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Judges 13-16
New English Translation

Samson’s Birth

13 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight,[a] so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.[b] 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “You[c] are infertile and childless,[d] but you will conceive and have a son. 4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[e] 5 Look, you will conceive and have a son.[f] You must never cut his hair,[g] for the child will be dedicated to God[h] from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power[i] of the Philistines.”

6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God[j] came to me! He looked like God’s angel—he was very awesome.[k] I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son.[l] So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[m] For the child will be dedicated[n] to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

8 Manoah prayed to the Lord,[o] “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God[p] to visit[q] us again, so he can teach[r] us how we should raise[s] the child who will be born.” 9 God answered Manoah’s prayer.[t] God’s angel visited[u] the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman ran at once and told her husband,[v] “Come quickly,[w] the man who visited[x] me the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met[y] the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”[z] He said, “Yes.”[aa] 12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true,[ab] how should the child be raised and what should he do?”[ac] 13 The angel of the Lord told[ad] Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her.[ae] 14 She should not drink[af] anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean.[ag] She should obey everything I commanded her to do.” 15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here awhile,[ah] so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”[ai] 16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If I stay,[aj] I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)[ak] 17 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”[al] 18 The angel of the Lord said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.”[am] 19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.[an] 20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in it[ao] while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown[ap] to the ground.

21 The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the angel of the Lord. 22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!”[aq] 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us.[ar] He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

24 Manoah’s wife[as] gave birth to a son and named him Samson.[at] The child grew and the Lord empowered[au] him. 25 The Lord’s Spirit began to control him[av] in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson’s Unconsummated Marriage

14 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye.[aw] 2 When he got home,[ax] he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye.[ay] Now get her for my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our[az] people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.”[ba] But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me,[bb] because she is the right one for me.”[bc] 4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing,[bd] because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines[be] (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).

5 Samson[bf] went down to Timnah. When he approached[bg] the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him.[bh] 6 The Lord’s Spirit empowered[bi] him, and he tore the lion[bj] in two with his bare hands[bk] as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

7 Samson continued on down to Timnah[bl] and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one.[bm] 8 Some time later, when he went back to marry[bn] her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw[bo] a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. 9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned[bp] to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass.[bq]

10 Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage.[br] Samson hosted a party[bs] there, for this was customary for bridegrooms[bt] to do. 11 When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.[bu] 12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts,[bv] I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets[bw] of clothes. 13 But if you cannot solve it,[bx] you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.”[by] 14 He said to them,

“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong one came something sweet.”

They could not solve the riddle for three days.

15 On the fourth[bz] day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle.[ca] If you refuse,[cb] we will burn up[cc] you and your father’s family.[cd] Did you invite us here[ce] to make us poor?”[cf] 16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder[cg] and said, “You must[ch] hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men[ci] a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?”[cj] 17 She cried on his shoulder[ck] until the party was almost over.[cl] Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much.[cm] Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle.[cn] 18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”

He said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,[co]
you would not have solved my riddle!”

19 The Lord’s Spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men. He took their clothes[cp] and gave them[cq] to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.[cr] 20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man.[cs]

Samson Versus the Philistines

15 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest,[ct] Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride.[cu] He said to her father,[cv] “I want to sleep with[cw] my bride in her bedroom!”[cx] But her father would not let him enter. 2 Her father said, “I really thought[cy] you absolutely despised[cz] her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!”[da] 3 Samson said to them,[db] “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!”[dc] 4 Samson went and captured 300 jackals[dd] and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair.[de] 5 He lit the torches[df] and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 6 The Philistines asked,[dg] “Who did this?” They were told,[dh] “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite[di] took Samson’s[dj] bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father.[dk] 7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this,[dl] I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.”[dm] 8 He struck them down and defeated them.[dn] Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.

