Judges Chapter 14
Showing all 20 verses for Judges Chapter 14.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. "
"Samson went down to the town of Timnath, and while he was there he saw a young Philistine woman."
Samson's choice here begins with pure attraction, nothing deeper. Jesus doesn't condemn him for noticing someone, but he does invite us to notice how easily we let a single glance decide the biggest choices of our lives, when love is meant to be built on far more than that.
"And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. "
"He went back home and told his father and mother, 'I've seen a woman in Timnath — get her for me as my wife.'"
Samson doesn't ask his parents - he tells them to 'get her for me.' Jesus teaches a gentler way with the people who love us: humble asking, not entitled demanding, because how we speak to family reveals what we think we're owed.
"Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. "
"His parents said, 'Isn't there a woman among your own relatives or your own people? Why go and marry one of the uncircumcised Philistines?' But Samson told his father, 'Get her for me — she's the one I want.'"
His parents offer wise, loving concern, and Samson brushes it aside because 'she pleaseth me well.' Jesus doesn't promise that listening to loving counsel will always be easy, but he shows us the wisdom of weighing wiser voices rather than dismissing them because our feelings are strong.
"But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. "
"But his parents didn't realise this was from the LORD, who was looking for a way to start a conflict with the Philistines — because at that time the Philistines ruled over Israel."
The narrator quietly tells us that God was working through this, even though Samson's parents couldn't see it and Samson's motives weren't pure. Jesus can weave his purposes through our messy, imperfect choices without ever excusing the choices themselves - that's grace, not endorsement.
"Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. "
"So Samson went down to Timnath with his father and mother, and as they reached the vineyards of Timnath, a young lion suddenly roared at him."
When the lion attacks, God supplies sudden, sufficient strength for the danger right in front of Samson. Jesus wants you to trust that he equips you for what you actually face, even when you didn't see it coming and have nothing in your hand to meet it with.
"And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. "
"The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as easily as if it were a young goat — he had no weapon at all. But he didn't tell his father or mother what he'd done."
Samson tells no one what happened - not out of humility exactly, but it shows that not every act of God's strength in us needs to be broadcast for validation. Jesus is content for some of his grace towards you to remain quietly between the two of you.
"And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. "
"He went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her very much."
A simple conversation is the actual foundation being laid here for a marriage - however flawed its beginnings. Jesus reminds us that real relationship is built through honest talking and listening, not just attraction, and that foundation matters far more than the story so far suggests Samson understood.
"And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. "
"Some time later he went back to marry her, and on the way he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass — and there, inside it, was a swarm of bees and honey."
Sweetness comes out of the carcase of the very lion that once threatened Samson's life. Jesus loves to work exactly this way, bringing life and sweetness out of what once seemed only dangerous or deadly - a pattern that points all the way to a cross that became the source of life.
"And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. "
"He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it as he walked, and when he reached his parents he gave them some too, and they ate it — but he didn't tell them he'd taken it from the lion's carcass."
Samson gives his parents the honey but not the whole truth of where it came from. Jesus calls us towards complete honesty with the people closest to us, because even small withheld truths can quietly become a habit that grows.
"So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. "
"So his father went down to the woman's family, and Samson held a feast there, as young men customarily did."
A wedding feast, ordinary and customary, is where Jesus is happy to be present too - he isn't distant from culture and celebration. Even in the middle of a story going wrong, he meets people in the everyday customs of their lives, not only in dramatic moments.
"And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. "
"When they saw him, they provided thirty companions to be with him."
Thirty companions are supplied for the feast, but nothing suggests they're real friends - they'll soon threaten Samson's wife to get what they want. Jesus wants us to look past a crowd around us and ask whether it's genuine friendship or just people using our celebration for their own gain.
"And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: "
"Samson said to them, 'Let me give you a riddle. If you can work out the answer within the seven days of the feast, I'll give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.'"
The riddle wager is playful on the surface, but it's also Samson performing his cleverness for an audience that doesn't even like him. Jesus invites us to ask honestly whether we're seeking to be known and loved, or just trying to win and be admired.
"But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. "
"'But if you can't tell me the answer, then you'll give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.' They said, 'Go ahead — tell us your riddle.'"
A wager over garments quickly becomes the seed of real conflict and resentment. Jesus knows how often our competitive games and bets carry more pride and stakes than we admit, and he calls us to notice before rivalry curdles into something harmful.
"And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. "
"He said to them, 'Out of the eater came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet.' For three days they couldn't work out the answer."
The riddle itself carries a beautiful truth: sweetness coming out of something strong and threatening. Jesus is the ultimate answer to that riddle - out of his death, the greatest 'strong' thing imaginable, came the sweetest gift of life for us all.
"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 take that we have? is it not so? "
"On the seventh day they said to Samson's wife, 'Coax your husband into telling us the answer to the riddle, or we'll burn you and your father's household to death. Did you invite us here just to rob us? Isn't that what this is?'"
The men threaten to burn a woman and her father alive to get what they want - this is naked cruelty and coercion, and it deserves to be named as such, not softened. Jesus stands always with the threatened and the vulnerable, never with those who use fear and violence to get their way.
"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 it thee? "
"Samson's wife wept in front of him and said, 'You must hate me — you don't love me at all. You've given a riddle to my people and haven't even told me the answer.' He replied, 'Look, I haven't even told my own father and mother — why should I tell you?'"
Samson's wife weeps and accuses him of not loving her, but she's also genuinely terrified for her life and her father's. Jesus asks us to hold both truths with compassion - that pressure can be manipulative and that real fear can also be driving it - rather than rushing to simple blame.
"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 lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. "
"She wept in front of him for the whole seven days the feast lasted, and on the seventh day he finally told her, because she wore him down so relentlessly. And she told the answer to her own people."
Seven days of weeping wear Samson down until he tells her the secret. Jesus wants us to be able to tell the difference between healthy vulnerability in a relationship and pressure used to extract what someone wants - both can look similar, but they come from very different places.
"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. "
"So on the seventh day, before sunset, the men of the city said to him, 'What's sweeter than honey? What's stronger than a lion?' He replied, 'If you hadn't ploughed with my heifer, you wouldn't have worked out my riddle.'"
Samson answers the men's riddle-solving with contempt, calling his own wife 'my heifer' - language that reduces her to property rather than a person he loves. Jesus speaks to and about women with dignity in every gospel account, and that contrast should trouble us about how easily anger turns into dehumanising language.
"And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. "
"The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty Philistine men, took their belongings, and gave the clothing to the men who had solved the riddle. Then, burning with anger, he went back to his father's house."
Samson kills thirty men simply to pay off a wager born from his own pride and anger - this is horrific, disproportionate violence, and the text doesn't ask us to admire it. Jesus offers an entirely different way, laying down his own life rather than taking others', and calls his followers to lay down the impulse for vengeance altogether.
"But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. "
"Meanwhile Samson's wife was given to the companion who had been his best man."
Samson's wife is simply handed off to another man like an object with no voice of her own in the matter. Jesus's kingdom treats every person - especially women so often silenced or traded in stories like this one - as having worth and voice that can never rightly be taken from them.