Judges · Chapter 14

V. 1. Went-After he was come to mature age. Timnath-A place not far from the sea.

Verse 1. Went down to Timnath] A frontier town of the Philistines, at the beginning of the lands belonging to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:57; but afterwards given up to Dan, Joshua 19:43. David took this place from the Philistines, but they again got possession of it in the reign of Ahaz, 2 Chronicles 28:18.

Verses 1, 2. Samson went — After he was come to mature age; to Timnath — A place not far from the sea. Get her for me to wife — Herein he is an example to all children, conformable to the fifth commandment. Children ought not to marry, nor to move toward it, without the advice and consent of their parents. They that do, as Bishop Hall speaks, unchild themselves. Parents have a property in their children, as parts of themselves. In marriage this property is transferred. It is, therefore, not only unkind and ungrateful, but palpably unjust, to alienate this property, without their concurrence. Whoso thus robbeth his father or mother, stealing from them himself, who is nearer and dearer to them than their goods, and yet saith, It is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer, Proverbs 28:24.

Verse 1. Timnath, situate in mount Ephraim, often taken and retaken in successive wars. To form a matrimonial connection with the Philistines, or with any of the idolatrous nations, was a violation of the Jewish law. Exodus 34:16. But truly, as Ovid says, Amor est cæcus, love is blind.

SAMSON’S MARRIAGE AND RIDDLE, 1-20.

“Samson keeps his vow of abstinence from intoxication,” says Ewald, “but is all the weaker and wilder with regard to the love of women, as if he could here make up for the want of freedom elsewhere; and by a singular sport of chance, or, rather, by the secret revenge of a heart warped by the vow, his love is always excited by women of that very race which the vow urges him to combat with all the might of his arm, and on whose men the weight of his own strength always falls at the right time.”

1. Went down to Timnath — About five miles southwest from Zorah, and identical with the modern Tibneh. To reach it from Zorah one has to “descend through wild rocky gorges, just where one would expect to find a lion in those days, when wild beasts were far more common than at present.” — Thomson.

V. 2. To wife-Herein he is an example to all children, conformable to the fifth commandment. Children ought not to marry, nor to move toward it without the advice and consent of their parents. They that do, as Bishop Hall speaks, unchild themselves. Parents have a property in their children, as parts of themselves. In marriage this property is transferred. It is therefore not only unkind and ungrateful, but palpably unjust, to alienate this property, without their concurrence. Who so thus robbeth his father or mother, stealing himself from them who is nearer and dearer to them than their goods, and yet saith, It is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer, Proverbs 28:24.

Verses 1, 2. Samson went — After he was come to mature age; to Timnath — A place not far from the sea. Get her for me to wife — Herein he is an example to all children, conformable to the fifth commandment. Children ought not to marry, nor to move toward it, without the advice and consent of their parents. They that do, as Bishop Hall speaks, unchild themselves. Parents have a property in their children, as parts of themselves. In marriage this property is transferred. It is, therefore, not only unkind and ungrateful, but palpably unjust, to alienate this property, without their concurrence. Whoso thus robbeth his father or mother, stealing from them himself, who is nearer and dearer to them than their goods, and yet saith, It is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer, Proverbs 28:24.

2. Get her for me to wife — Proposals for marriage were made by parents at the request of their sons, (Genesis 34:4, 8,) and hence must Samson’s parents go down with him to Timnath.

V. 3. Philistines-With whom the Israelites were forbidden to marry. For although the Philistines were not Canaanites in their original, yet they were so in their concurrence with them in wickedness, and therefore were liable to the same judgments with them. Get her-This action of Samson’s, though against common rules, seems to be warranted, by the direction of God, (mentioned in the following words) which was known to Samson, but not to his parents. Pleaseth me-Not so much for her beauty, as for the design mentioned in the next verse.

Verse 3. Is there never a woman] To marry with any that did not belong to the Israelitish stock, was contrary to the law, Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3. But this marriage of Samson was said to be of the Lord, Judges 14:4; that is, God permitted it, (for in no other sense can we understand the phrase,) that it might be a means of bringing about the deliverance of Israel.

For she pleaseth me well.] בעיני ישרה ayh yk ki hi yisherah beeynai, for she is right in my eyes. This is what is supposed to be a sufficient reason to justify either man or woman in their random choice of wife or husband; the maxim is the same with that of the poet:—

“Thou hast no fault, or I no fault can spy;

Thou art all beauty or all blindness I.”

When the will has sufficient power, its determinations are its own rule of right. That will should be pure and well directed that says, It shall be so, because I WILL it should be so. A reason of this kind is similar to that which I have seen in a motto on the brass ordnance of Lewis XIV., ULTIMA RATIO REGUM, the sum of regal logic; i.e., “My will, backed by these instruments of destruction, shall be the rule of right and wrong.” The rules and principles of this logic are now suspected; and it is not likely to be generally received again without violent demonstration.

Verse 3. To take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines — With whom the Israelites were forbidden to marry. For although the Philistines were not Canaanites in their original, yet they were so in their concurrence with them in wickedness, and therefore were liable to the same judgments with them. Get her for me — This action of Samson’s, though against common rules, seems to be warranted by the direction of God, (mentioned in the following words,) which was known to Samson, but not to his parents. Pleaseth me — Not so much for her beauty, as for the design mentioned in the next verse.

