Judges 14:1

Samson’s Unconsummated Marriage

14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye. ¹ 

Judges 14:5

14:5 Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached ²  the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. ³ 

Judges 14:2

14:2 When he got home, ⁴  he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. ⁵  Now get her for my wife.”

Judges 14:7

14:7 Samson continued on down to Timnah ⁶  and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one. ⁷ 

Judges 14:10

14:10 Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. ⁸  Samson hosted a party ⁹  there, for this was customary for bridegrooms ¹⁰  to do.

Judges 14:8

14:8 Some time later, when he went back to marry ¹¹  her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw ¹²  a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey.

Judges 15:6

15:6 The Philistines asked, ¹³  “Who did this?” They were told, ¹⁴  “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite ¹⁵  took Samson’s ¹⁶  bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. ¹⁷ 

[14:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”

[14:5]  ² tc The MT reads, “Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they approached…” Verse 6b states that Samson did not tell his parents about his encounter with the lion (vv. 5b-6a), but v. 5a gives the impression they would have seen the entire episode. One could assume that Samson separated from his parents prior to the lion’s attack, but the Hebrew text does not indicate this. It seems more likely that the words “with his father and his mother” were accidentally copied into the text, perhaps under the influence of v. 4a, where the same phrase appears. An original singular verb (“he approached”) may have been changed to the plural form (“they approached”) after the words “his father and his mother” were accidentally added to the text.

[14:5]  ³ tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”

[14:2]  ³ tn Heb “and he went up.”

[14:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”

[14:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “He went down.”

[14:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “She was the right one in the eyes of Samson.”

[14:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “And his father went down to the woman.”

[14:10]  ⁶ tn Or “[wedding] feast.”

[14:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “the young men.”

[14:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “get.”

[14:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”

[15:6]  ⁷ tn Or “said.”

[15:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

[15:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.