THE RIDDLE OF SAMSON - PART 2 (Judges 14:1-20)
INTRODUCTION:
Last week we began chapter 14 of Judges and began our look at the adult life of Samson and the fact that his life is a riddle. He had a divine calling on his life before he was even conceived, and that calling was that he would be a Nazirite to God from the womb and that he would begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines. As we began to look at this young man who is to be a judge in Israel we were introduced to a self-centered, rebellious young man who made his own rules so that he gets what he wants. This comes across as disrespect to his parents and as no concern for his Nazirite status which was placed upon him before he was born. This is seen when scraped honey out of the dead body of the lion he had killed and ate it and in so doing defiled himself and in turn he gave some of the honey to his father and mother without telling them where he got it, defiling them as well. We learned that Samson lived on the basis of his senses and according to his own standards, instead of allowing God to guide him and living according to the Law of the LORD. Samson should have been gathering an army to fight the Philistines, but instead he had chosen a daughter of the Philistines and when we ended last week was on his way to marry her. In spite of all this, these bad choices which turned into bad actions, God was at work in spite of Samson’s choices and actions. The LORD would use Samson’s choices as an occasion against the Philistines. The Philistines have been oppressing Israel and ruling over her for 40 years and the fact that Samson desires to marry a Philistine woman reflects Israel’s willingness to peacefully co-exist with the Philistines allowing them to rule over them. But the LORD is about to shatter this peaceful co-existence and Samson is God’s choice to rile up the Philistines and so God will use this woman who seems right in Samson’s eyes to make this happen. The riddle of Samson is seen in the brilliant irony of the author who describes for us a self-centered rebel driven by selfish interests, doing whatever he pleases with no respect for his parents or for the claim of God on his life, but in the process, he ends up doing the will of God. This morning we will look at his wedding, a seven-day affair. Let’s pray and then get into God’s Word.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Judges 14 again and I will read the whole chapter, verses 1-20 to pick up the context, but my message will pick up where we left off last week in verse 10. Please, stand if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along while I read.
Judges 14:1-20,
“Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, ‘I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.’ Then his father and his mother said to him, ‘Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she looks good to me.’ However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel. Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked good to Samson. When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. So he scraped the honey 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 scraped the honey out of the body of the lion. Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. Then Samson said to them, ‘Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.’ And they said to him, ‘Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.’ So he said to them, ‘Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.’ But they could not tell the riddle in three days. 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?’ Samson’s wife wept before him and said, ‘You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.’ And he said to her, ‘Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?’ However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. 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 found out my riddle.’ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.” (Judges 14:1–20, NASB95)[1]
THE WAGER (Judges 14:10-13)
Last week we ended with Samson defiling himself and then defiling his parents by eating the honey that he had scraped from the dead body of the lion he had killed. His parents not knowing that the three of them had broken the Law and that they were unclean, and that Samson had disregarded his Nazirite status by becoming unclean or defiled when he touched the dead body of the lion, they continued on into Timnah for Samson’s wedding to the Philistine woman.
We are told in the end of verse 10 that Samson made a feast there, in Timnah, most likely in the home of the parents of the bride. This was to be a seven event that was customarily done by the groom. It is unclear if this is a Philistine custom or a Jewish one. Most likely Philistine because Jewish weddings began with the groom going to the bride’s home and then leading her to his father’s house where the wedding feast would then take place. Even if the feast is at the bride’s parents home it seems innocent enough until we look at the word translated “feast.” The root of this word means to drink, and in this context refers to the wine flowing freely these seven days. Another element of Samson’s Nazirite status is about to be broken, remember he is not to eat or drink anything that pertains to grapes. How can he make this feast and not take part in the food and the drink? Who were the participants of this feast to celebrate his wedding? It seems that the select young men of the town were there to help celebrate. Since Samson is not from Timnah, we read that when they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. The meaning of this verse is not very clear. On the surface this action of providing Samson with companions or attendants appears to be a gesture of goodwill. Since Samson is a stranger in this town, these men are not Samson’s friends, since that would indicate prior introduction and a chance to get to know each other. It seems more reasonable that these thirty men are friends and family members of the Philistine guests present for the wedding. It seems these companions were chosen to be with Samson. If they were to be his personal attendants, why does he need thirty? It seems more plausible to see these thirty men as guards, in other words, when they saw Samson, they were afraid of him and so rather than take any chances they surround him with bodyguards, after all he was an Israelite, not a Philistine. This could be seen by Samson as a hostile act, but remember the author told us that the LORD was seeking an occasion against the Philistines and this act would certainly cause some tension between Samson and the Philistines.
It does not seem that Samson takes offense at these thirty men around him, instead he makes sport of them and the situation and proposes a wager. He will give a riddle to them, if they can solve it within the seven days of the feast, he will provide each of his thirty companions with a linen wrap and a change of clothes. If they cannot solve it in the seven days, then they will provide Samson with thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. The wager appears to be overwhelming stacked in the Philistines’ favor and so they are eager to play his game, and his thirty companions invite him to give them the riddle so that they can hear it.
THE RIDDLE (Judges 14:14-16)
Samson’s riddle is short and cryptic, in Hebrew it consists of six words arranged in two parallel lines of three words each. The first line of the riddle is: Out of the eater came something to eat. The second line is: And out of the strong came something sweet. To solve this riddle the thirty men would have to know who it is that is strong, and what food is described that is sweet, but without further data this is an unsolvable riddle. The Philistines would have begun with the present context to look for clues to the solution of the riddle. The problem is that because no one witnessed the killing of the lion and the bees that later took up residence in the body and produced honey, there was no way that they were going to find the solution.