3. Daughters of thy brethren — That is, women of the tribe of the Danites. All my people — All Israel, in distinction from the tribe of Dan. A wife of the uncircumcised — The law forbade marriages with Canaanitish women, (Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3,) and therefore the opposition of Samson’s parents to his marriage was well founded. The Philistines are not usually classified with the Canaanitish tribes, but in respect to Israel and the law they were aliens and idolaters. Compare Joshua 13:3. She pleaseth me well — Literally, She is righteous in my eyes. Samson saw in her no evil, no wrong.

4. It was of the Lord — Our historian is writing SACRED history, and he marks everywhere the working of Divine Providence. Samson was raised up of God to begin to deliver Israel, and therefore every event of his life that was associated with that work was providentially ordered. That he sought an occasion — Not that Samson had a foreknowledge of what would be the outcome of this marriage, and purposely sought this woman to wife that he might find some opportunity of working mischief and ruin among the Philistines; but that the Lord overruled all these events for the purpose of weakening the Philistines’ power. Samson evidently had some suspicion or impression that the marriage would lead to great results. He at least recognised, as his parents did not, the hand of God in the matter, and he felt assured that his love for the woman, and her righteousness in his eyes, were providential indications that in marrying her he was boldly entering on the great mission of his life. But how the matter would terminate neither he nor his parents then knew. Against the Philistines — Rather, From the Philistines. The provoking and responsible occasion for Samson to injure the Philistines was to be on their side, not on his. For at that time — This sentence is added as the general reason why the Lord was providentially preparing the way to weaken and overthrow the Philistine dominion over Israel.

{The theory of the Old Testament language in regard to God’s providence seems to be this: Whatever act of man, however free or wicked, contributes to the higher scheme of Jehovah’s purpose, and so, though divinely disapproved, is divinely recognised, and wrought into the series of events, is roughly said to be of the Lord, and his act and doing. The old Hebraic age had not yet attempted to draw the metaphysical line between God’s will and God’s non-prevention of those sins which are necessarily to be admitted into that system of free-agency from which the highest good shall accrue. Those sins, therefore, which are seen by the inspired writer to adjust into the high scheme of God, and to bring out his intended results, are, in lump, attributed to him. They are not his by approval, by decree, by direct production, nor by fore-ordination; but are only indiscriminately said to be his, because, foreseen by him, they are simply non-prevented, and woven into his complex plan for bringing out the highest good. This is not rightly called a Hebraism in the sense of a Hebrew idiom; but it is a Hebraism in the sense of being a Hebrew style of thought and expression. The Hebrew knew, indeed, that Jehovah was absolutely holy, and men’s sins were wicked, but had never fully adjusted the relation between the two. A later age, when moral thought becomes more defined, raises the question of God’s exact collision with sin, and draws the discriminating line. See notes on Matthew 11:25; Acts 2:23, and 4:28; and introductory note to Romans 9.}

V. 5. Father and mother-Who accompanied him, either because they were now acquainted with his design; or, to order the circumstances of that action which they saw he was set upon.

Verse 5. A young lion roared against him.] Came fiercely out upon him, ready to tear him to pieces.

Verses 5, 6. And his father and mother — Who accompanied him, either because they were now acquainted with his design, or to order the circumstances of that action which they saw he was set upon. The Spirit of the Lord came mightily — Increased his courage and bodily strength. As he would have rent a kid — As soon and as safely. Told not, &c. — Lest by their means it should be publicly known; for he wisely considered, that it was not yet a fit time to awaken the jealousies and fears of the Philistines concerning him, as this would have done.

Ver. 5. A young lion roared against him. To kill a lion placed a man among the first of heroes. He, like Hercules, mostly wore the skin as a proud trophy of victory. Old Æneas says, that he threw a vest around his neck, and covered his shoulders with a tawny lion’s skin. —— Latos humeros subjectáque colla

Veste super, fulvique insternor pelle leonis.

ÆN. 50. 2. 5:721.

5. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother — He overcame their scruples, and they accordingly accompanied him to Timnath to consummate the betrothal. The laws and customs of the age required the parents of the bridegroom to be parties in negotiating the marriage of a son, and for this purpose must Samson’s parents go down with him to the residence of the desired maiden. The vineyards of Timnath — “There were then vineyards belonging to Timnath,” says Thomson, “as there now are in all these hamlets along the base of the hills and upon the mountain sides. These vineyards are very often far out from the villages, climbing up rough wadies and wild cliffs.” A young lion roared against him — His parents seem to have been in advance. “At present lions do not exist in Palestine, though they are said to be found in the desert on the road to Egypt. They abound on the banks of the Euphrates between Bussorah and Bagdad, and in the marshes and jungles near the rivers of Babylonia. But though they have now disappeared from Palestine, they must in ancient times have been numerous. The names Lebaoth, (Joshua 15:32,) Beth-lebaoth, (Joshua 19:6,) Arieh, (2 Kings 15:25,) and Laish, (Judges 18:7,) were probably derived from the presence of lions, and point to the fact that they were at one time common. The strength, courage, and ferocity of the lion are proverbial. The terrible roar of the lion is expressed in Hebrew by four different words, between which the following distinction appears to be maintained: shaag (here and Psalm 22:13; 104:21; Amos 3:4) denotes the roar of the lion while seeking his prey; naham (Isaiah 5:29) expresses the cry which he utters when he seizes his victim; hagah (Isaiah 31:4) the growl with which he defies any attempt to snatch the prey from his teeth; while naar is descriptive of the cry of the young lions. Jeremiah 51:38.” — Smith’s Bible Dictionary.

