Judges 14:18

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, ¹ 

you would not have solved my riddle!”

Judges 16:2

16:2 The Gazites were told, ²  “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town ³  and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. ⁴  They relaxed ⁵  all night, thinking, ⁶  “He will not leave ⁷  until morning comes; ⁸  then we will kill him!”

Judges 18:19

18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ⁹  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ¹⁰ 

[14:18]  ¹ 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.

[16:2]  ² tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”

[16:2]  ³ tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”

[16:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “were silent.”

[16:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “saying.”

[16:2]  ⁷ tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[16:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

[18:19]  ³ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

[18:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”