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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,[a]
you would not have solved my riddle!”

19 The Lord’s Spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men. He took their clothes[b] and gave them[c] to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.[d] 20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 14:18 sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.
  2. Judges 14:19 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
  3. Judges 14:19 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
  4. Judges 14:19 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
  5. Judges 14:20 tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”