A recent ingenious attempt (in “Scribner’s Monthly” for July, 1871) to explain away the common and traditional sense of this passage, and to give a new solution of Samson’s riddle, demands, perhaps, a notice here. It asserts that Samson rent no young lion, but smashed or demolished a winepress, and renders this sentence, “Behold, the lion-cup called loudly to invite him.” It affirms that rypk, young lion, is meant for rwpk, a cup, and that cup of lions means a winepress, which was made of hewn stone and resembled a great cup or goblet, and was hence called cup of lions, or lion-cup. The roaring (gav) is explained of the raging of wine when it is red in the cup. Samson being a Nazarite, wine was his enemy, and when he heard it raging, and saw it giving its colour in the mammoth cup, he treated it as a tempting foe, and rent the winepress to fragments. It is also claimed that tlpm, in verse 8 means properly a ruin, or heap, and is applicable to a broken winepress, but not to the dead carcass of a lion; and tywg, rendered carcass in the same verse, is, when we leave out the matres lectionis w and y, the same word (tg) which is rendered winepress in chap. 6:11. Further, it is argued that a broken winepress would be a tempting receptacle for bees, while a dead carcass would be repulsive; and that by destroying this property of the Philistines he was injuring the enemies of his people and thus fulfilling his mission, while the rending of a lion would have been no act of destruction against the Philistines, but a blessing, in thus ridding their vineyards of dangerous beasts. The writer finally gives the following solution of the riddle: Out of the wine-press, which consumes or eats grapes by the million, came forth wine, one of the three leading meats of the Bible, (corn, wine, and oil;) and out of the strong (or the lion-cup, capable of overcoming the mightiest potentates of the earth) came forth sweetness, (or the honey Samson had taken out of the ruins of the winepress.)

To all this it may be easily replied: 1. The changing of rypk into rwpk is wholly arbitrary, and opens the way to such unbounded license in criticism as is not to be accepted unless for weightier reasons than this expositor has offered. 2. To speak of a winepress roaring to meet one, is, to say the least, a very strange expression, and a use of Hebrew that has no parallel in the Bible. gav is often used of the roaring of the lion, but never of the fermentation of grapes, or the raging of strong drink. 3. The rent carcass of a lion may be as appropriately called a ruin (tlpm) as a smashed winepress, or the fallen trunk of a tree, (Ezekiel 31:13,) or the misfortunes of the wicked, Proverbs 29:16. 4. To omit the two letters w and y from the word tywg, in which they each have the full power of a consonant, and thus make the word tg, is to set at defiance all sound principles of criticism. To omit or ignore the so-called matres lectionis, or assume that they are nowhere consonants, is violently to change the orthography of perhaps a tenth or more of all the words in the Hebrew language. 5. The notion that bees would not have entered a lion’s carcass is sufficiently refuted in our note on verse 8; and the idea that Samson, when suddenly attacked by a lion, would have paused to reflect whether he would injure or bless the Philistines by rending it, may be safely passed over without further notice. 6. Finally, this new solution of Samson’s riddle is less apt and clear than the traditional one, and is of too little worth to justify such a laboured effort and such arbitrary criticism as must be undertaken to make it even plausible. We should add, that, contrary to the evident import of verse 17, which says that Samson told his wife the riddle, and she explained it to the Philistines, this new exposition assumes that Samson, by a play on words, (like lion-cup and lion-cub,) deceived his wife, and so his thirty companions never correctly solved his riddle. In this case he surely should have demanded of them the thirty changes of garments, and not have succumbed to their treachery and fraud.

V. 6. Came mightily-Increased his courage and bodily strength. A kid-As soon and as safely. Told not, &c.-Lest by their means it should be publickly known; for he wisely considered, that it was not yet a fit time to awaken the jealousies and fears of the Philistines concerning him, as this would have done.

Verse 6. He rent him as he would have rent a kid] Now it is not intimated that he did this by his own natural strength, but by the Spirit of the Lord coming mightily upon him: so that his strength does not appear to be his own, nor to be at his command; his might was, by the will of God, attached to his hair and to his Nazarate.

Verses 5, 6. And his father and mother — Who accompanied him, either because they were now acquainted with his design, or to order the circumstances of that action which they saw he was set upon. The Spirit of the Lord came mightily — Increased his courage and bodily strength. As he would have rent a kid — As soon and as safely. Told not, &c. — Lest by their means it should be publicly known; for he wisely considered, that it was not yet a fit time to awaken the jealousies and fears of the Philistines concerning him, as this would have done.

6. Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him — A remarkable supernatural quickening and strengthening of his physical powers, which enabled him to perform a feat beyond the measure of his ordinary strength. Observe that here the expression does not imply any great sanctity or moral purity in Samson, and is therefore not to be confounded with the New Testament gift of the Holy Ghost.

Verse 7. And talked with the woman] That is, concerning marriage; thus forming the espousals.

7. Talked with the woman — He had only seen her before, (verse 1,) but found no opportunity to talk with her till the betrothal was arranged by his parents.

V. 8. After a time-Heb. after days; that is, either after some days: or, rather, after a year, as that word often signifies; when the flesh of the lion, (which by its strong smell is offensive to bees) was wholly consumed, and nothing was left but the bones. Bees-Settling themselves there, as they have sometimes done in a man’s skull, or in a sepulchre.

