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Judges 14

Judges book home•Chapter 14 of 21•20 verses

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Judges 14 Overview

Samson goes to Timnath and insists on marrying a Philistine woman. Although his parents object, the narrator says they do not know that the matter provides an occasion against the Philistines. On the way, the Spirit of the LORD empowers Samson to kill a lion; later he finds honey in the carcass. At the wedding feast he turns the event into a riddle, but the Philistines threaten his wife until she obtains the answer, and Samson responds by killing thirty Philistines at Ashkelon to pay the wager.

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14Chapter

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Before you read Judges 14

Coming from

Chapter 13 announced Samson’s birth, lifelong Nazarite setting, and calling to begin delivering Israel from Philistine power.

In this chapter

Samson’s personal desire for a Philistine woman becomes the setting through which conflict with the Philistines begins, while the chapter exposes his impulsiveness and secrecy.

Leads into

Chapter 15 continues the conflict after Samson learns his wife has been given to another man, leading to crop destruction, retaliation, and Samson’s great victory at Lehi.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Verse 4 states that the LORD was seeking an occasion against the Philistines, but that statement should not be mistaken for approval of every motive or choice Samson makes. Judges often holds divine sovereignty and flawed human conduct together. The lion-and-honey episode supplies the riddle, but it also places Samson near a carcass despite his Nazarite setting. His parents do not know the source of the honey, another sign of the secrecy that marks the story.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

God can advance his purpose even through the tangled motives and poor judgment of the human agents he uses.

Truth 2

Samson’s supernatural strength appears when the Spirit of the LORD comes mightily upon him, not because the narrative presents him as naturally invincible.

Truth 3

The wedding riddle becomes a vehicle for coercion, betrayal, anger, and escalating violence rather than harmless entertainment.

Truth 4

Samson’s private desires repeatedly intersect with Israel’s larger conflict with the Philistines, but his personal vengeance is not identical with pure devotion to God.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Numbers 6 provides the Nazarite background that makes Samson’s contact with the lion’s carcass significant to the reader.

Connection 2

Judges 13:5 had already announced that Samson would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines; chapter 14 shows the first major outbreak of that conflict.

Connection 3

Judges 15 continues the same marriage dispute and demonstrates how one act of retaliation triggers another.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

The statement that an occasion was 'of the LORD' does not mean God morally approves Samson’s lust, secrecy, anger, or every violent step; it means God sovereignly uses the situation against Philistine domination.

Keep this clear 2

Samson’s choice of a Philistine wife should be read against Israel’s covenant separation from the peoples and worship of the land, not simply through modern romantic categories.

Keep this clear 3

The riddle’s imagery comes from Samson’s unique encounter with the lion. It should not be turned into an unstated allegory about salvation.

Read Judges 14 watching for…

What Samson sees in the Philistine woman and how his parents respond.

When the Spirit of the LORD comes upon Samson.

The secret Samson keeps concerning the lion and honey.

How the Philistines pressure Samson’s wife to obtain the riddle’s answer.

The way the chapter ends with anger and a broken marriage arrangement.

Chapter outline5 sections

1-4Samson desires a Philistine woman at Timnath 5-9Samson kills a lion and later finds honey in it 10-14Samson gives a riddle at the wedding feast 15-18The Philistines pressure Samson’s wife and solve the riddle 19-20Samson strikes men of Ashkelon, and his wife is given to another

And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.

And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?

And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?

And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

And the men of the city said unto 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 unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.