Judges · chapter 14 of 21
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Judges 14 tells how Samson goes down to Timnah, notices a Philistine woman and asks his parents to get her as his wife. On the way he kills a lion with his bare hands, and later finds honey in the carcass. At the wedding feast he poses a riddle, the Philistines solve it by pressuring his wife, and Samson, angry, kills thirty men at Ashkelon and his wife is given to another man.
After Samson's birth in Judges 13, the story shows the young Nazirite as an adult. Judges 14 reveals something disconcerting: the deliverer God prepared looks for a wife among the people who oppress Israel. The text affirms that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion against the Philistines.
Samson goes down to Timnah and sees a Philistine woman. He returns and asks his parents to get her as a wife for him. They ask whether there is no woman among his relatives or his people, but Samson insists, and the text explains that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines, who were ruling over Israel at the time.
Samson goes down to Timnah with his parents. In the vineyards of Timnah a young lion comes roaring toward him, and the Spirit of the Lord rushes on him, and he tears the lion apart with his hands, with nothing in his hand. He does not tell his parents. He talks with the woman, and she pleases him. Later, on his way back, he turns aside to look at the lion's carcass and finds a swarm of bees and honey in it. He scoops the honey into his hands and eats as he goes, and gives some to his parents, but does not tell them where he got it.
Samson holds a seven-day feast, as was the custom. The Philistines give him thirty companions. Samson poses a riddle with a wager of thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes. The riddle speaks of something that eats and yields food, and something strong that yields sweetness. For three days they cannot solve it, and on the fourth they threaten his wife that they will burn her and her father's house if she does not find out. She weeps and presses him for seven days until he tells her, and she tells her people. Before sunset on the seventh day the men answer with a saying about honey and a lion.
Samson replies that if they had not plowed with his heifer they would not have solved his riddle. The Spirit of the Lord rushes on him, he goes down to Ashkelon, kills thirty men, takes their spoil and gives the garments to those who solved the riddle. Burning with anger, he goes back to his father's house, and his wife is given to the companion who had been his friend.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Samson's parents ask whether there is no woman among his relatives, but he insists on the Philistine because she pleases him. His answer shows that from the start he decides by what he sees and not by God's law.
The text explains that his parents did not know this was from the Lord, who was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. God works amid Samson's imperfect choices to accomplish his purposes.
The Spirit of the Lord rushes on Samson with power, and he tears the lion apart like a young goat. His strength is not his own but a gift of the Spirit, and this repeats in the episodes that follow.
The riddle speaks of food coming out of the eater and sweetness from the strong. Samson enjoys playing with his secret, and that confidence in a private matter exposes him to his wife's pressure.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The Philistines. — Judges 14:1
Answer: A young lion. — Judges 14:5-6
Answer: A swarm of bees and honey. — Judges 14:8
Answer: Seven days. — Judges 14:12
Answer: Thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes. — Judges 14:12
Answer: Thirty men. — Judges 14:19
Judges 14 invites us to think about how we decide. Samson chooses by what pleases him, and the text does not approve it, though God works through it. In a class or small group we can talk about the difference between deciding by desire and deciding by obedience, and remember that God's sovereignty does not excuse our bad decisions.
It also shows that those who play with secrets and risky alliances expose themselves to the pressure of others. Samson was strong, yet he let himself be overcome by his wife's tears. True strength includes self-control, and the chapter encourages us to place our closest relationships under God's direction.
Judges 14 ends with Samson's wife given to another man and Samson furious. The vengeance will continue in Judges 15, where Samson's anger will burn against the Philistines with greater consequences.
The text says this was from the Lord, who was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. It does not say God approved the decision, only that he used the situation to provoke a confrontation. God's law discouraged marrying neighboring peoples who served other gods.
The text does not say clearly. A Nazirite was not to touch dead bodies, and Samson took honey from the lion's body, but no consequence is mentioned at this point. Some read it as a sign of his growing carelessness.
It said that out of the eater came something to eat and out of the strong came something sweet, referring to the honey found in the lion. The Philistines could not solve it until they pressured his wife, who got the answer from him with tears.