Add parallel Print Page Options

Samson’s Riddle

14 One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”

His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?”

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.

Read full chapter

Samson’s Marriage

14 A while later, Samson went down to Timnah and observed a woman in Timnah who was of Philistine origin.[a] Then he returned and told his father and mother, “In Timnah I saw a woman of Philistine origin.”[b] He ordered them, “Get her for me as a wife. Now!”[c]

His father and mother asked him, “Isn’t there a woman suitable[d] among the daughters of your relatives or among all of our people, since you’re going to get your[e] wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

But Samson retorted to his father, “Get her for me, since she looks fine to me.” Meanwhile, his father and mother did not know that she was from the Lord, because he had been seeking a favorable opportunity concerning the Philistines, since[f] the Philistines were dominating Israel at that time.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Judges 14:1 Lit. Timnah from the daughters of Philistines
  2. Judges 14:2 Lit. woman from the daughters of Philistines
  3. Judges 14:2 Or So get her
  4. Judges 14:3 The Heb. lacks suitable
  5. Judges 14:3 Lit. a
  6. Judges 14:4 Lit. and