Verse 8. After a time] Probably about one year; as this was the time that generally elapsed between espousing and wedding. A swarm of bees and honey in the carcass] By length of time the flesh had been entirely consumed off the bones, and a swarm of bees had formed their combs within the region of the thorax, nor was it an improper place; nor was the thing unfrequent, if we may credit ancient writers; the carcasses of slain beasts becoming a receptacle for wild bees. The beautiful espisode in the 4th Georgic of Virgil, beginning at ver. 317, proves that the ancients believed that bees might be engendered in the body of a dead ox:—

Pastor Aristæus fugiens Peneia Tempe—— Quatuor eximios præstanti corpore tauros Ducit, et intacta totidem cervice juvencas. Post, ubi nona suos Aurora induxerat ortus. Inferias Orphei mittit, lucumque revisit. Hic ver o subitum, ac dietu mirabile monstrum Adspiciunt, liquefacta bourn per viscera toto Stridere apes utero, et ruptis effervere costis; Immensasque trahi nubes, jamque arbore summa Confluere, et lentis uvam demittere ramis. VIRG. Geor. lib. iv., ver. 550.

“Sad Aristæus from fair Tempe fled,

His bees with famine or diseases dead—— Four altars raises, from his herd he culls For slaughter four the fairest of his bulls; Four heifers from his female store he took, All fair, and all unknowing of the yoke. Nine mornings thence, with sacrifice and prayers, The powers atoned, he to the grove repairs. Behold a prodigy! for, from within

The broken bowels, and the bloated skin, A buzzing noise of bees his ears alarms, Straight issuing through the sides assembling swarms! Dark as a cloud, they make a wheeling flight, Then on a neighbouring tree descending light, Like a large cluster of black grapes they show, And make a large dependance from the bough. DRYDEN.

Verses 8, 9. After a time — Hebrew, after days; that is, either after some days, or rather, after a year, as that word often signifies; when the flesh of the lion (which, by its strong smell, is offensive to bees) was wholly consumed, and nothing was left but the bones. Bees — Settling themselves there, as they have sometimes done in a man’s scull, or in a sepulchre. Came to his father and mother — From whom he had turned aside for a season, verse 8.

Ver. 8. After a time, when the air had dried the skeleton, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase, the mouth, or breast of the lion. Bochart mentions swarms of bees settling in tombs, and in human skulls, and forming their combs. Hieroz, part. 2. lib. 4. cap. 10.

8. After a time he returned to take her — That is, to consummate the marriage. Several months, often a year, elapsed between the betrothal and the wedding. A swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion — “This, it must be confessed,” says Dr. Thomson, “is an extraordinary occurrence. The word for bees is the Arabic for hornets, and these we know are very fond of flesh, and devour it with the greatest avidity. I have myself seen a swarm of hornets build their comb in the skull of a dead camel, and this would incline me to believe that it was really our debabir — hornets — that had settled in the carcass of Samson’s lion, if it were known that they manufactured honey enough to meet the demands of the story. However, we find that not long after this bees were so abundant in a wood at no great distance from this spot that the honey dropped down from the trees on the ground, (1 Samuel 14:26;) and I have explored densely-wooded gorges on Hermon and southern Lebanon where wild bees are still found, both in trees and in clefts of the rocks. It keeps up the verisimilitude of the narrative that these are just the places where wild beasts still abound, and though bees ordinarily avoid dead carcasses, it is possible that they on this occasion selected that of the lion for their hive.” Rosenmuller in his “Bible Archaeology” says: “In the desert of Arabia the heat of a sultry season will often dry up all the moisture of men or camels that have fallen dead, within twenty-four hours of their decease, without their passing into a state of decomposition and putrefaction, so that they remain for a long time like mummies, without change and without stench.” In such a case it would be very possible and likely that a swarm of bees would take up their abode in what more resembled a crust of rock than a decayed carcass. Or we may suppose that the carcass had become a dry and naked skeleton, and that some sort of wild bees had formed their nest and combs within it. On this point we may well add the weighty testimony of Dr. Kitto: “In the East, vultures and insects, particularly numerous swarms of ants — and these abound in vineyards — will, in an astonishingly short time, clean completely out all the soft parts of any carcass, leaving the skeleton entire, covered by its integuments, for, the flesh having been picked out, the skin would not be rent and destroyed. All the softer parts being thus removed, the bones and skin will rapidly be deprived of all their moisture by the heat of the sun; and the skeleton, covered over with the dry parchment into which the skin has been turned, becomes a sweet and very convenient habitation, in which a swarm of bees would be very likely to settle, especially in a secluded spot, among the shrub-like vines. In the East, bees establish themselves in situations little thought of by us; many wild swarms, being left to find homes for themselves, fix in any hollow which seems to them suited to their wants.”

V. 9. Came to, &c.-From whom he had turned aside for a season, ver. 8.

Verses 8, 9. After a time — Hebrew, after days; that is, either after some days, or rather, after a year, as that word often signifies; when the flesh of the lion (which, by its strong smell, is offensive to bees) was wholly consumed, and nothing was left but the bones. Bees — Settling themselves there, as they have sometimes done in a man’s scull, or in a sepulchre. Came to his father and mother — From whom he had turned aside for a season, verse 8.

9. Came to his father and mother — His parents seem to have accompanied him down to Timnath this second time in order to be present at the wedding feast. He told them not — He perhaps at once conceived the riddle he would propound, and for that reason kept it secret from his parents. But also he might have thought that his approach to the dead carcass was a violation of his Nazarite purity, and he might better keep it to himself; or he may have thought that his parents would regard the honey as unclean if they knew whence he had taken it.

Verse 10. Samson made there a feast] The marriage feast, when he went to marry his espoused wife.