After three days of pursuing every possible lead that they can come up with, they are stumped. They are frustrated and they do not want to have to provide this Israelite with thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. Coming to the realization that they cannot solve this riddle on their own, they go to Samson’s wife and threaten to burn her and her father in their house if she cannot extract the answer to the riddle from her husband. Then they accuse her of conspiring with Samson so that they have to give him the linen wraps and clothes, thus tricking them so that they become impoverished.
Left with no choice the woman pleads with her husband for mercy. Her approach is entirely emotional, she falls on him crying and for the first time in this entire chapter she speaks. From the beginning of this chapter, we have seen this love affair from only one side, and we have been left to wonder how Samson’s betrothed wife feels about this relationship. When she finally opens her mouth to speak, she goes straight to the heart of their relationship. Does Samson really love her? Using blackmail just as the young men had done with her, she claims that since Samson does not share with her the secret of his riddle, then he does not love her, but hates her. If he is going to tease her countrymen with riddles, he must share the answers with her.
Samson’s response to his betrothed wife’s pleadings is rather harsh, he responds that he has not told his parents so why should he tell her. In other words, those who he knows the best, those who have raised him and whom he loves, he has not told them the solution to the riddle, and his bride who he hardly knows, why would he tell her? This response shows that Samson feels no remorse for having defiled his parents by sharing the desecrated honey with them. In this conversation, one thing is made truly clear, this Philistine bride regards Samson as an outsider referring to those who threatened her as the sons of my people. Samson shows that she is simply the object of his desire by not revealing to her the riddle since he has not revealed it to his own people, those who are closest to him, who happen to be his father and mother.
THE BETRAYAL (Judges 14:17-20)
The woman does not give up. For the rest of the seven days of the feast while everyone is celebrating, this woman makes Samson’s life miserable, weeping whenever he is around, nagging him constantly to give up the solution. Finally, she wore him down on the last day of the feast, he gave into her pleadings and told her the riddle and the solution. She went to the sons of her people and gave them the solution. She has betrayed her husband to her countrymen and believes that she has saved her life and the lives of her family.
The thirty companions of Samson time their approach to him for the most dramatic effect, they come to him just before sundown on the seventh day of the feast. They give their solution to Samson in the same way he had given them the riddle, in six words, in two parallel lines of poetry. What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? Instead of just answering Samson’s riddle directly, they phrase their response as two rhetorical questions teasing Samson with a riddle of their own. Samson recognizes immediately that he has been caught, that he has been betrayed. Remember the LORD was seeking an occasion against the Philistines, and the selfish and lustful desires of this man for this Philistine woman have provided the occasion that the LORD was seeking to begin the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines, the conflict that is to exist between Samson and the Philistines.
Samson is totally insensitive to the theological implications of his own riddle and the companions’ response. What he does recognize immediately is that his defiling act has been exposed, that he has been betrayed, and that he has lost the wager. Furious, he reacts to their response to his riddle with another “two-liner.” Again, six words in two parallel lines, translated, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.” In other words, “you cheated.” But his reference to his betrothed wife as his “heifer” is as derogatory and offensive in Hebrew as it would be in English. I don’t know about you, but I am shocked when I read Samson’s response.
Verses 19-20 give us the climax of the chapter. The LORD had determined to stir up the relationship between Israel and the Philistines and it begins here. The Spirit of the LORD rushed onto Samson, and he makes a twenty-mile trek down to the Philistine town of Ashkelon where with the super-human strength of the Spirit of the LORD he kills thirty Philistine men and takes their spoil, striping them clean and returns to Timnah and presents his so-called companions with the changes of clothes he had promised, thus fulfilling his end of the wager. His anger had not yet subsided over this betrayal, and he returns to Zorah to his father’s house to allow his anger to subside. As an endnote to the chapter, we are told that Samson’s wife was given to one of the companions assigned to him who had acted as a friend. Adding insult to betrayal this sets us up for the next scene that will take place in the next chapter.
CONCLUSION:
As we come to the close of this chapter, we must recognize the importance of this account for the picture that it paints for us of Samson. First, we must recognize Samson’s trustworthiness to his word, having lost the wager even though unfairly he provides the so-called companions with the promised change of clothes. Apart from this one feature, the rest of the picture that is painted of Samson is ugly. Samson is disrespectful to his parents and has no problem defiling them with his honey, he has no concern for his Nazirite status, he has no loyalty to his own people. He is rude to his wife, flippant with his tongue, and driven by lust and selfishness. The only way in which good can come from this man is by the LORD overpowering him with His Spirit and driving him to do the task of delivering his people, something which Samson is not naturally inclined to do.
Theologically, we must recognize that Samson represents the nation of Israel. This person—uniquely set apart, called, and gifted for divine service—not only associates and mixes with the enemy, but he also seeks to live among them and become one of them by marriage. Just as the nation of Israel was set apart, called to be God’s people, and gifted to serve Him only, but they failed to drive out the Canaanites and they began to become like them by inter-marrying with them and adopting their gods as their own. But the LORD is in control and this event in Samson’s history ends exactly where God wanted it to end. The LORD stirs up tension between Israel and the Philistines. Unaware of their roles in divine providence the characters are creating the very situation the LORD had planned. At the end of this chapter the work against the Philistines has begun. Samson is back in his father’s house, and the adventure in mixed marriage has collapsed. The woman has betrayed her husband to her people, the husband insults and belittles his wife by calling her a heifer, and the father-in-law has given his daughter to another man, a Philistine man. What was planned as an interracial marriage turns into war. Again, we see God’s grace and mercy on display as He seeks to draws His people back to Himself, and He will use someone like Samson to do it, in spite of Samson. God’s purposes will be fulfilled because He is Sovereign, and He is not a distant God, but One that is very near.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.