15On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?”
16Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”
17She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
15 On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?”
16 Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”
17 She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
KJVKing James Version
15 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?
16 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?
17 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.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
15 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 hither to impoverish us?'
16 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 wilt thou not tell it me?' And he said unto her: 'Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell thee?'
17 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 pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
Judges 15:6(v15)Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” They said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given…
Judges 16:5(v15)The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we…
Judges 16:15(v16)She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me…
Judges 16:16(v17)When she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was troubled to death.
Micah 7:5(v15)Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!
Show all 19 cross-references
Luke 18:4-5(v17)He wouldn’t for a while, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God, nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me,…
Genesis 2:24(v16)Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
Genesis 3:1-6(v15)Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You…
Genesis 3:6(v17)When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one…
Judges 12:1(v15)The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the…
Judges 16:6(v17)Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you.”
Judges 16:13(v17)Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you…
Job 2:9(v17)Then his wife said to him, “Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die.”
Proverbs 1:11(v15)If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.
Proverbs 2:16-17(v17)to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words, who forsakes the friend of her youth, and…
Proverbs 5:3(v15)For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
Proverbs 6:26(v15)For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
Proverbs 7:21(v17)With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
Luke 11:8(v17)I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Or, drew near: for it was the fourth day.
Or, drew near: for it was the fourth day.
Or, to impoverish us.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Jdg 14:15 And it came to pass on the…
Jdg 14:15 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]?
Ver. 15. On the seventh day, that they said.] Being loath to lose the wager, they set the woman awork: so doth the devil oft. Many a man’s head he breaketh with his own rib: and this bait he hath found to take so well, that he never changed it since he crept into Paradise.
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Lest we burn thee.] With such big words they scare the timorous woman, who feared to be burnt, and was afterwards burnt; that which she feared came upon her. So it did upon Denton the smith, burnt in his own house, after that he had refused to burn in the cause of Christ. {a}
{a} Act. and Mon., fol. 1557
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv15–17On the seventh day; they had doubtless spoken to…
On the seventh day; they had doubtless spoken to her before this time, but with some remissness, supposing that they should find it out; but now their time being nigh slipped, they press her with more vehemency, and put her under a necessity of searching it out.
To take that we have, i.e. to strip us of our garments; and so your civility will end in gross unkindness and injustice.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv15–17And it came to pass on the seventh day,....…
And it came to pass on the seventh day,.... Not on the seventh day of the feast, for some time before that they applied to his wife, and she pressed him hard to disclose it; but on the sabbath day, as Kimchi, and so Jarchi says, on the seventh day of the week, not on the seventh day of the feast, for it was the seventh day of the feast; this is so clear, that the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, instead of the seventh, read the fourth day:
that they said unto Samson's wife, entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle; that is, persuade him to tell the meaning of it to her, that she might declare it to them:
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lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire; in which she now was, not as yet being taken home to her husband, and her in it; this they said to terrify her, and make her importunate with Samson to explain the riddle to her, if he had any value for her, and her life:
have ye called us to take that we have? invited them to the wedding feast, to strip them of their clothes, and even take their very shirts off of their backs, which they must have been obliged to part with, if they could not explain the riddle, or send for other suits and shirts from their own houses: "is it not so?" verily this is the case, nor can it be understood otherwise than a contrived business between thee and thy husband, to get our raiment, woollen and linen, from us.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv15, 17Seventh day - They had doubtless spoken to her…
Seventh day - They had doubtless spoken to her before this time, but with some remissness, supposing that they should find it out; but now their time being nigh slipped, they put her under a necessity of searching it out. To take that we have - That is, to strip us of our garments.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn v17Verse 17. And she wept before him] Not through…
Verse 17. And she wept before him] Not through any love to him, for it appears she had none, but to oblige her paramours; and of this he soon had ample proof.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv15, 17Jdg 14:15. On the seventh day, they said, Entice…
Jdg 14:15. On the seventh day, they said, Entice thy husband — They had doubtless spoken to her before this time, but with some remissness, supposing that they should find it out; but now their time being nigh spent, they put her under a necessity of searching it out. To take that we have — That is, to strip us of our garments.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v15Seventh day of the week, (Salien) which was the…
Seventh day of the week, (Salien) which was the fourth of the feast; and the Syriac, Arabic, and some editions of the Septuagint read, "the fourth." The young men tried their skill for three days; when, despairing of success, they solicited Samson’s wife to draw the secret from him. She tried; but the seventh day being come, or at hand, (Menochius) the men began to threaten her, so that she became more importunate, and obtained her request. She had been weeping during a great part of the seven days, (ver. 17.; Calmet) or perhaps she had begun to tease him from the beginning. (Menochius) --- Strip us. Septuagint, "to impoverish us." Homer (Odyssey Z.) insinuates, that it was customary for the bride to furnish her attendants with white linen garments. These companions of Samson fear that they are going to be losers, by the honour which they do him. (Calmet) --- The compel his wife by threats to betray his secret, and still destroy her afterwards: thus persecutors frequently treat those who comply with they demands, and deny the faith. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v15The Philistines solve the riddle by means of treachery.…
The Philistines solve the riddle by means of treachery. Samson’s anger and payment of the forfeit
Jdg_14:15-20.
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15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said19 unto Samson’s wife, Entice [Persuade] thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called [invited] us to take that we have [plunder us]? is it not so? 16And Samson’s wife wept before him and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a [the] riddle unto the children [sons] 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? 17And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted [during which they had their feast]: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him [pressed him hard]: and she told the riddle to the children [sons] of her people. 18And 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 ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. 19And the Spirit of the Lord [Jehovah] came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil [attire], and gave [the] change [changes] of garments unto them which expounded 20the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. But [And] Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend [who had attended him].
