewhat obscure, and this is perhaps the reason why the LXX. and Josephus, without any warrant, render it “when they were afraid of him, which would involve a change in the reading. THEY BROUGHT THIRTY COMPANIONS. — It was necessary to th... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL NOW PUT FORTH A RIDDLE UNTO YOU. — _Chidah,_ “a riddle,” comes from _chud,_ “to knot.” The use of riddles at feasts is of great antiquity both among the Jews (1 Kings 10:1, &c.) and Greeks (Athen. x. 457; Pollux, vi. 107, &c.). Jewish legends have much to tell us of the riddles which passed b... [ Continue Reading ]
OUT OF THE STRONG CAME FORTH SWEETNESS. — The antithesis is not perfect, but we cannot strain the word “strong” to mean “bitter,” as the LXX. and Syriac do. Josephus gives the riddle in the form,”the all-devouring having generated sweet food from itself, though itself far from sweet” (_Antt. v._ 8,... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE SEVENTH DAY. — When they were in despair. LEST WE BURN THEE AND THY FATHER’S HOUSE WITH FIRE. — As, indeed, they ultimately did (Judges 15:6). If Samson appears in no very favourable light in this chapter, the Philistines show themselves to be most mean, treacherous, and brutal. TO TAKE THA... [ Continue Reading ]
WEPT BEFORE HIM. — Samson’s riddle had the effect of making the whole wedding-feast of this ill-starred marriage one of the most embittered and least joyous that ever fell to a bridegroom’s lot. This was a just punishment for his lawless fancies, though God overruled them to His own ends. A weeping,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SEVEN DAYS. — The margin suggests that it may mean _the rest of the seven days._ If not, it can only imply that mere feminine curiosity had induced Samson’s wife to weary her husband to tell her the secret from the first. ON THE SEVENTH DAY. — Perhaps he hoped that he might prevent her from fin... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY? — Their answer is given in the same rhythmical form as the riddle itself. IF YE HAD NOT PLOWED WITH MY HEIFER. — Many commentators, following Rabbi Levi Ben Gershom, read in this proverbial phrase an implication that Samson suspected his wife of adultery; but there is no... [ Continue Reading ]
TO ASHKELON. — Probably he seized the opportunity of some great feast to Dagon, or even of another marriage festival, since the linen robes and rich garments would not be such as would be worn every day. TOOK THEIR SPOIL. — The Hebrew word _chalîsah_ is rendered “armour” in 2 Samuel 2:21 (LXX.,_pan... [ Continue Reading ]
TO HIS COMPANION, WHOM HE HAD USED AS HIS FRIEND — _i.e.,_ to the chief of the paranyraphs (the bride-conductor, LXX.); “the friend of the bride-groom” (John 3:29). Hence, even if the suspicion as to the meaning of Samson’s words in Judges 14:18 be unfounded, it is clear that there was treachery and... [ Continue Reading ]