Judges 14

Translator Notes

1. Va-yered Shimshon Timnatah ('Samson went down to Timnah') — the verb yarad ('to go down') is geographically accurate (Timnah is lower than Zorah) but also signals spiritual descent. Throughout the Samson cycle, his movements are consistently downward — toward Philistine territory, toward compromise, toward captivity. Timnah was a border town in the Sorek Valley, roughly four miles from Zorah. The phrase mi-benot Pelishtim ('from the daughters of the Philistines') immediately signals trouble — the man set apart as a Nazirite is drawn to the women of the very people he is meant to oppose.

Translator Notes

1. Samson's demand qechu otah li le-ishah ('get her for me as a wife') is blunt and imperious. He does not ask; he commands. The verb ra'iti ('I saw') echoes the language of desire and temptation — seeing leads to wanting, as with Eve in Genesis 3:6 and David in 2 Samuel 11:2. Marriage to a Philistine woman would violate the prohibition against intermarriage with the nations (Deuteronomy 7:3), though the Philistines are not explicitly listed among the prohibited peoples in that text. Samson's parents will serve as the voice of covenant faithfulness in the next verse.

Translator Notes

1. The parents' objection uses the term ha-arelim ('the uncircumcised') — the most contemptuous Israelite designation for the Philistines, defining them by what they lack: the covenant sign. Samson's response ki hi yashrah be-einai ('because she is right/pleasing in my eyes') uses the exact phrase that characterizes the moral chaos of the judges era — 'everyone did what was right in their own eyes' (17:6, 21:25). The Nazirite judge embodies the very problem he was born to address. He does what is 'right in his own eyes' rather than what is right in God's eyes.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Ki me-YHWH hi ('for it was from the LORD') — this stunning editorial comment reveals that God works through Samson's sinful desire to achieve divine purposes. The word to'anah ('occasion, opportunity, pretext') means God is looking for a provocation, a reason to initiate conflict with the Philistines. This does not excuse Samson's lust; it shows God's sovereignty operating through human failure. The narrator adds the political context: Pelishtim moshelim be-Yisra'el ('the Philistines were ruling over Israel'). God's plan for deliverance runs through the very compromise that makes Samson an unlikely judge. The tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility is left deliberately unresolved.

Translator Notes

1. Kefir arayot ('a young lion') — kefir refers to a young but fully grown lion in its prime, not a cub. The lion sho'eg liqrato ('roaring to meet him, charging at him') is a lethal threat. The location in the karmei Timnatah ('vineyards of Timnah') is significant — a Nazirite should have no business in vineyards, where grapes grow. The text may subtly hint that Samson is already in territory that compromises his vow. His parents are present for the journey but apparently not for the lion encounter, as verse 6 notes he told them nothing about it.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Va-titslach alav ruach YHWH ('the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him') — the verb tsalach means 'to rush, to advance forcefully.' This is the characteristic verb for the Spirit's empowerment of Samson, appearing three times in the cycle (14:6, 14:19, 15:14). It conveys sudden, overwhelming, almost violent infusion of divine power. The result is superhuman: va-yeshasse'ehu ke-shassa ha-gedi ('he tore it as one tears a kid') — shasa means 'to tear, to rip apart.' The comparison to tearing a young goat makes the extraordinary seem casual. The secrecy — lo higgid le-aviv ule-immo ('he did not tell his father and mother') — is puzzling. It may set up the later narrative requirement: if his parents knew about the lion, the riddle would be solvable.

Translator Notes

1. Va-tishar be-einei Shimshon ('she was pleasing in the eyes of Samson') — the verb yashar ('to be straight, right, pleasing') echoes verse 3 where the same root described his desire (yashrah be-einai, 'right in my eyes'). The repetition emphasizes that Samson's motivation is entirely visual and personal. The verb yarad ('went down') appears again — his pattern of descent continues. He speaks with the woman (va-yedabber la-ishah) but the content of the conversation is not recorded; what matters to the narrative is the sensory attraction.

Translator Notes

1. Va-yasar lir'ot et mappelet ha-aryeh ('he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion') — the verb sur ('to turn aside') suggests a deliberate detour. Samson goes looking for the dead animal. The geviyat ha-aryeh ('body/corpse of the lion') contains bees and honey. This sets up a critical Nazirite violation: touching a dead body (mafelet, 'carcass, fallen thing') directly violates Numbers 6:6-7, which prohibits a Nazirite from going near any dead body. Samson has now crossed a boundary of his consecration — and he does it casually, out of curiosity.

Translator Notes

1. Va-yirdehu el kappav ('he scraped it into his palms') — the verb radah means 'to scrape out, to extract.' Samson physically reaches into the dead carcass, making direct contact with the corpse — an unambiguous Nazirite violation. He then shares the contaminated honey with his parents without disclosure: lo higgid lahem ('he did not tell them'). This is the second secret (cf. v. 6). The pattern of concealment deepens Samson's isolation — he operates alone, hiding his actions from those closest to him. His parents unknowingly share in the ritual defilement. The honey from the dead lion becomes the basis for the riddle, linking Samson's violation to the coming conflict.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Va-ya'as sham Shimshon mishteh ('Samson made a feast there') — the word mishteh derives from the root shatah ('to drink'). A mishteh is literally a 'drinking feast' — a banquet centered on wine and alcohol. For a Nazirite who is forbidden all grape products, hosting a drinking feast is at minimum a profound irony and likely another vow violation. The narrator adds ki khen ya'asu ha-bachurim ('for so the young men used to do') — it was the cultural norm. Samson conforms to Philistine social customs rather than maintaining his Nazirite separation. The term bachurim ('young men') emphasizes youthful social pressure and convention over covenant obligation.