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg_14:15.—וַיֹּאמְרוּ. Dr. Cassel treats all that comes after the phrase, “and it came to pass on the seventh day,” down to the same phrase in Jdg_14:17, as parenthetic, and consequently renders וַיֹּאמְרוּ by the pluperfect: “and they tad said.” Cf. below.—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
The æsthetic beauty and psychological truth which characterize the narrative notwithstanding its compressed brevity, and which would be incomparable even though the narrative were not found in the Bible, and had not divine truth for its contents and object, can scarcely be adequately pointed out, so manifoldly do they manifest themselves. The drama is represented with such historical life-likeness, and its development is so natural, that while no one could foresee why the wedding should give rise to a conflict, yet in the sequel it becomes manifest that its occurrence was unavoidable. Samson really loved the maiden of Timnah, and took the full measure of youthful delight in the nuptial banquet and festival; but it is impossible for an Israelite, as he is, to enter into any kind of close connection with the enemies and oppressors of his people, without getting into a conflict. It must never be supposed that covenants, even in the simplest relations of life, can be made with those who are opponents in principle and tyrants in disposition. No occasion is so slight, but it suffices to inflame the fires of antagonism. Samson is too genial of nature to be a far-seeing party man; but he deceived himself when he expected to find a covenant of love and fidelity in a Philistine family. The preventing cause lay not only in his opponents, but also in himself, in that he was always, even unconsciously, showing who he was. Everything appeared to be harmonious when he propounded the riddle. He did it in the most peaceful spirit, from the impulse of an active mind. But it immediately brought the hidden antagonism to light. For they to whom it was proposed for solution were Philistines. As such, they would at all events be put to shame, if they failed to solve it. At the same time, it is true, the nobility of Samson’s disposition reveals itself, in contrast with the vulgar natures of the Philistines. He, for his part, risks thirty times the value of what, in case of failure, each of the thirty has to pay. This is the very reason why, in their covetousness, they accept the wager. The result was natural. They cannot solve the riddle, but neither are they willing to admit this. They are too vain to be humbled by an alien, but especially too covetous to endure a loss. They therefore turn to Samson’s young wife. Had she not been a Philistine, they would not have dared to do this. But, as it is, they expect to find in her an ally against the Israelite, even though he be her husband. She seems indeed to have resisted for a while,—until they arouse both her fears and her vanity. Her fears, by the threat to burn her father’s house over her head; her vanity, by hinting that probably the riddle was only put forth in order to plunder the guests. The latter suspicion she may have found especially intolerable, women being ever peculiarly sensitive to similar surmises of village slander-mongers. Perhaps, however, she merely invented these threatening speeches afterwards, in order to pacify Samson. For else, why did she not confess the truth to Samson? That alone would have ended the trouble. Either he would have felt himself strong enough to protect her, and to humble the miserable enemies, or he would have consented to the sacrifice of appearing to be vanquished. But she did not do this, just because she did not forget that she was a Philistine. Samson, she conjectured, would not allow himself to be humbled. She sought, therefore, to persuade him by means of that very antagonism for the sake of which she betrayed him. She complained, weeping, that he still treated her like her countrymen, and also kept from her that which he would not tell them. She desires to make it appear that her love has so entirely brought her over to his interests, that she thought not to be put on the same footing with her countrymen. This would have been the right relation. The wife may assist no party but that of her husband. But she only dissembled, in order to betray. Finally, on the seventh day,—the sun was already declining,—she had so tormented the hero, that he told it to her. He had a heart not only great, but also tender, which at last succumbs to the prayers and tears of the wife whom he loves and holds to be true. The treachery is completed. The miserable Philistines act as if they had themselves found the solution, and claim the reward. Then a light goes up for Samson. He sees the whole contrast,—the incongruity and error of a covenant with Philistines. Before the treason of which he has been made the subject, the mists with which a seductive sensuality had obscured, his vision are scattered. National wrath and national strength awake within him. His whole greatness reveals itself. He does not refuse the Philistines the promised reward. But the manner in which it is given, is full of contempt and humiliation. He throws to them the spoils of thirty slain Philistines. He leaves the woman, and returns to Israel. The conflict has begun, and Samson’s true calling becomes manifest. He who wears the consecration of God on his head, cannot revel in the houses of Philistines.
Jdg_14:15. And it came to pass on the seventh day. More recent expositors have made no remarks on this difficult statement. To assume that the Philistines first applied themselves to the woman on the seventh day, is rendered impossible by Jdg_14:17, which says that she wept before Samson “seven days.” The LXX. therefore, read here, “on the fourth day,” because Jdg_14:14 states that for three days they were not able to find the solution. Considering how easily ד and ז may be interchanged, the substitution of “seven” for “four” appears very likely. But the clearer it seems that the reading should be, “on the fourth day,” the more surprising it is that the Masora retained “on the seventh day.” The Masora, however, supposed the Sabbath to be meant by the seventh day,—an opinion also followed by some of the older expositors (cf. Serarius), but which cannot be correct.20 For in Jdg_14:17 a “seventh day” is again mentioned, which cannot, however, be another Sabbath; for as the first “seventh day” is, by the supposition, the fourth, so this second is the seventh, day of the wedding-feast. The reading “on the seventh day” can be retained, if the passage which begins immediately after it in Jdg_14:15, and extends to the same phrase in Jdg_14:17, be regarded as a sort of parenthesis. The writer was already on the point of stating that after they had ineffectually puzzled over it for three days, Samson on the seventh day told it to his wife, when it occurred to him first to interpose the statements of Jdg_14:15-17, as showing the motives by which Samson was influenced. Accordingly, “on the seventh day,” in Jdg_14:17, only continues what the same words in Jdg_14:15 had begun. The statement in the parenthesis that she wept before him “seven days,” falls in with this view. The idea is, that from the time at which she began, she continued to torment him throughout the whole seven-day period of the feast. Throughout the whole week, therefore, instead of cheerful guests, Samson had sullen Philistine faces, and, instead of a happy wife, crocodile tears and reproaches.21
Persuade thy husband, that he declare unto us the riddle. פַּתִּי, persuade; most frequently, it is true, “befool,” “entice by flattery.” Very significant is the expression, “that he declare unto us the riddle.” If he tells it to her, they intimate, he will have told it to them. For do not they and she constitute an “us?” She belongs to them, and must act accordingly, if she would not incur their enmity against herself and her house.
Have ye invited us to plunder us? is it not so?הַלְיָרְשֵׁנוּ is the kal infinitive with suffix, and is to be derived from יָרַשׁ, to inherit, to get by conquest, to take into possession. The word is aptly chosen here. When Israel was taking possession of the land, יָרַשׁ was a word in constant use. The Philistines mockingly ask whether they were invited that Israel, in the person of Samson, might “conquer,” “inherit,” their property. הֲלֹא, at the close, is an interrogative particle, like the Latin ne, used enclitically.
Jdg_14:16. Thou dost but hate me, שְׂנֵאתַנִי. Samson, she intimates, must look on her as one looks on a person who belongs to a hostile tribe, seeing that he conceals the solution of the riddle from her as well as from the other people of the city. The woman, pressed to decide between her people and Samson, inclines to the Philistines. A lesson for Samson and others like him.
Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother. It is true, he deferred not to father and mother in the matter of his marriage, but not from want of reverence for them. They are his most beloved. To them he brings of the honey. (Very insipidly, Josephus adds here that he brought honey to the woman also.) And the woman, in the midst of her flatteries and tears, must endure to hear him say to her: Have I not told it to my parents, and shall I tell it to thee? To be sure, it would have been inexcusable to have put his parents—and such parents!—on the same level with a Philistine woman.
Jdg_14:18. Before the sun went down. Here also we have the poetical name חַרְסָה (instead of the form חֶרֶס), for the sun, cf. on Jdg_8:13. Beautiful is the expression בּוֹא, to come, for “to set.” The sun comes home, as it were—comes into his house, like a bridegroom after his wedding. On the other hand, when the sun rises, the Hebrew says that he “goes forth” into activity, forth for victory like a hero.
Had ye not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. The answer of the angry Samson is elegantly couched in the form of a proverb, full of spirit, as are all his sayings which have been preserved. It starts from the experience that buried treasures come to light, when the soil is turned by the plough. (Tages, the Roman Genius, was fabled to have been thus ploughed up.) But not every one knows where to draw the furrow. The Philistines would not have known it; but his heifer had shown them the way. The comparison is not very flattering to the traitoress, but quite appropriate. For no merit accrues to the heifer when it ploughs the right furrow: it has been shown to it. So also the woman: she has solved nothing, but only played the traitor.
Jdg_14:19. And he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them. Why to Ashkelon? Against the people of Timnah he could not turn his wrath. He had eater with them, and he would not withdraw himself from the obligations he had assumed. But their conduct had awakened him to a sense of the great national contrast between them and Israel. At this moment he felt that Israel lay in the bands of servitude. Between his people and the Philistines no other treaty existed, than that which is made by the cowardly and the God-forsaken with their enemies. Israel endured servitude, because it had fallen away from its ancient spirit. It ventured no longer on resistance.
All this came home to Samson’s mind at this moment. He determined to give a proof of Israelitish strength. Hence we read, “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him,” a remark always found where Israel manifests a determination to lift up heart and hand against the enemies of God. His relations would have advised him to collect money and buy the garments. It was a divine inspiration which moved him to pay by battle. Why did he go to Ashkelon? Because there were rich and valiant men there, whom it was worth while to attack and overcome. Probably it was a nuptial party, graced, as his own had been, with thirty attendant groom’s-men, that he surprised. It was not done in the midst of peace. There was no peace between Philistines and Israel. He conquered the thirty Philistines (members, perhaps, as we have said, of a nuptial train) with the sword, as he vanquished his own retinue in a conflict of intellect. The fame of the wonderful young Israelite resounds through the land. No reprisals are made. The princes of the Philistines look on the occurrence as a private affair. But a silent quaking of conscience, such as seizes on tyrants when a fresh spirit stirs itself among the oppressed, contributed no doubt to the preservation of repose.
Took their attire, חֲלִיצוֹתָם. Chalitsah (חֲלִיצָה) is the military equipment, of which the fallen are stripped, cf. 2Sa_2:21. There, the Sept. renders it πανοπλία; here, στόλη. This supports the opinion of the Targum, adduced above, that the promise of Samson referred to military garments. For the chaliphoth (changes of garments) which he paid, were doubtless part of the chalitsoth, or military suits, which he took; so that Samson did not first sell his booty, and then buy new garments. It is in harmony with the dramatic course of the action, that Samson flung to his treacherous friends, as the price of their deception, garments snatched from their own countrymen.
And he went up to his father’s house. His wrath blazed up into a national flame against the Philistine brood. He turns his back upon them, and goes home. It seems to be his intention never to come back. How little they were worthy of him, is shown by the conduct of the woman, after his departure. That she may not be without a husband in consequence of her treason, she is rewarded with the hand of another man. One of the companions for whose sake she deceived Samson, marries her. To treason she adds infidelity. Meanness of disposition gives birth to everything that is bad. It can neither love nor be faithful; but least of all can it comprehend a man such as Samson was.
A survey of only that which chapter 14 shows of Samson, should have excited the attention of those who find pleasure in comparing him with Hercules. While all the ancient statements about the Greek hero have value only as the vehicles of mythico-symbolical ideas, Samson appears in the midst of history, wearing the living hues of actual existence. Hercules, the more the later Greeks take him historically, the more he assumes the character of a coarse giant and glutton, who, averse to culture, kills his master; while Samson is at once portrayed as a genial man, of noble disposition. It were more feasible to institute a comparison between Samson and many traits in the character of Ulysses, were it not that in the latter, as in Greek heroes generally, there is wanting the pathos of the national champion, and that elevation of spirit which, in the case of Samson, breaks through the fetters of even his deepest sensuality. It is already a misapprehension when some would assign twelve exploits to Samson, seeing that his whole life is given for a testimony; but when his slaying of the thirty Philistines is counted as the second (as e. g. by Bertheau), there is a want of understanding even of the Heraclean performances. These are a didactic poem; what is told of Samson, signifies an ethical deed. The deeds of Hercules have no mutual connection: those of Samson, ethico-historical in their nature, are conditioned one by the other. The succeeding history, related in chap, 15, connects itself with what has gone before.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
[Henry (on Jdg_14:10; Jdg_14:12): It is no part of religion to go contrary to the innocent usages of the places where we live; nay, it is a reproach to religion, when those who profess it give just occasion to others to call them covetous, sneaking, and morose. A good man should strive to make himself, in the best sense, a good companion.—The same: “If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle.” Satan, in his temptations, could not do us the mischief he does, if he did not plough with the heifer of our own corrupt nature.—The same: “And he went up to his father’s house.” It. were well for us, if the unkindness we meet with from the world, and our disappointments in it, had but this good effect upon us to oblige us by faith and prayer to return to our heavenly Father’s house, and rest there.—The same: “Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.” See how little confidence is to be put in man, when those may prove our enemies whom we have used as our friends.—Bp. Hall (on Jdg_14:19): If we wonder to see thirty throats cut for their suits, we may easily know that this was but the occasion of that slaughter whereof the cause was their oppression and tyranny.
