Judges 14:15

On the fourth ¹  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ²  If you refuse, ³  we will burn up ⁴  you and your father’s family. ⁵  Did you invite us here ⁶  to make us poor?” ⁷ 

biblegateway Jdg 14:15

On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, "Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?"

biblegateway Jdg 14:15

Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, "Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?"

biblegateway Jdg 14:15

On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, "Get the answer to the riddle from your husband, or we will burn down your father’s house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?"

biblegateway Jdg 14:15

On the fourth day they said to Samson's bride, "Worm the answer out of your husband or we'll burn you and your father's household. Have you invited us here to bankrupt us?"

SABDAweb Jdg 14:15

So on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, Get from your husband the answer to his question by some trick or other, or we will have you and your father’s house burned with fire; did you get us here to take all we have?

bibleoremus Jdg 14:15

On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, "Coax your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?"

biblegateway Jdg 14:15

But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, "Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so ?"

biblegateway Jdg 14:15

On the fourth ¹  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ²  If you refuse, ³  we will burn up ⁴  you and your father’s family. ⁵  Did you invite us here ⁶  to make us poor?” ⁷ 

¹ tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.

² tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”

³ tn Heb “lest.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “house.”

⁶ tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (halo’), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.

⁷ tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.