10. Samson made there a feast — The marriage feast lasted seven days, (Genesis 29:27,) at the close of which the bridegroom led his bride in joyful procession from her father’s house to his own, or to the house of his father. Samson probably held his feast at the house of a friend or acquaintance in Timnath, for as the sexes did not feast together, and the nuptials were not completed till the close of the seventh day, the feast of the bridegroom would not have been held in the house of the bride’s father. Had his own residence been in Timnath, Samson would have made his feast at home; but as Zorah was some five miles away, it only remained for him to hire a house for his feast, or else use the house of some friend.

V. 11. Saw him-Or, observed him, his stature, and strength, and countenance, and carriage, which were extraordinary. Brought-Partly in compliance with the custom of having bride-men; though they were not so numerous; but principally by way of caution, and as a guard put upon him under a pretence of respect and affection.

Verse 11. They brought thirty companions] These are called in Scripture children of the bride-chamber, and friends of the bridegroom. See the whole of this subject particularly illustrated in the observations at the end, Clarke “John 3:25”.

Verse 11. When they saw him — Or, observed him, his stature, and strength, and countenance, and carriage, which were extraordinary. They brought thirty companions — Partly in compliance with the custom of having bride-men; though they were not so numerous, but principally by way of caution, and as a guard put upon him under a pretence of respect and affection.

11. When they saw him — That is, when the bride’s parents and relatives saw him. Bush and others think these words indicate that they saw in Samson’s stature and bearing something that aroused their suspicions, and told them he was a man to be watched, and they therefore brought thirty companions more, for the purpose of setting so many spies about him rather than for showing him respect or honour. But the phrase to be with him hardly harmonizes with such a thought, and the joviality and good cheer of their intercourse is against it. The parents and friends of the bride had seen Samson before, and had there been any thing suspicious about his stature and countenance they would have discovered it before this time. The verse merely means that when they saw him make his appearance with his parents in Timnath, to celebrate the wedding feast, they proceeded at once to do their part in furnishing him guests.

V. 12. Seven days-For so long marriage-feasts lasted. Sheets-Fine linen-clothes, which were used for many purposes in those parts. Changes-Suits of apparel.

Verse 12. I will now put forth a riddle] Probably this was one part of the amusements at a marriage-feast; each in his turn proposing a riddle, to be solved by any of the rest on a particular forfeit; the proposer forfeiting, if solved, the same which the company must forfeit if they could not solve it. Thirty sheets] I have no doubt that the Arab hayk, or hake, is here meant; a dress in which the natives of the East wrap themselves, as a Scottish Highlander does in his plaid. In Asiatic countries the dress scarcely ever changes; being nearly the same now that it was 2000 years ago. Mr. Jackson, in his account of the Empire of Morocco, thus mentions the Moorish dress: “It resembles,” says he, “that of the ancient patriarchs, as represented in paintings; (but the paintings are taken from Asiatic models;) that of the men consists of a red cap and turban, a (kumja) shirt, which hangs outside of the drawers, and comes down below the knee; a (caftan) coat, which buttons close before, and down to the bottom, with large open sleeves; over which, when they go out of doors, they throw carelessly, and sometimes elegantly, a hayk, or garment of white cotton, silk, or wool, five or six yards long, and five feet wide. The Arabs often dispense with the caftan, and even with the shirt, wearing nothing but the hayk.” When an Arab does not choose to wrap himself in the hayk, he throws it over his left shoulder, where it hangs till the weather, &c., obliges him to wrap it round him. The hayk is either mean or elegant, according to the quality of the cloth, and of the person who wears it. I have myself seen the natives of Fez, with hayks, or hykes, both elegant and costly. By the changes of garments, it is very likely that the kumja and caftan are meant, or at least the caftan; but most likely both: for the Hebrew has בגדים twpylj chaliphoth begadim, changes or succession of garments. Samson, therefore, engaged to give or receive thirty hayks, and thirty kumjas and caftans, on the issue of the interpretation or non-interpretation of his riddle: these were complete suits.

Verse 12. I will now put forth a riddle unto you — The custom of those times, and which was transmitted to succeeding ages, was to propose some enigmatical questions to the guests, in order to render the feast more agreeable. Within the seven days of the feast — For so long marriage-feasts lasted. Sheets — Vestments of linen, which were worn next the skin, (Mark 14:51,) or fine linen clothes, which were used for divers purposes, Matthew 27:59. Thirty changes of raiment — Suits of clothes, which consisted of an upper and under garment.

Ver. 12. I will put forth a riddle. The human kind were not in that age come to maturity of intellect. Xenophon, in his Cyropædia, (travels of Cyrus,) represents that prince as diverting himself with his generals, by each in his turn putting forth a riddle. Antiquity abounds with examples, that the heathens, merry in their feasts, diverted themselves with riddles and tales.—Thirty sheets. Many of the ancients wore a sheet of cloth knit at the corners, and thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free for action. Leurs habits sont aisés à faire; car, dans ce doux climat, on ne porte qu’une pièce d’étoffe fine et légère, qui n’est point taillée, et que chacun met à longs plis autour de son corps pour la modestie, lui dormant la forme qu’il veut. Telem. livre 8.

12. I will now put forth a riddle unto you — Literally, I will twist you a knot. The custom of telling riddles at banquets for the purpose of entertainment was an ancient custom, and is often mentioned or alluded to by Greek writers. Within the seven days — That is, within the rest of the seven days which now remained of the feast. See notes on verses 14 and

17. Probably the amusement of telling and guessing riddles had been going on for several days of the feast before Samson proposed this one. Thirty sheets — One for each guest. Sheets is not a proper rendering of the Hebrew word, but shirts, as in the margin. They were under-garments woven of fine linen, and probably very costly. Change of garments — Costly dresses, which were frequently changed on festal occasions. Compare Genesis 45:22; 2 Kings 5:5. The prize of such inner and outer garments was therefore worth contending for.

