Judges 14:1-20 - Riddles and Rewards

Judges 14:1-20

Samson’s Philistine Wife

1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”

3 Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”

4 But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

5 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. 6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

7 Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8 After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. 9 He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

10 So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. 11 And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. 13 But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.”

And they said to him, “Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

14 So he said to them:
“Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet.”
Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.

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?”

16 Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.”

And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?” 17 Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down:

“What is sweeter than honey?
And what is stronger than a lion?”
And he said to them:
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
You would not have solved my riddle!”

19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father’s house. 20 And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

When Samson wanted a wife from the daughters of the Philistines, his parents only saw the prohibition against marriage with a pagan, not understanding that the LORD had a bigger plan to use this occasion to defeat the Philistines and set His people free from their dominion over Israel.  On his way to Timnah with his father and mother to take her as wife, when the parents were out of sight, a lion appeared and the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, so that he tore the lion apart by hand in the strength of the LORD.  Samson later came back to take her as his wife and passed the lion carcass lying on the roadside.  He found honey that the nesting bees had made in the lion and took some home to his parents to share the goodness of God’s provision, unbeknownst to them where it came from.  I wonder if they even asked him.  When he arrived, there was a party feast where many gathered and there is where Samson set the riddle as a trap for his enemies.  The riddle would be answered and rewarded or unanswered and he would benefit from the thirty sets of clothes for their number of men.  The riddle said simply, “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.”  The only way they could figure it out was to have his new Philistine bride wheedle it out of him with sweet talk and tell them the story of the lion and the honey found in its carcass.  To be fair, the men threatened to burn down the house of his wife and her family’s as well if she did not find and tell them the answer to the riddle which was quite beyond them.  On the seventh and last day of the feast, he told her and she passed it on to them.  He honored the bet but revealed their treachery by saying, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”  He did this by God’s power in the might of the Spirit of the LORD as he went to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men to give their clothing to those thirty who had explained the riddle by deceit.  To make matters even worse, they gave his wife to his best man at the wedding when he had gone back to his parent’s house in anger for their treachery.  This set the stage for further vengeance on the Philistines for their dominion over Israel.  Riddles and rewards took strange forms in God’s economy of events.  The greatest of these would be the ultimate Judge of all being crucified at the hands of those enemies having dominion over His people and rising from the grave as conquerer of them all to set us free from their bondage of sin!  The riddle revealed in the gospel was of the suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:4-5, 7-8, 11) whose reward is with Him (Isaiah 40:10-11) for our eternal freedom in Christ.  The mystery then is Christ in us (Ephesians 1:18, Colossians 1:26, 27) as our certain unfailing hope in glory!