Judges 14:8-9

14:8 Some time later, when he went back to marry ¹  her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw ²  a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. 14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ³  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. ⁴ 

[14:8]  ¹ tn Heb “get.”

[14:8]  ² tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”

[14:9]  ³ 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.

[14:9]  ⁴ sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.