SAMSON’S MARRIAGE AND RIDDLE, 1-20.

“Samson keeps his vow of abstinence from intoxication,” says Ewald, “but is all the weaker and wilder with regard to the love of women, as if he could here make up for the want of freedom elsewhere; and by a singular sport of chance, or, rather, by the secret revenge of a heart warped by the vow, his love is always excited by women of that very race which the vow urges him to combat with all the might of his arm, and on whose men the weight of his own strength always falls at the right time.”

1. Went down to Timnath — About five miles southwest from Zorah, and identical with the modern Tibneh. To reach it from Zorah one has to “descend through wild rocky gorges, just where one would expect to find a lion in those days, when wild beasts were far more common than at present.” — Thomson.

Verse 14. And he said unto there] Thus he states or proposes his riddle:—

Out of the eater came forth meat,

And out of the strong came forth sweetness.

Instead of strong, the Syriac and Arabic have bitter. I have no doubt that the riddle was in poetry; and perhaps the two hemistichs above preserve its order. This was scarcely a fair riddle; for unless the fact to which it refers were known, there is no rule of interpretation by which it could be found out. We learn from the Scholiast, on Aristophanes, Vesp. v. 20, that It was a custom among the ancient Greeks to propose at their festivals, what were called grifoi, griphoi, riddles, enigmas, or very obscure sayings, both curious and difficult, and to give a recompense to those who found them out, which generally consisted in either a festive crown, or a goblet full of wine. Those who failed to solve them were condemned to drink a large portion of fresh water, or of wine mingled with a sea-water, which they were compelled to take down at one draught, without drawing their breath, their hands being tied behind their backs. Sometimes they gave the crown to the deity in honour of whom the festival was made: and if none could solve the riddle, the reward was given to him who proposed it. Of these enigmas proposed at entertainments &c., we have numerous examples in ATHENÆUS, Deipnosoph, lib. x., c. 15, p. 142, edit. Argentorat., and some of them very like this of Samson for example:— didouv tiv ouk edwken, oudJ ecwn eceiÈ

“Who gives, and does not give?

Who has not, and yet has?”

This may be spoken of an enigma and its proposer: he gives it, but he does not give the sense; the other has it, but has not the meaning. Esti fusiv qhleia brefh sozousJ upo kolpoiv

Authv, tauta dJ afwna bohn isthsi gegwnon.

Kai dia pontion oidma, kai hpeirou dia pashv,

Oiv eqelei qnhtwn, toiv dJ ou pareousiv akouein

Exesti, kwfhn dJ akohv aisqhsin ecousin.

“There is a feminine Nature, fostering her children in her bosom; who, although they are dumb, send forth a distinct voice over every nation of the earth, and every sea, to whom soever they please. It is possible for those who are absent to hear, and for those who are deaf to hear also.”

The relator brings in Sappho interpreting it thus:—

Qhleia men oun esti fusiv, epistolh.

Brefh dJ en auth periferei ta grammata

Afwna dJ onta tauta toiv porrw lalei,

Oiv bouleqJ, eterov dJ an tuch tiv plhsion

JEstwv anaginwskontov, ouk akousetai.

“The Nature, which is feminine, signifies an epistle; and her children whom she bears are alphabetical characters: and these, being dumb, speak and give counsel to any, even at a distance; though he who stands nigh to him who is silently reading, hears no voice.” Here is another, attributed by the same author to Theodectes:— Thv fusewv osa gaia ferei trofov, oudJ osa pontov,

Oute brotoisin ecei guiwn auxhsin omoian.

AllJ en men genesei prwtosporw esti megisth,

En de mesaiv akmaiv mikra, ghra de prov autw

Morfh kai megeqei meizwn palin estin apantwn.

“Neither does the nourishing earth so bear by nature, nor the sea, nor is there among mortals a like increase of parts; for at the period of its birth it is greatest, but in its middle age it is small, and in its old age it is again greater in form and size than all.” This is spoken of a shadow. At the rising of the sun in the east, the shadow of an object is projected illimitably across the earth towards the west; at noon, if the sun be vertical to that place, the shadow of the object is entirely lost; at sunsetting, the shadow is projected towards the east, as it was in the morning towards the west.

Here is another, from the same author:—

Eisi kasignhtai dittai, wn h mia tiktei

Thn eperan, auth de tekousJ upo thsde teknoutai.

“There are two sisters, the one of whom begets the other, and she who is begotten produces her who begat her.”

Day and night solve this enigma.

The following I have taken from Theognis:—

Hdh gar me keklhke qalattiov oikade nekrov,

Teqnhkwv, zww fqeggomenov stomati.

THEOGN. Gnom., in fine.

“A dead seaman calls me to his house;

And, although he be dead, he speaks with a living mouth.” This dead seaman is a conch or large shellfish, of which the poet was about to eat. The mouth by which it spoke signifies its being used as a horn; as it is well known to produce, when opened at the spiral end and blown, a very powerful sound.

14. Out of the eater came forth meat, And out of the strong came forth sweetness.

Riddles were generally put in a poetical form, and so here the two parts of the riddle are made to form a distich. Out of the carcass of a lion, a ravenous and devouring beast, Samson had taken food which both he and his parents had eaten; and out of the strong beast, for the lion is a symbol of strength, had he taken the sweet honey. One would not look into the body of the strong lion to find sweetness. This was a riddle which surpassed the ordinary powers of man to solve, for the facts on which it was built were unknown to any one but Samson. To solve it would be like interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream when the dream itself was not made known. Could not in three days expound — Probably the three remaining days of the feast, for very possibly the riddle was not proposed till the third or fourth day of the feast. Keil thinks they occupied themselves three days in trying to find the solution, and after that let the matter rest till the seventh day.

V. 15. 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.

Verse 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.

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. 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?

16. I have not told it my father nor my mother — A thing kept secret from one’s parents is, with the Orientals, a thing not to be told in other ears, or, at least, very rarely. “The greatest proof of confidence,” says Roberts, “is to say, I have told you what I have not revealed to my father. In proof of the great affection one has for another, it is said, He has told things to him that he would not have related to his parents. ‘My friend, do tell me the secret.’ ‘Tell you? Yes, when I have told my parents.’”

V. 17. The seven days-That is, on the residue of the seven days; namely, after the third day.

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.

Verse 17. She wept before him, the seven days — Or rather, the rest of the seven days; that is, either after the third day, (verse 14,) or all the seventh day, from the time her countrymen came and threatened her till she persuaded Samson to tell her the riddle.

17. She wept… the seven days — That is, the rest of the seven days after he put forth the riddle, and while their feast lasted. See notes on verses 14 and 15. “Samson’s wife was a weak and wicked woman, who had no real love for her husband, and this is certainly common enough at the present day. Wives are procured now as then by the intervention of parents, and without any of that personal attachment between the parties which we deem essential. They are also very often ready to enter into any treacherous conspiracy against their husbands by which they can gain some desired advantage for themselves or their friends. Indeed, there are very many husbands in this country who neither will nor dare trust their wives. And yet these distrusted but cunning wives have wonderful power over their husbands. “By their arts and their importunity they carry their points, often to the utter and obvious ruin of their husbands. It is not at all contrary to present experience, therefore, that Samson’s wife should conspire against him in the matter of the riddle, nor that she should succeed in teasing him out of the secret.” — Thomson.

V. 18. If ye had not &c.-If you had not employed my wife to find it out, as men plough up the ground with an heifer, thereby discovering its hidden parts; he calls her heifer, because she was joined with him in the same yoke.

Verse 18. If ye had not ploughed with my heifer] If my wife had not been unfaithful to my bed, she would not have been unfaithful to my secret; and, you being her paramours, your interest was more precious to her than that of her husband. She has betrayed me through her attachment to you. Calmet has properly remarked, in quoting the Septuagint, that to plough with one’s heifer, or to plough in another man’s ground, are delicate turns of expression used both by the Greeks and Latins, as well as the Hebrews, to point out a wife’s infidelities.

Thus Theognis, Gnom. v. 581:—

Ecqairw de gunaika peridromon, andra te margon.

JOv thn allonrihn bouletJ arouran aroun.

“I detest a woman who gads about, and also a libidinous man, who wishes to plough in another man’s ground.”

Fundum alienium arat, incultum familiarem deserit.

PLAUTUS.

“He ploughs another’s farm, and leaves his own heritage uncultivated.” Milo domi non est, perepre at Milone profecto

Arva vacant, uxor non minus inde parit.

MARTIAL.

“Milo is not at home, and Milo being from home, his field lies uncultivated; his wife, nevertheless, continues to breed, and brings forth children.”

There is the same metaphor in the following lines of Virgil:— Hoc faciunt, nimo ne luxu obtusior usus,

Sit genitali arvo, sulcosque oblimet inertes.

Geor. l. iii., v. 135.

In this sense Samson’s words were understood by the Septuagint, by the Syriac, and by Rabbi Levi. See BOCHART, Hierozoic. p. 1., lib. ii., cap. 41., col. 406.

The metaphor was a common one, and we need seek for no other interpretation of the words of Samson.

Verses 18, 19. If ye had not, &c. — If you had not employed my wife to find it out, as men plough up the ground with a heifer, thereby discovering its hidden parts; he calls her heifer, because she was joined with him in the same yoke. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him — Though he had constant strength and courage, yet that was exceedingly increased upon special occasions, by the extraordinary influences of God’s Spirit. To Ashkelon — Either to the territory, or to the city itself, where he had both strength and courage enough to attempt what follows; and upon the doing hereof they were doubtless struck with such terror, that every one sought only to preserve himself, and none durst pursue him. This action of Samson could neither be commended nor justified, had he not been actuated by a divine impulse, in order to punish the Philistines, according to God’s intention. God made use of him, as the judge does of the executioner, to punish those that merit and are condemned to suffer punishment. And took their spoil — This plainly shows the thirty sheets, and thirty changes of raiment, mentioned verse 13, mean only thirty suits of apparel, such as men commonly wore. His anger was kindled — For the treachery of his wife and companions; and he went up to his father’s house — Without his wife. It would be well for us, if the unkindnesses we meet with from the world, and our disappointments therein, had this good effect upon us, to oblige us to return by faith and prayer to our heavenly Father’s house.

Ver. 18. Plowed with my heifer, a delicate adage to designate an inconstant woman. See Jezebel’s character, in 1 Kings 21. He who betrays the truth, under whatever threats, forfeits the confidence of society.