Wordsworth: At the marriage feast of Cana in Galilee, Christ manifested forth his glory (Joh_2:11). But at this marriage in Timnath, Samson betrayed the first signs of moral weakness and degeneracy.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[19][Jdg_14:15.—וַיֹּאמְרוּ. Dr. Cassel treats all that comes after the phrase, “and it came to pass on the seventh day,” down to the same phrase in Jdg_14:17, as parenthetic, and consequently renders וַיֹּאמְרוּ by the pluperfect: “and they tad said.” Cf. below.—Tr.]
[20]Least correct of all would it be, with Lilienthal, to leave the words out because the Königsberg MSS. did not have them.
[21][Dr. Cassel’s explanation of this matter does not strike me favorably. It certainly fails to justify the remark of Jdg_14:17 : “she wept before him seven days.” The natural explanation seems to be this: As soon as the riddle was given, the young wife at once began to teaze for its solution. Refusal both stimulated her curiosity and wounded her vanity, so that even before the end of the first day she had recourse to the argument of tears. Day by day she renewed the assault, but always ineffectually. Finally, on the seventh day she brings a new argument, furnished her by the guests. For the first three days of the festivities these had sought to solve the riddle in a legitimate way. Such appears to be the import of the remark in Jdg_14:14 : “and they could not in three days expound the riddle.” What they did on the next three days is not stated. They may have remained inactive, trusting in some way to compass the solution at last, or they may have been already ploughing with Samson’s heifer. But if the latter, they had not yet recourse to threats. On the last day of the feast, however, when they find that waiting has been as ineffective as working, and that the wife’s importunities (of which they were probably cognizant, even though they did not stimulate them), have likewise accomplished nothing, they resort to threats against the wife. The latter thereupon becomes more urgent and tearful than ever, and gains her point. Compare Bertheau and Keil, who give essentially the same explanation.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv15–1715. On the seventh day — Not of the…
15. On the seventh day — Not of the week, (as Bush,) but of the feast. It was not till the last day of the feast that, feeling their case was hopeless, they went to the barbarous extreme of threatening to burn her and her father’s house with fire. It is probable, as Keil remarks, that “the woman had already come to Samson every day with her entreaties, from simple curiosity; but Samson resisted them until the seventh day, when she became more urgent than ever in consequence of this threat of the Philistines.” It is probable, too, that they had, without any threat, asked her before the seventh day to find out for them the meaning of the riddle.
Entice thy husband — Persuade him; induce him.
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That he may declare… the riddle — Evidently their meaning was, that she should persuade Samson to tell her the solution of the riddle, and then that she should privately make it known unto them.
Have ye called us to take that we have — Literally, Is it to make us poor ye have called us? Do you intend to rob us of our property, that you and your father are leagued together to make us the victims of Samson?
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv15–1715. on the seventh day] Would the young men…
15. on the seventh day] Would the young men have waited all this time before pressing the woman to extract the answer? In Jdg_14:17 she is said to have tried herself to find it out all the seven days. The two statements are inconsistent. The LXX and Peshitto read on the fourth day; but this is suspiciously like what we should expect after in three days Jdg_14:14. Most critics think that the numbers in Jdg_14:14-15 were added to the original text in order to heighten the difficulty of the riddle and the despair of the Philistines.
unto us] LXX unto thee. Samson could not be expected to tell the Philistines himself.
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to impoverish us] lit. take possession of, dispossess us. The reflex. stem has the meaning come to poverty in Gen_45:11, Pro_20:13 etc.
is it not so?] The Hebr. requires a slight correction: ‘was it to impoverish us that ye invited us hither?’ So five Hebr. mss., Targ.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv15–17(15) On the seventh day.—When they were in despair.
(15) On the seventh day.—When they were in despair.
Lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire.—As, indeed, they ultimately did (Jdg_15:6). If Samson appears in no very favourable light in this chapter, the Philistines show themselves to be most mean, treacherous, and brutal.
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To take that we have.—The Hebrew expression is stronger—“to spoil us,” or “make us paupers.” The “is it not so?” is added to show the vehemence of the question.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv15–17On the seventh day. There is some apparent difficulty…
On the seventh day. There is some apparent difficulty in understanding how to reconcile this statement with what was said in ver. 14, that they could not in three days expound the riddle; and also with what is said in vers. 16 and 17, that Samson"s wife wept before him the seven days of the feast. And several different readings have arisen from this difficulty: viz., in this verse, the reading of the fourth day for the seventh, and the omission of the words, And it came to pass on the seventh day; and, in the latter part of ver. 14, seven days for three days. But all difficulty will disappear if we bear in mind the peculiarity of Hebrew narrative noticed in note to section vers. 1-6 of ch. 2., when we come to consider ver. 16. Entice thy husband. Cf. Jud_1:16:5. That he may declare unto us. If the text is sound, they must mean to say, declare it unto you, that you may declare it unto us, i.e. declare it unto us through you. But it is simpler either to read with the Septuagint, that he may declare unto you, etc. , or to read, and declare unto us, in the imperative mood. Burn with fire. See Jud_1:12:1, and Jud_1:15:6. Have ye called us, etc., i.e. Did you invite us to this feast in order to impoverish us, to plunder us of our property? We shall conclude that you did so if you do not disclose to us the riddle.
Vers. 15-20. Unlawful methods of interpreting Divine mysteries.
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Samson is betrayed into revealing his riddle. It was a mean subterfuge, and the fraud is promptly avenged.
I THERE ARE ILLEGITIMATE WAYS OF GETTING AT DIVINE TRUTH. False prophets. Unwilling prophets, as Balaam. Mercenary attempts at obtaining a peculiar knowledge, as of Simon Magus. (cf. Act_8:9-24 Act_19:13 Col_2:17, Col_2:18)
II THE ESSENTIAL MEANING OF THE TRUTH CANNOT BE THUS DISCOVERED. The Philistines only learnt the historic circumstance; they were still in outer darkness as to the evangelic significance of the parable or riddle. So it is with those who "intrude into those things which they have not seen or heard, vainly puffed up in their fleshly minds." God will deliver them over to strong delusion, and the belief of a lie.
III THIS IS FULL OF DANGER, AND WILL BE PROMPTLY AVENGED. Partly in the apparent illumination, but real ignorance, of such men; and partly in the consequences attending an incomplete or garbled gospel. Here the vengeance was both spiritual and physical. How sorry the gain that involved their fellow-countrymen in such a death! M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv15–16the fourth day
the fourth day
"day 4" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
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Trick
mislead or fool someone into doing something they would not want to do
your father's house
Possible meanings are 1) this refers to the actual house. AT: "the house your father and his family live in" or 2) "house" refers to the people who live in it. AT: "your family" (See: Metonymy)
will burn up
The phrase "burn up" means to burn something completely. If a person is "burnt up," it means that person is burned to death. (See: Idiom)
Did you invite us here in order to make us poor?
