Judges 14:16-20

14:16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder ¹  and said, “You must ²  hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men ³  a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” ⁴  14:17 She cried on his shoulder ⁵  until the party was almost over. ⁶  Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. ⁷  Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle. ⁸  14:18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?”

He said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer, ⁹ 

you would not have solved my riddle!”

14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes ¹⁰  and gave them ¹¹  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ¹²  14:20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. ¹³ 

¹ tn Heb “on him.”

² tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”

³ tn Heb “the sons of my people.”

⁴ tn Heb “Should I tell you?”

⁵ tn Heb “on him.”

⁶ tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.

⁷ tn Heb “because she forced him.”

⁸ tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”

⁹ sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.

¹⁰ tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”

¹¹ tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

¹² tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”

¹³ tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”