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14 And Shimshon went down to Timnah, and saw an isha in Timnah of the banot Pelishtim (Philistines).

And he came up, and told his av and his em, and said, I have seen an isha in Timnah of the banot Pelishtim; now therefore get her for me as isha.

Then his av and his em said unto him, Is there not among the banot of thy achim, or among kol Ami (all my people) an isha, that thou goest to take an isha of the Pelishtim haArelim? And Shimshon said unto his av, Get her for me; for she is yashrah (right) in my eyes.

But his av and his em knew not that this was from Hashem, for He sought an occasion against the Pelishtim; for at that time the Pelishtim had dominion over Yisroel.

Then went Shimshon down, and his av and his em, to Timnah, and came to the kramim (vineyards) of Timnah; and, hinei, a young lion roared against him.

And the Ruach Hashem came mightily upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat, and he had nothing in his yad; but he told not his av or his em what he had done.

And he went down, and talked with the isha; and she was right in the eyes of Shimshon [cf Prov 16:25].

And after a time he returned to take her [in marriage], and he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and, hinei, there was a swarm of bees and devash in the geviyah of the lion.

And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his av and em, and he gave them, and they did eat; but he told not them that he had taken the devash out of the geviyah of the lion.

10 So his av went down unto the isha; and Shimshon made there a mishteh; for so used the bocherim to do.

11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought shloshim companions to be with him.

12 And Shimshon said unto them, I will now put forth a khidah (riddle) unto you; if ye can certainly declare it to me within the shivat yemei hamishteh, and find it out, then I will give you shloshim linen garments and shloshim sets of begadim;

13 But if ye cannot declare it to me, then shall ye give me shloshim linen garments and shloshim begadim. And they said unto him, Put forth thy khidah, that we may hear it.

14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth the edible, and out of the oz (strong) came forth matok (sweetness). And they could not in shloshet yamim expound the khidah.

15 And it came to pass on the yom hashevi’i, that they said unto the isha of Shimshon, Entice thy ish, that he may declare unto us the khidah, lest we burn thee and thy bais avi with eish; Have ye invited us to make us poor? Is it not so?

16 And the isha of Shimshon wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not; thou hast put forth a khidah unto the bnei ami, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Hinei, I have not told it avi nor immi, and shall I tell it thee?

17 And she wept before him the shivat hayamim, while their mishteh lasted; and it came to pass on the yom hashevi’i, that he told her, because of the pressing of her nagging; and she told the khidah to the bnei of her Am (People).

18 And the anshei haIr said unto him on the yom hashevi’i before the sun went down, What is sweeter than devash? And what is stronger than an ari? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not hit upon my khidah.

19 And the Ruach Hashem came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down shloshim ish of them and took as spoil their garments and gave unto them which expounded the khidah. And his af (anger) was kindled, and he went up to his bais avi.

20 But the isha of Shimshon was given to his companion, who had been his best man (i.e., his Shoshvin. See Yochanan 3:29 OJBC).

Samson’s Marriage

14 Samson(A) went down to Timnah(B) and saw there a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”(C)

His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people?(D) Must you go to the uncircumcised(E) Philistines to get a wife?(F)

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord,(G) who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines;(H) for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)(I)

Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him(J) so that he tore the lion apart(K) with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

10 Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast,(L) as was customary for young men. 11 When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

12 “Let me tell you a riddle,(M)” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast,(N) I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.(O) 13 If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

14 He replied,

“Out of the eater, something to eat;
    out of the strong, something sweet.”(P)

For three days they could not give the answer.

15 On the fourth[a] day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax(Q) your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death.(R) Did you invite us here to steal our property?”

16 Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me.(S) You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” 17 She cried the whole seven days(T) of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?
    What is stronger than a lion?”(U)

Samson said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
    you would not have solved my riddle.”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.(V) He went down to Ashkelon,(W) struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger,(X) he returned to his father’s home. 20 And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions(Y) who had attended him at the feast.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 14:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh