Judges 14:18-20

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!”

14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes ²  and gave them ³  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ⁴  14:20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. ⁵ 

[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.

[14:19]  ² tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”

[14:19]  ³ tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

[14:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”

[14:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”