They ask her this question to accuse her of doing evil. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "You have brought us here to make us poor!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
to make us poor
They would become poor if they had to buy him new clothes if they could not solve the riddle. AT: "to make us poor by forcing us to buy him new clothes" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Or, drew near: for it was the fourth day.
Or, drew near: for it was the fourth day.
Or, to impoverish us.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Jdg 14:15 And it came to pass on the…
Jdg 14:15 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]?
Ver. 15. On the seventh day, that they said.] Being loath to lose the wager, they set the woman awork: so doth the devil oft. Many a man’s head he breaketh with his own rib: and this bait he hath found to take so well, that he never changed it since he crept into Paradise.
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Lest we burn thee.] With such big words they scare the timorous woman, who feared to be burnt, and was afterwards burnt; that which she feared came upon her. So it did upon Denton the smith, burnt in his own house, after that he had refused to burn in the cause of Christ. {a}
{a} Act. and Mon., fol. 1557
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–17 On the seventh day; they had doubtless spoken to…
On the seventh day; they had doubtless spoken to her before this time, but with some remissness, supposing that they should find it out; but now their time being nigh slipped, they press her with more vehemency, and put her under a necessity of searching it out.
To take that we have, i.e. to strip us of our garments; and so your civility will end in gross unkindness and injustice.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–17 And it came to pass on the seventh day,....…
And it came to pass on the seventh day,.... Not on the seventh day of the feast, for some time before that they applied to his wife, and she pressed him hard to disclose it; but on the sabbath day, as Kimchi, and so Jarchi says, on the seventh day of the week, not on the seventh day of the feast, for it was the seventh day of the feast; this is so clear, that the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, instead of the seventh, read the fourth day:
that they said unto Samson's wife, entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle; that is, persuade him to tell the meaning of it to her, that she might declare it to them:
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lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire; in which she now was, not as yet being taken home to her husband, and her in it; this they said to terrify her, and make her importunate with Samson to explain the riddle to her, if he had any value for her, and her life:
have ye called us to take that we have? invited them to the wedding feast, to strip them of their clothes, and even take their very shirts off of their backs, which they must have been obliged to part with, if they could not explain the riddle, or send for other suits and shirts from their own houses: "is it not so?" verily this is the case, nor can it be understood otherwise than a contrived business between thee and thy husband, to get our raiment, woollen and linen, from us.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 Seventh day - They had doubtless spoken to her…
Seventh day - They had doubtless spoken to her before this time, but with some remissness, supposing that they should find it out; but now their time being nigh slipped, they put her under a necessity of searching it out. To take that we have - That is, to strip us of our garments.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v17 Verse 17. And she wept before him] Not through…
Verse 17. And she wept before him] Not through any love to him, for it appears she had none, but to oblige her paramours; and of this he soon had ample proof.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 Jdg 14:15. On the seventh day, they said, Entice…
Jdg 14:15. On the seventh day, they said, Entice thy husband — They had doubtless spoken to her before this time, but with some remissness, supposing that they should find it out; but now their time being nigh spent, they put her under a necessity of searching it out. To take that we have — That is, to strip us of our garments.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v15 Seventh day of the week, (Salien) which was the…
Seventh day of the week, (Salien) which was the fourth of the feast; and the Syriac, Arabic, and some editions of the Septuagint read, "the fourth." The young men tried their skill for three days; when, despairing of success, they solicited Samson’s wife to draw the secret from him. She tried; but the seventh day being come, or at hand, (Menochius) the men began to threaten her, so that she became more importunate, and obtained her request. She had been weeping during a great part of the seven days, (ver. 17.; Calmet) or perhaps she had begun to tease him from the beginning. (Menochius) --- Strip us. Septuagint, "to impoverish us." Homer (Odyssey Z.) insinuates, that it was customary for the bride to furnish her attendants with white linen garments. These companions of Samson fear that they are going to be losers, by the honour which they do him. (Calmet) --- The compel his wife by threats to betray his secret, and still destroy her afterwards: thus persecutors frequently treat those who comply with they demands, and deny the faith. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v15 The Philistines solve the riddle by means of treachery.…
The Philistines solve the riddle by means of treachery. Samson’s anger and payment of the forfeit
Jdg_14:15-20.
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15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said19 unto Samson’s wife, Entice [Persuade] thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called [invited] us to take that we have [plunder us]? is it not so? 16And Samson’s wife wept before him and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a [the] riddle unto the children [sons] 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? 17And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted [during which they had their feast]: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him [pressed him hard]: and she told the riddle to the children [sons] of her people. 18And 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 ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. 19And the Spirit of the Lord [Jehovah] came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil [attire], and gave [the] change [changes] of garments unto them which expounded 20the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. But [And] Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend [who had attended him].
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg_14:15.—וַיֹּאמְרוּ. Dr. Cassel treats all that comes after the phrase, “and it came to pass on the seventh day,” down to the same phrase in Jdg_14:17, as parenthetic, and consequently renders וַיֹּאמְרוּ by the pluperfect: “and they tad said.” Cf. below.—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
The æsthetic beauty and psychological truth which characterize the narrative notwithstanding its compressed brevity, and which would be incomparable even though the narrative were not found in the Bible, and had not divine truth for its contents and object, can scarcely be adequately pointed out, so manifoldly do they manifest themselves. The drama is represented with such historical life-likeness, and its development is so natural, that while no one could foresee why the wedding should give rise to a conflict, yet in the sequel it becomes manifest that its occurrence was unavoidable. Samson really loved the maiden of Timnah, and took the full measure of youthful delight in the nuptial banquet and festival; but it is impossible for an Israelite, as he is, to enter into any kind of close connection with the enemies and oppressors of his people, without getting into a conflict. It must never be supposed that covenants, even in the simplest relations of life, can be made with those who are opponents in principle and tyrants in disposition. No occasion is so slight, but it suffices to inflame the fires of antagonism. Samson is too genial of nature to be a far-seeing party man; but he deceived himself when he expected to find a covenant of love and fidelity in a Philistine family. The preventing cause lay not only in his opponents, but also in himself, in that he was always, even unconsciously, showing who he was. Everything appeared to be harmonious when he propounded the riddle. He did it in the most peaceful spirit, from the impulse of an active mind. But it immediately brought the hidden antagonism to light. For they to whom it was proposed for solution were Philistines. As such, they would at all events be put to shame, if they failed to solve it. At the same time, it is true, the nobility of Samson’s disposition reveals itself, in contrast with the vulgar natures of the Philistines. He, for his part, risks thirty times the value of what, in case of failure, each of the thirty has to pay. This is the very reason why, in their covetousness, they accept the wager. The result was natural. They cannot solve the riddle, but neither are they willing to admit this. They are too vain to be humbled by an alien, but especially too covetous to endure a loss. They therefore turn to Samson’s young wife. Had she not been a Philistine, they would not have dared to do this. But, as it is, they expect to find in her an ally against the Israelite, even though he be her husband. She seems indeed to have resisted for a while,—until they arouse both her fears and her vanity. Her fears, by the threat to burn her father’s house over her head; her vanity, by hinting that probably the riddle was only put forth in order to plunder the guests. The latter suspicion she may have found especially intolerable, women being ever peculiarly sensitive to similar surmises of village slander-mongers. Perhaps, however, she merely invented these threatening speeches afterwards, in order to pacify Samson. For else, why did she not confess the truth to Samson? That alone would have ended the trouble. Either he would have felt himself strong enough to protect her, and to humble the miserable enemies, or he would have consented to the sacrifice of appearing to be vanquished. But she did not do this, just because she did not forget that she was a Philistine. Samson, she conjectured, would not allow himself to be humbled. She sought, therefore, to persuade him by means of that very antagonism for the sake of which she betrayed him. She complained, weeping, that he still treated her like her countrymen, and also kept from her that which he would not tell them. She desires to make it appear that her love has so entirely brought her over to his interests, that she thought not to be put on the same footing with her countrymen. This would have been the right relation. The wife may assist no party but that of her husband. But she only dissembled, in order to betray. Finally, on the seventh day,—the sun was already declining,—she had so tormented the hero, that he told it to her. He had a heart not only great, but also tender, which at last succumbs to the prayers and tears of the wife whom he loves and holds to be true. The treachery is completed. The miserable Philistines act as if they had themselves found the solution, and claim the reward. Then a light goes up for Samson. He sees the whole contrast,—the incongruity and error of a covenant with Philistines. Before the treason of which he has been made the subject, the mists with which a seductive sensuality had obscured, his vision are scattered. National wrath and national strength awake within him. His whole greatness reveals itself. He does not refuse the Philistines the promised reward. But the manner in which it is given, is full of contempt and humiliation. He throws to them the spoils of thirty slain Philistines. He leaves the woman, and returns to Israel. The conflict has begun, and Samson’s true calling becomes manifest. He who wears the consecration of God on his head, cannot revel in the houses of Philistines.
Jdg_14:15. And it came to pass on the seventh day. More recent expositors have made no remarks on this difficult statement. To assume that the Philistines first applied themselves to the woman on the seventh day, is rendered impossible by Jdg_14:17, which says that she wept before Samson “seven days.” The LXX. therefore, read here, “on the fourth day,” because Jdg_14:14 states that for three days they were not able to find the solution. Considering how easily ד and ז may be interchanged, the substitution of “seven” for “four” appears very likely. But the clearer it seems that the reading should be, “on the fourth day,” the more surprising it is that the Masora retained “on the seventh day.” The Masora, however, supposed the Sabbath to be meant by the seventh day,—an opinion also followed by some of the older expositors (cf. Serarius), but which cannot be correct.20 For in Jdg_14:17 a “seventh day” is again mentioned, which cannot, however, be another Sabbath; for as the first “seventh day” is, by the supposition, the fourth, so this second is the seventh, day of the wedding-feast. The reading “on the seventh day” can be retained, if the passage which begins immediately after it in Jdg_14:15, and extends to the same phrase in Jdg_14:17, be regarded as a sort of parenthesis. The writer was already on the point of stating that after they had ineffectually puzzled over it for three days, Samson on the seventh day told it to his wife, when it occurred to him first to interpose the statements of Jdg_14:15-17, as showing the motives by which Samson was influenced. Accordingly, “on the seventh day,” in Jdg_14:17, only continues what the same words in Jdg_14:15 had begun. The statement in the parenthesis that she wept before him “seven days,” falls in with this view. The idea is, that from the time at which she began, she continued to torment him throughout the whole seven-day period of the feast. Throughout the whole week, therefore, instead of cheerful guests, Samson had sullen Philistine faces, and, instead of a happy wife, crocodile tears and reproaches.21
Persuade thy husband, that he declare unto us the riddle. פַּתִּי, persuade; most frequently, it is true, “befool,” “entice by flattery.” Very significant is the expression, “that he declare unto us the riddle.” If he tells it to her, they intimate, he will have told it to them. For do not they and she constitute an “us?” She belongs to them, and must act accordingly, if she would not incur their enmity against herself and her house.
Have ye invited us to plunder us? is it not so?הַלְיָרְשֵׁנוּ is the kal infinitive with suffix, and is to be derived from יָרַשׁ, to inherit, to get by conquest, to take into possession. The word is aptly chosen here. When Israel was taking possession of the land, יָרַשׁ was a word in constant use. The Philistines mockingly ask whether they were invited that Israel, in the person of Samson, might “conquer,” “inherit,” their property. הֲלֹא, at the close, is an interrogative particle, like the Latin ne, used enclitically.
Jdg_14:16. Thou dost but hate me, שְׂנֵאתַנִי. Samson, she intimates, must look on her as one looks on a person who belongs to a hostile tribe, seeing that he conceals the solution of the riddle from her as well as from the other people of the city. The woman, pressed to decide between her people and Samson, inclines to the Philistines. A lesson for Samson and others like him.
Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother. It is true, he deferred not to father and mother in the matter of his marriage, but not from want of reverence for them. They are his most beloved. To them he brings of the honey. (Very insipidly, Josephus adds here that he brought honey to the woman also.) And the woman, in the midst of her flatteries and tears, must endure to hear him say to her: Have I not told it to my parents, and shall I tell it to thee? To be sure, it would have been inexcusable to have put his parents—and such parents!—on the same level with a Philistine woman.
