Judges 14:16-18

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!”

[14:16]  ¹ tn Heb “on him.”

[14:16]  ² tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”

[14:16]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of my people.”

[14:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “Should I tell you?”

[14:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “on him.”

[14:17]  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.

[14:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “because she forced him.”

[14:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”

[14:18]  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.