Translator Notes

1. The sheloshim mere'im ('thirty companions') are Philistine groomsmen assigned to Samson. The phrasing ki re'otam oto ('when they saw him') may suggest they were impressed — or intimidated — by his physical presence. These 'companions' may also function as guards or minders, keeping an eye on the powerful Israelite in their midst. The number thirty will become significant when Samson must obtain thirty sets of garments as riddle payment (v. 19).

Translator Notes

1. Achudah na lakhem chidah ('let me pose a riddle to you') — the verb chud ('to propound a riddle') introduces the central literary device of the chapter. The chidah ('riddle') was a respected intellectual contest in the ancient Near East (cf. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, 1 Kings 10:1). The stakes are high: sheloshim sedinim ('thirty linen garments' — expensive undergarments) and sheloshim chaliphot begadim ('thirty changes of clothing' — complete outfits). This is a significant wager, equivalent to outfitting thirty men in luxury clothing.

Translator Notes

1. The terms are symmetrical — the same payment either way: thirty of each garment type. The companions accept readily: chudah chidatekha ve-nishma'ennah ('pose your riddle and let us hear it'). Their confidence will prove misplaced, as the riddle is unsolvable without inside knowledge. No amount of intellectual effort can crack it, because it depends on a private experience — Samson's encounter with the lion. The riddle is not really fair; it is a trap disguised as a game.

Translator Notes

1. Me-ha-okhel yatsa ma'akhal u-me-az yatsa matok ('from the eater came food, from the strong came sweetness') — the riddle is elegant in Hebrew, with parallel structure and alliterative wordplay (okhel/ma'akhal). The 'eater' is the lion; the 'food' is the honey. The 'strong one' is the lion; the 'sweet' is the honey. But without knowing about the lion carcass, the riddle is genuinely unsolvable — it describes a unique personal experience, not a universal phenomenon. The three-day failure establishes the companions' desperation, which drives them to coerce Samson's wife.

Translator Notes

1. The companions' threat is savage: pen nisrof otakh ve-et beit avikh ba-esh ('lest we burn you and your father's house with fire'). This is not an idle threat — they will carry it out in 15:6. The verb patti ('entice, persuade, seduce') from the root patah carries connotations of deception and sexual manipulation. They pressure the wife to use her intimate access to Samson as a weapon. The accusation ha-leyarshenu qera'tem lanu ('did you call us to impoverish us?') reveals their real concern: the financial stakes of the wager. The threat creates an impossible situation for the woman — caught between Samson and his enemies.

Translator Notes

1. Va-tevk eshet Shimshon alav ('Samson's wife wept over him') — her tears are a weapon of emotional manipulation, though her fear is genuine (v. 15). Her argument — raq sne'atani ve-lo ahavtani ('you only hate me and do not love me') — frames the riddle as a test of love rather than an intellectual game. This same pattern of weeping and emotional pressure will recur with Delilah in chapter 16, but with far more devastating consequences. Samson's defense — 'I haven't told my parents' — is logically sound but emotionally tone-deaf. It will not hold.

Translator Notes

1. Ki hetsiqathu ('because she pressed him hard, pressured him relentlessly') — the verb tsaqaq means 'to press, to constrain, to squeeze.' The image is of constant, unrelenting emotional pressure. Samson's strength is physical, not emotional — he can tear apart a lion but cannot withstand a woman's tears. This vulnerability will prove fatal in chapter 16. The wife immediately relays the answer to her people (va-tagged ha-chidah li-vnei ammah), demonstrating that her loyalty lies with her own people, not her husband. The pattern — Samson telling a secret to a woman who betrays it to his enemies — will repeat with escalating consequences.

Translator Notes

1. The answer — mah matok mi-devash u-meh az me-ari ('what is sweeter than honey, what is stronger than a lion') — is presented as two rhetorical questions rather than a direct statement, giving it a triumphant quality. They deliver the answer be-terem yavo ha-charsah ('before the sun went down') — just in time. Samson's furious response uses a crude agricultural metaphor: lulei charashtem be-eglati ('if you had not plowed with my heifer') — comparing his wife to a cow and their interrogation of her to plowing. The metaphor implies both sexual betrayal and informational exploitation. Samson instantly knows how they obtained the answer — there was no other way.

Translator Notes

1. Va-titslach alav ruach YHWH — the second 'rushing' of the Spirit (cf. v. 6). The Spirit empowers Samson not for national deliverance but to settle a personal gambling debt. He goes to Ashkelon — a major Philistine city about twenty-three miles southwest — kills thirty men (the exact number needed), strips their chalitsotam ('spoils, clothing'), and pays the wager. The violence is divinely empowered but personally motivated. Va-yichar appo ('his anger burned') — Samson's rage drives him home, abandoning his wife. The narrator records this descent into fury without moral commentary, letting the reader draw conclusions.

Translator Notes

1. Le-mere'ehu asher re'ah lo ('to his companion who had been his friend/best man') — the ultimate betrayal. The mere'a was the 'best man' or 'friend of the bridegroom' (cf. John 3:29). Samson's abandonment of his wife was interpreted by her family as divorce, and she was given to the very man who stood beside Samson at the wedding. This final verse sets up the chain of retaliations in chapter 15. What began with Samson's desire for a Philistine woman ends with losing her to a Philistine man — the irony is complete.