Jdg_14:18. Before the sun went down. Here also we have the poetical name חַרְסָה (instead of the form חֶרֶס), for the sun, cf. on Jdg_8:13. Beautiful is the expression בּוֹא, to come, for “to set.” The sun comes home, as it were—comes into his house, like a bridegroom after his wedding. On the other hand, when the sun rises, the Hebrew says that he “goes forth” into activity, forth for victory like a hero.
Had ye not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. The answer of the angry Samson is elegantly couched in the form of a proverb, full of spirit, as are all his sayings which have been preserved. It starts from the experience that buried treasures come to light, when the soil is turned by the plough. (Tages, the Roman Genius, was fabled to have been thus ploughed up.) But not every one knows where to draw the furrow. The Philistines would not have known it; but his heifer had shown them the way. The comparison is not very flattering to the traitoress, but quite appropriate. For no merit accrues to the heifer when it ploughs the right furrow: it has been shown to it. So also the woman: she has solved nothing, but only played the traitor.
Jdg_14:19. And he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them. Why to Ashkelon? Against the people of Timnah he could not turn his wrath. He had eater with them, and he would not withdraw himself from the obligations he had assumed. But their conduct had awakened him to a sense of the great national contrast between them and Israel. At this moment he felt that Israel lay in the bands of servitude. Between his people and the Philistines no other treaty existed, than that which is made by the cowardly and the God-forsaken with their enemies. Israel endured servitude, because it had fallen away from its ancient spirit. It ventured no longer on resistance.
All this came home to Samson’s mind at this moment. He determined to give a proof of Israelitish strength. Hence we read, “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him,” a remark always found where Israel manifests a determination to lift up heart and hand against the enemies of God. His relations would have advised him to collect money and buy the garments. It was a divine inspiration which moved him to pay by battle. Why did he go to Ashkelon? Because there were rich and valiant men there, whom it was worth while to attack and overcome. Probably it was a nuptial party, graced, as his own had been, with thirty attendant groom’s-men, that he surprised. It was not done in the midst of peace. There was no peace between Philistines and Israel. He conquered the thirty Philistines (members, perhaps, as we have said, of a nuptial train) with the sword, as he vanquished his own retinue in a conflict of intellect. The fame of the wonderful young Israelite resounds through the land. No reprisals are made. The princes of the Philistines look on the occurrence as a private affair. But a silent quaking of conscience, such as seizes on tyrants when a fresh spirit stirs itself among the oppressed, contributed no doubt to the preservation of repose.
Took their attire, חֲלִיצוֹתָם. Chalitsah (חֲלִיצָה) is the military equipment, of which the fallen are stripped, cf. 2Sa_2:21. There, the Sept. renders it πανοπλία; here, στόλη. This supports the opinion of the Targum, adduced above, that the promise of Samson referred to military garments. For the chaliphoth (changes of garments) which he paid, were doubtless part of the chalitsoth, or military suits, which he took; so that Samson did not first sell his booty, and then buy new garments. It is in harmony with the dramatic course of the action, that Samson flung to his treacherous friends, as the price of their deception, garments snatched from their own countrymen.
And he went up to his father’s house. His wrath blazed up into a national flame against the Philistine brood. He turns his back upon them, and goes home. It seems to be his intention never to come back. How little they were worthy of him, is shown by the conduct of the woman, after his departure. That she may not be without a husband in consequence of her treason, she is rewarded with the hand of another man. One of the companions for whose sake she deceived Samson, marries her. To treason she adds infidelity. Meanness of disposition gives birth to everything that is bad. It can neither love nor be faithful; but least of all can it comprehend a man such as Samson was.
A survey of only that which chapter 14 shows of Samson, should have excited the attention of those who find pleasure in comparing him with Hercules. While all the ancient statements about the Greek hero have value only as the vehicles of mythico-symbolical ideas, Samson appears in the midst of history, wearing the living hues of actual existence. Hercules, the more the later Greeks take him historically, the more he assumes the character of a coarse giant and glutton, who, averse to culture, kills his master; while Samson is at once portrayed as a genial man, of noble disposition. It were more feasible to institute a comparison between Samson and many traits in the character of Ulysses, were it not that in the latter, as in Greek heroes generally, there is wanting the pathos of the national champion, and that elevation of spirit which, in the case of Samson, breaks through the fetters of even his deepest sensuality. It is already a misapprehension when some would assign twelve exploits to Samson, seeing that his whole life is given for a testimony; but when his slaying of the thirty Philistines is counted as the second (as e. g. by Bertheau), there is a want of understanding even of the Heraclean performances. These are a didactic poem; what is told of Samson, signifies an ethical deed. The deeds of Hercules have no mutual connection: those of Samson, ethico-historical in their nature, are conditioned one by the other. The succeeding history, related in chap, 15, connects itself with what has gone before.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
[Henry (on Jdg_14:10; Jdg_14:12): It is no part of religion to go contrary to the innocent usages of the places where we live; nay, it is a reproach to religion, when those who profess it give just occasion to others to call them covetous, sneaking, and morose. A good man should strive to make himself, in the best sense, a good companion.—The same: “If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle.” Satan, in his temptations, could not do us the mischief he does, if he did not plough with the heifer of our own corrupt nature.—The same: “And he went up to his father’s house.” It. were well for us, if the unkindness we meet with from the world, and our disappointments in it, had but this good effect upon us to oblige us by faith and prayer to return to our heavenly Father’s house, and rest there.—The same: “Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.” See how little confidence is to be put in man, when those may prove our enemies whom we have used as our friends.—Bp. Hall (on Jdg_14:19): If we wonder to see thirty throats cut for their suits, we may easily know that this was but the occasion of that slaughter whereof the cause was their oppression and tyranny.
Wordsworth: At the marriage feast of Cana in Galilee, Christ manifested forth his glory (Joh_2:11). But at this marriage in Timnath, Samson betrayed the first signs of moral weakness and degeneracy.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[19][Jdg_14:15.—וַיֹּאמְרוּ. Dr. Cassel treats all that comes after the phrase, “and it came to pass on the seventh day,” down to the same phrase in Jdg_14:17, as parenthetic, and consequently renders וַיֹּאמְרוּ by the pluperfect: “and they tad said.” Cf. below.—Tr.]
[20]Least correct of all would it be, with Lilienthal, to leave the words out because the Königsberg MSS. did not have them.
