Judges 6:27

6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants ¹  and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family ²  and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. ³ 

Judges 9:5

9:5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers, ⁴  the seventy legitimate ⁵  sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped, ⁶  because he hid.

Judges 14:9

14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ⁷  to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. ⁸ 

Judges 16:31

16:31 His brothers and all his family ⁹  went down and brought him back. ¹⁰  They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led ¹¹  Israel for twenty years.

¹ tn Heb “men from among his servants.”

² tn Heb “house.”

³ tn Heb “so he did it at night.”

⁴ tn Heb “his brothers.”

⁵ tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁶ tn Heb “remained.”

⁷ tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.

⁸ sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”

¹² tn Traditionally, “judged.”