Judges 14
Once Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw a Philistine woman. Then he came up, and told his father and mother, ‘I saw a Philistine woman at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.’ But his father and mother said to him, ‘Is there not a woman among your kin, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, because she pleases me.’ His father and mother did not know that this was from the Lord; for he was seeking a pretext to act against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When he came to the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion roared at him. The spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as one might tear apart a kid. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson. After a while he returned to marry her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.
His father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there as the young men were accustomed to do. When the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. Samson said to them, ‘Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments. But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.’ So they said to him, ‘Ask your riddle; let us hear it.’ He said to them,
‘Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet.’
But for three days they could not explain the riddle.
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?’ So Samson’s wife wept before him, saying, ‘You hate me; you do not really love me. You have asked a riddle of my people, but you have not explained it to me.’ He said to her, ‘Look, I have not told my father or my mother. Why should I tell you?’ She wept before him for the seven days that their feast lasted; and because she nagged him, on the seventh day he told her. Then she explained the riddle to her people. The men of the town said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,
‘What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?’
And he said to them,
‘If you had not ploughed with my heifer,
you would not have found out my riddle.’
Then the spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men of the town, took their spoil, and gave the festal garments to those who had explained the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house. And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.
Reflection
We don’t get a flattering picture of Samson from this story! He shows his parents scant honour (vv.2, 3, 6, 9). His desire for a Philistine wife ends badly for her and all caught up in the festal marriage celebrations that are prematurely aborted. He kills 30 men from a neighbouring Philistine town so that he can use their garments to fulfil the promise he made (vv.13,19). He returns home an angry young man, all because the Philistines outwitted him by solving his riddle (vv.12-14). He is presented as a self-centred trickster.
His visit to the vineyards of Timnah (v.5) and his return there, scraping honey from the lion’s carcass (vv.5-6), raise questions as to whether he is adhering strictly to the conditions of being a nazirite. The ‘spirit of the Lord’ rushes on Samson twice (vv.6, 19); but solely to equip him with physical strength. There is no sense of divine guidance being bestowed on Samson, nor any reference to God’s purposes being fulfilled, beyond the narrator’s comment that God was prompting Samson to adopt a pretext to act against the Philistines (v.4).
No-one interacts with God in this story. It is a tale of hot-headed young men, partying and trying to outdo one another; of a young woman, threatened by her own people (v.15), using guile to persuade Samson to reveal the riddle’s answer and then being maligned and deserted by him (vv.18, 20).
It’s a picture of a hedonistic, amoral, society; but it also makes me think about communities today where gang culture thrives, seemingly beyond the control of ordinary, decent, folk. In such contexts relationships between parents/children often break down; and a lack of respect for others prevails.
Our challenge as God’s people, is to find ways to bring God into the forefront of communal life – not as the source of physical might, but as the Almighty who’s present among us as a loving, forgiving God, equipping us to share in the divine work of re-creating a just and peaceful world.
Prayer
God, most of us don’t know where to start
when it comes to sharing the good news of Jesus
in places where gang culture prevails,
or drug misuse and knife crime
cause family breakdown and increase community despair.
We pray that you will raise up and equip people
to serve you in such contexts.
Inspire us all to be faithful in prayer
and practical support for them,
as they strive to fulfil your mission of love
and lead people to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.