[21][Dr. Cassel’s explanation of this matter does not strike me favorably. It certainly fails to justify the remark of Jdg_14:17 : “she wept before him seven days.” The natural explanation seems to be this: As soon as the riddle was given, the young wife at once began to teaze for its solution. Refusal both stimulated her curiosity and wounded her vanity, so that even before the end of the first day she had recourse to the argument of tears. Day by day she renewed the assault, but always ineffectually. Finally, on the seventh day she brings a new argument, furnished her by the guests. For the first three days of the festivities these had sought to solve the riddle in a legitimate way. Such appears to be the import of the remark in Jdg_14:14 : “and they could not in three days expound the riddle.” What they did on the next three days is not stated. They may have remained inactive, trusting in some way to compass the solution at last, or they may have been already ploughing with Samson’s heifer. But if the latter, they had not yet recourse to threats. On the last day of the feast, however, when they find that waiting has been as ineffective as working, and that the wife’s importunities (of which they were probably cognizant, even though they did not stimulate them), have likewise accomplished nothing, they resort to threats against the wife. The latter thereupon becomes more urgent and tearful than ever, and gains her point. Compare Bertheau and Keil, who give essentially the same explanation.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15–17 15. On the seventh day — Not of the…
15. On the seventh day — Not of the week, (as Bush,) but of the feast. It was not till the last day of the feast that, feeling their case was hopeless, they went to the barbarous extreme of threatening to burn her and her father’s house with fire. It is probable, as Keil remarks, that “the woman had already come to Samson every day with her entreaties, from simple curiosity; but Samson resisted them until the seventh day, when she became more urgent than ever in consequence of this threat of the Philistines.” It is probable, too, that they had, without any threat, asked her before the seventh day to find out for them the meaning of the riddle.
Entice thy husband — Persuade him; induce him.
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That he may declare… the riddle — Evidently their meaning was, that she should persuade Samson to tell her the solution of the riddle, and then that she should privately make it known unto them.
Have ye called us to take that we have — Literally, Is it to make us poor ye have called us? Do you intend to rob us of our property, that you and your father are leagued together to make us the victims of Samson?
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 15. on the seventh day] Would the young men…
15. on the seventh day] Would the young men have waited all this time before pressing the woman to extract the answer? In Jdg_14:17 she is said to have tried herself to find it out all the seven days. The two statements are inconsistent. The LXX and Peshitto read on the fourth day; but this is suspiciously like what we should expect after in three days Jdg_14:14. Most critics think that the numbers in Jdg_14:14-15 were added to the original text in order to heighten the difficulty of the riddle and the despair of the Philistines.
unto us] LXX unto thee. Samson could not be expected to tell the Philistines himself.
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to impoverish us] lit. take possession of, dispossess us. The reflex. stem has the meaning come to poverty in Gen_45:11, Pro_20:13 etc.
is it not so?] The Hebr. requires a slight correction: ‘was it to impoverish us that ye invited us hither?’ So five Hebr. mss., Targ.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 (15) On the seventh day.—When they were in despair.
(15) On the seventh day.—When they were in despair.
Lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire.—As, indeed, they ultimately did (Jdg_15:6). If Samson appears in no very favourable light in this chapter, the Philistines show themselves to be most mean, treacherous, and brutal.
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To take that we have.—The Hebrew expression is stronger—“to spoil us,” or “make us paupers.” The “is it not so?” is added to show the vehemence of the question.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–17 On the seventh day. There is some apparent difficulty…
On the seventh day. There is some apparent difficulty in understanding how to reconcile this statement with what was said in ver. 14, that they could not in three days expound the riddle; and also with what is said in vers. 16 and 17, that Samson"s wife wept before him the seven days of the feast. And several different readings have arisen from this difficulty: viz., in this verse, the reading of the fourth day for the seventh, and the omission of the words, And it came to pass on the seventh day; and, in the latter part of ver. 14, seven days for three days. But all difficulty will disappear if we bear in mind the peculiarity of Hebrew narrative noticed in note to section vers. 1-6 of ch. 2., when we come to consider ver. 16. Entice thy husband. Cf. Jud_1:16:5. That he may declare unto us. If the text is sound, they must mean to say, declare it unto you, that you may declare it unto us, i.e. declare it unto us through you. But it is simpler either to read with the Septuagint, that he may declare unto you, etc. , or to read, and declare unto us, in the imperative mood. Burn with fire. See Jud_1:12:1, and Jud_1:15:6. Have ye called us, etc., i.e. Did you invite us to this feast in order to impoverish us, to plunder us of our property? We shall conclude that you did so if you do not disclose to us the riddle.
Vers. 15-20. Unlawful methods of interpreting Divine mysteries.
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Samson is betrayed into revealing his riddle. It was a mean subterfuge, and the fraud is promptly avenged.
I THERE ARE ILLEGITIMATE WAYS OF GETTING AT DIVINE TRUTH. False prophets. Unwilling prophets, as Balaam. Mercenary attempts at obtaining a peculiar knowledge, as of Simon Magus. (cf. Act_8:9-24 Act_19:13 Col_2:17, Col_2:18)
II THE ESSENTIAL MEANING OF THE TRUTH CANNOT BE THUS DISCOVERED. The Philistines only learnt the historic circumstance; they were still in outer darkness as to the evangelic significance of the parable or riddle. So it is with those who "intrude into those things which they have not seen or heard, vainly puffed up in their fleshly minds." God will deliver them over to strong delusion, and the belief of a lie.
III THIS IS FULL OF DANGER, AND WILL BE PROMPTLY AVENGED. Partly in the apparent illumination, but real ignorance, of such men; and partly in the consequences attending an incomplete or garbled gospel. Here the vengeance was both spiritual and physical. How sorry the gain that involved their fellow-countrymen in such a death! M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–16 the fourth day
the fourth day
"day 4" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
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Trick
mislead or fool someone into doing something they would not want to do
your father's house
Possible meanings are 1) this refers to the actual house. AT: "the house your father and his family live in" or 2) "house" refers to the people who live in it. AT: "your family" (See: Metonymy)
will burn up
The phrase "burn up" means to burn something completely. If a person is "burnt up," it means that person is burned to death. (See: Idiom)
Did you invite us here in order to make us poor?
They ask her this question to accuse her of doing evil. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "You have brought us here to make us poor!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
to make us poor
They would become poor if they had to buy him new clothes if they could not solve the riddle. AT: "to make us poor by forcing us to buy him new clothes" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Samson
house
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.