Samson's Marriage
1
r Samson went down to s Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.
2
Then he came up and told his father and mother, "I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. t Now get her for me as my wife."
3
But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters u of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the v uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes."
4
His father and mother did not know that it was w from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. x At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
5
Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.
6
y Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. 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 was right in Samson's eyes.
8
After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
9
He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.
10
His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do.
11
As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
12
And Samson said to them, z "Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within a the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty b changes of clothes,
13
but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes." And they said to him, "Put your riddle, that we may hear it."
14
And he said to them,
"Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet."
And in three days they could not solve the riddle.
15
On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, c "Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, d lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?"
16
And Samson's wife wept over him and said, e "You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is." And he said to her, "Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?"
17
She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because f she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people.
18
And the men of the city 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 plowed with my heifer,
you would not have found out my riddle."
19
g And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to h Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house.
20
And Samson's wife was given to i his companion, j who had been his best man.
-
Cross References
Hebrews 11:32
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets -
-
Cross References
Genesis 38:12 - 13
In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
Joshua 15:10
And the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh and passes along by Timnah.
Joshua 19:43
Elon, Timnah, Ekron.
-
Cross References
Genesis 34:4
So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this girl for my wife.
-
Cross References
Genesis 24:3 - 4
That I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.
Genesis 28:1 - 2
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, "You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.
-
Cross References
Judges 15:18
And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the...
1 Samuel 14:6
Jonathan said to the young man who carried his ...
1 Samuel 17:26
And David said to the men who stood by him, "Wh...
1 Samuel 17:36
Your servant has struck down both lions and bea...
1 Samuel 31:4
Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your ...
2 Samuel 1:20
Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the stre...
-
Cross References
Joshua 11:20
For it was the Lord 's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
-
Cross References
Judges 13:1
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
Judges 15:11
Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" And he said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them.
-
Cross References
Judges 14:19
And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house.
Judges 15:14
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.
1 Samuel 11:6
And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.
Judges 3:10
The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
-
Cross References
Ezekiel 17:2
Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel.
1 Kings 10:1
Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
Psalms 78:2
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old.
Proverbs 1:6
To understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
-
Cross References
Genesis 29:27
Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.
-
Cross References
Genesis 45:22
To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes.
2 Kings 5:5
And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
2 Kings 5:22 - 23
And he said, "All is well. My master has sent me to say, 'There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.'
-
Cross References
Judges 16:5
And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.
-
Cross References
Judges 15:6
Then the Philistines said, "Who has done this?" And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion." And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
-
Cross References
Judges 16:15
And she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.
-
Cross References
Judges 16:16
And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.
-
Cross References
Judges 14:6
Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
-
Cross References
Judges 1:18
Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
-
Cross References
Judges 15:2
And her father said, "I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.
Judges 15:6
Then the Philistines said, "Who has done this?" And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion." And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
-
Cross References
John 3:29
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.