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JUDG ES 15
page 231
Timnah, he talked with the woman and was
very pleased with her.
8 Later, when he returned to Timnah for the
wedding, he turned off the path to look at the
carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm
of bees had made some honey in the carcass.
9 He scooped some of the honey into his hands
and ate it along the way. He also gave some to
his father and mother, and they ate it. But he
didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the
carcass of the lion.
10 As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party
at Timnah, as was the custom for elite young
men. 11 When the bride’s parents* saw him, they
selected thirty young men from the town to be
his companions.
12 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a
riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven
days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine
linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.
13 But if you can’t solve it, then you must give me
thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive
clothing.”
“All right,” they agreed, “let’s hear your
riddle.”
14 So he said:
“Out of the one who eats came something
to eat;
out of the strong came something sweet.”
Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. 15 On the fourth* day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the
riddle for us, or we will burn down your father’s
house with you in it. Did you invite us to this
party just to make us poor?”
16 So Samson’s wife came to him in tears and
said, “You don’t love me; you hate me! You have
given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told
me the answer.”
“I haven’t even given the answer to my father or mother,” he replied. “Why should I tell
you?” 17 So she cried whenever she was with
him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day he told her the
answer because she was tormenting him with
her nagging. Then she explained the riddle to
the young men.
18 So before sunset of the seventh day, the
men of the town came to Samson with their
answer:
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
Samson replied, “If you hadn’t plowed with
my heifer, you wouldn’t have solved my riddle!”
19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to the town of
14:11 Hebrew they.
seventh.
14:15 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads
Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who
had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious
about what had happened, and he went back
home to live with his father and mother. 20 So
his wife was given in marriage to the man who
had been Samson’s best man at the wedding.
Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines
Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a present to his
wife. He said, “I’m going into my wife’s room
to sleep with her,” but her father wouldn’t let
him in.
2 “I truly thought you must hate her,” her
father explained, “so I gave her in marriage
to your best man. But look, her younger sister
is even more beautiful than she is. Marry her
instead.”
3 Samson said, “This time I cannot be blamed
for everything I am going to do to you Philistines.” 4 Then he went out and caught 300 foxes.
He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails. 5 Then he lit
the torches and let the foxes run through the
grain fields of the Philistines. He burned all
their grain to the ground, including the sheaves
and the uncut grain. He also destroyed their
vineyards and olive groves.
6 “Who did this?” the Philistines demanded.
“Samson,” was the reply, “because his fatherin-law from Timnah gave Samson’s wife to be
married to his best man.” So the Philistines went
and got the woman and her father and burned
them to death.
7 “Because you did this,” Samson vowed,
“I won’t rest until I take my revenge on you!”
8 So he attacked the Philistines with great fury
15
• Desires
JU DG E S 14:3
The first recorded incident of Samson’s
adult life describes the consuming focus
of his life—his inability to stay away from
what looked good to him, even if it wasn’t
right. Samson bluntly tells his father,
“Get her for me! She looks good to me.”
What a superficial way to choose a mate!
Samson’s words expose the selfishness
of his desire. He was going to get what
he wanted. He disregarded both his
parents’ warnings and God’s law against
marrying a woman from the pagan culture
in which they lived. The consuming focus
of our life determines its direction. And
desires that put our interests above all
else set us on a dangerous course.