Judges 14:10-20
New English Translation
10 Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage.[a] Samson hosted a party[b] there, for this was customary for bridegrooms[c] to do. 11 When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.[d] 12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts,[e] I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets[f] of clothes. 13 But if you cannot solve it,[g] you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.”[h] 14 He said to them,
“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong one came something sweet.”
They could not solve the riddle for three days.
15 On the fourth[i] day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle.[j] If you refuse,[k] we will burn up[l] you and your father’s family.[m] Did you invite us here[n] to make us poor?”[o] 16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder[p] and said, “You must[q] hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men[r] a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?”[s] 17 She cried on his shoulder[t] until the party was almost over.[u] Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much.[v] Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle.[w] 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,[x]
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[y] and gave them[z] to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.[aa] 20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man.[ab]
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- Judges 14:10 tn Heb “And his father went down to the woman.”
- Judges 14:10 tn Or “[wedding] feast.”
- Judges 14:10 tn Heb “the young men.”
- Judges 14:11 tn Heb “When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him.” Instead of כִּרְאוֹתָם (kirʾotam, “when they saw”) some ancient witnesses (e.g., some mss of the LXX) assume the reading בְּיִרְאָתָם (beyirʾatam, “because they feared”).
- Judges 14:12 tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”
- Judges 14:12 tn Heb “changes.”
- Judges 14:13 tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”
- Judges 14:13 tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”
- Judges 14:15 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (reviʿi, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (sheviʿi, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (sheloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
- Judges 14:15 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
- Judges 14:15 tn Heb “lest.”
- Judges 14:15 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 14:15 tn Heb “house.”
- Judges 14:15 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (haloʾ), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.
- Judges 14:15 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “on him.”
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “the sons of my people.”
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “Should I tell you?”
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “on him.”
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “because she forced him.”
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”
- 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.
- Judges 14:19 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
- Judges 14:19 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
- Judges 14:19 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
- Judges 14:20 tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”
Judges 14:10-20
American Standard Version
10 And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. 11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 And Samson said unto them, Let me now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment; 13 but if ye cannot declare it unto me, then shall ye give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 14 And he said unto them,
Out of the eater came forth food,
And out of the strong came forth sweetness.
And they could not in three days declare the riddle.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to [a]impoverish us? is it not so? 16 And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell thee? 17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people. 18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them,
If ye had not plowed with my heifer,
Ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their [b]spoil, and gave the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. 20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 14:15 Or, take that which we have
- Judges 14:19 Or, apparel
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