Judges 14

Samson’s Philistine Wife

14Now Samson went down ^ato Timnah, and ^bsaw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. ²So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, ^cget her for me as a wife.”

³Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of ^dyour brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the ^euncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for ¹she pleases me well.”

⁴But his father and mother did not know that it was ^fof the Lord—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time ^gthe Philistines had dominion over Israel.

⁵So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. ⁶And ^hthe Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. ⁸After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. ⁹He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the ⁱcarcass of the lion.

¹⁰So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. ¹¹And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹²Then Samson said to them, “Let me ^jpose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me ^kwithin the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty ^lchanges of clothing. ¹³But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.”

And they said to him, ^m“Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

¹⁴So he said to them:

“Out of the eater came something to eat,

And out of the strong came something sweet.”

Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.

¹⁵But it came to pass on the ²seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, ⁿ“Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, ^oor else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?”

¹⁶Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, ^p“You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.”

And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?” ¹⁷Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people. ¹⁸So the men of the city said to 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 to them:

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,

You would not have solved my riddle!”

¹⁹Then ^qthe Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father’s house. ²⁰And Samson’s wife ^rwas given to his companion, who had been ^shis best man.