18. Men of the city — The thirty companions mentioned in verse 11. Before the sun went down — Just in time to save themselves the mulct. What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? They answer thus sententiously, and by a distich similar to that in which he propounded the riddle. It was not necessary that they utter particulars, but only say so much as to assure him that they knew his riddle. Their triumph had been gained at such pains that they seem to have sought to make their answer poignant, in order to irritate Samson. Ploughed with my heifer — A proverbial expression implying the illegal use of that which was not their own. The expression was, indeed, not a delicate or chaste one, but does not charge, as some have thought, lewd and criminal intercourse between Samson’s wife and his thirty companions.

V. 19. The spirit came-Though he had constant strength and courage; yet that was exceedingly increased upon special occasions, by the extraordinary influences of God’s spirit. To Ashkelon-Either to the territory; or to the city itself, where he had both strength and courage enough to attempt what follows; and upon the doing hereof they were doubtless struck with such terror, that every one sought only to preserve himself, and none durst pursue him. His anger was kindled-For the treachery of his wife and companions. He went-Without his wife. It were well for us, if the unkindnesses we meet with from the world, and our disappointments therein has this good effect on us, to oblige us to return by faith and prayer, to our heavenly father’s house.

Verse 19. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him] “The spirit of fortitude from before the Lord.”-Targum. He was inspired with unusual courage, and he felt strength proportioned to his wishes. He-slew thirty men-and took their spoils] He took their hayks, their kumjas, and caftans, and gave them to the thirty persons who, by unfair means, had solved his riddle; thus they had what our version calls thirty sheets, and thirty changes of raiment. See Clarke’s note on “Judges 14:12”.

Verses 18, 19. If ye had not, &c. — If you had not employed my wife to find it out, as men plough up the ground with a heifer, thereby discovering its hidden parts; he calls her heifer, because she was joined with him in the same yoke. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him — Though he had constant strength and courage, yet that was exceedingly increased upon special occasions, by the extraordinary influences of God’s Spirit. To Ashkelon — Either to the territory, or to the city itself, where he had both strength and courage enough to attempt what follows; and upon the doing hereof they were doubtless struck with such terror, that every one sought only to preserve himself, and none durst pursue him. This action of Samson could neither be commended nor justified, had he not been actuated by a divine impulse, in order to punish the Philistines, according to God’s intention. God made use of him, as the judge does of the executioner, to punish those that merit and are condemned to suffer punishment. And took their spoil — This plainly shows the thirty sheets, and thirty changes of raiment, mentioned verse 13, mean only thirty suits of apparel, such as men commonly wore. His anger was kindled — For the treachery of his wife and companions; and he went up to his father’s house — Without his wife. It would be well for us, if the unkindnesses we meet with from the world, and our disappointments therein, had this good effect upon us, to oblige us to return by faith and prayer to our heavenly Father’s house.

19. Ashkelon — Some twenty-five miles distant to the southwest. Slew thirty men of them — That is, men of Ashkelon. He would not stain his hands with the blood of the citizens of Timnath, but goes far off to take his spoil; yet will he make Philistine blood pay for this Philistine treachery. His whole object in going to Ashkelon to get his spoils is not clear. To justify this wholesale murder by any standard of New Testament morality is idle and absurd. His anger was kindled — He doubtless felt that he did well to be angry, and his slaughter of the thirty men of Ashkelon is to be regarded largely as a fearful revenge, by which he would awe and terrify the Timnathites who had treated him so treacherously. The changes of garments which he paid them he probably flung at their feet all stained with human blood, and in a spell of ferocious indignation at their perfidy left them, and went up to his father’s house at Zorah.

V. 20. Was given-By her father. Whom he had used-That is, to the chief of the bride-men, to whom he had shewed most respect and kindness.

Verse 20. But Samson’s wife was given to his companion] This was the same kind of person who is called the friend of the bridegroom, John 3:29. And it is very likely that she loved this person better than she loved her husband, and went to him as soon as Samson had gone to his father’s house at Zorah. She might, however, have thought herself abandoned by him, and therefore took another; this appears to have been the persuasion of her father, Judges 15:2. But her betraying his secret and his interests to his enemies was a full proof he was not very dear to her; though, to persuade him to the contrary, she shed many crocodile tears; see Judges 14:16. He could not keep his own secret, and he was fool enough to suppose that another would be more faithful to him than he was to himself. Multitudes complain of the treachery of friends betraying their secrets, &c., never considering that they themselves have been their first betrayers, in confiding to others what they pretend to wish should be a secret to the whole world! If a man never let his secret out of his own bosom, it is impossible that he should ever be betrayed. JUDGES

Verse 20. Samson’s wife was given, by her father, to his companion, &c. — That is, to the chief of the bride-men, to whom he had shown most respect and kindness. This aggravated the insult that was offered to Samson, in proportion as this person had been more familiar with him, and had been treated by him in a more friendly manner than the rest that afforded him their company. This ungenerous friend might possibly be the man distinguished by the appellation of the friend of the bridegroom. See John 3:29.

20. To his companion — One of the “thirty.” “To treason she adds infidelity. Meanness of disposition gives birth to every thing that is bad. It can neither love nor be faithful; but least of all can it comprehend such a man as Samson was.” — Cassel. Whom he had used as his friend — Used most confidentially of the thirty, and had intrusted the most delicate matters to his hand. The one who was used for this purpose is called in the New Testament the friend of the bridegroom. John 3:29. The father of Samson’s wife understood from his anger that he utterly hated her, (Judges 15:2,) and renounced all claim to her; but, instead of apologizing, or trying to turn away his wrath, he gave another exhibition of Philistine perfidy by giving her to a rival, and so made the breach utterly irreparable. Here notice how low was this Philistine’s notion of the sanctity of marriage.