9 The Philistines went up and invaded[do] Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle[dp] in Lehi. 10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking[dq] us?” The Philistines[dr] said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 11 So 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me[ds] you will not kill[dt] me.” 13 They said to him, “We promise![du] We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. 14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s Spirit empowered[dv] him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in[dw] fire, and they[dx] melted away from his hands. 15 He happened to see[dy] a solid[dz] jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it[ea] and struck down[eb] 1,000 men. 16 Samson then said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps;[ec]
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”

17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down[ed] and named that place Ramath Lehi.[ee]

18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant[ef] this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of these uncircumcised Philistines?”[eg] 19 So God split open the basin[eh] at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength[ei] was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring[ej] En Hakkore.[ek] It remains in Lehi to this very day. 20 Samson led[el] Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.[em]

Samson’s Downfall

16 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and slept with her.[en] 2 The Gazites were told,[eo] “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town[ep] and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave.[eq] They relaxed[er] all night, thinking,[es] “He will not leave[et] until morning comes;[eu] then we will kill him!” 3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left.[ev] He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all.[ew] He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.[ex]

4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate[ey] him. Each one of us will give you 1,100 silver pieces.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”[ez] 7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh[fa] bowstrings[fb] that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 They hid[fc] in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here,[fd] Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire.[fe] The secret of his strength was not discovered.[ff]

10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived[fg] me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used,[fh] I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[fi] Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.)[fj] But he tore the ropes[fk] from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair[fl] into the fabric on the loom[fm] and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[fn] Samson!”[fo] He woke up[fp] and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me?[fq] Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16 She nagged him[fr] every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it.[fs] 17 Finally he told her his secret.[ft] He said to her, “My hair has never been cut,[fu] for I have been dedicated to God[fv] from the time I was conceived.[fw] If my head[fx] were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak and be just like all other men.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret,[fy] she sent for[fz] the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me[ga] his secret.”[gb] So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 19 She made him go to sleep on her lap[gc] and then called a man in to shave off[gd] the seven braids of his hair.[ge] She made him vulnerable[gf] and his strength left him. 20 She said, “The Philistines are here,[gg] Samson!” He woke up[gh] and thought,[gi] “I will do as I did before[gj] and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 21 The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 22 His hair[gk] began to grow back after it had been shaved off.

Samson’s Death and Burial

23 The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.” 24 When the people saw him,[gl] they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!”[gm]

25 When they really started celebrating,[gn] they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them.[go] They made him stand between two pillars. 26 Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple.[gp] Then I can lean on them.” 27 Now the temple[gq] was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were 3,000 men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain. 28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord,[gr] remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge[gs] against the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple[gt] and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard,[gu] and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life.[gv] 31 His brothers and all his family[gw] went down and brought him back.[gx] They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led[gy] Israel for twenty years.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:1 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  2. Judges 13:2 tn Heb “and had not given birth.”
  3. Judges 13:3 tn Heb “Look, you.”
  4. Judges 13:3 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
  5. Judges 13:4 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
  6. Judges 13:5 tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her—actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.
  7. Judges 13:5 tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”
  8. Judges 13:5 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
  9. Judges 13:5 tn Heb “hand.”
  10. Judges 13:6 tn Heb “The man of God.”
  11. Judges 13:6 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome.”
  12. Judges 13:7 tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
  13. Judges 13:7 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
  14. Judges 13:7 tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”
  15. Judges 13:8 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  16. Judges 13:8 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  17. Judges 13:8 tn Heb “come to.”
  18. Judges 13:8 tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (viʾirenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (veyorenu, “to teach”).
  19. Judges 13:8 tn Heb “what we should do for.”
  20. Judges 13:9 tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”
  21. Judges 13:9 tn Heb “came to.”
  22. Judges 13:10 tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
  23. Judges 13:10 tn Heb “Look.”
  24. Judges 13:10 tn Heb “came to.”
  25. Judges 13:11 tn Heb “came to.”
  26. Judges 13:11 tn Heb “the woman.”
  27. Judges 13:11 tn Heb “I [am].”
  28. Judges 13:12 tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”
  29. Judges 13:12 tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”
  30. Judges 13:13 tn Or “said to.”
  31. Judges 13:13 tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.
  32. Judges 13:14 tn Heb “eat.”
  33. Judges 13:14 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
  34. Judges 13:15 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
  35. Judges 13:15 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
  36. Judges 13:16 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
  37. Judges 13:16 tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the angel represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the angel of the Lord, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ʾelohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yehvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s angel” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ʾadonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).
  38. Judges 13:17 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
  39. Judges 13:18 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective e פִּלְאִי (pilʾi, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
  40. Judges 13:19 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the Lord’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (layhvah malʾakh yehvah), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ (shureq) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא (mafliʾ) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (הוּא, huʾ) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.
  41. Judges 13:20 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
  42. Judges 13:20 tn Heb “on their faces.”
  43. Judges 13:22 tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the Lord’s messenger, not God himself. Of course, he may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Another option, the one followed in the translation, understands Manoah to be referring to a lesser deity. The term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is sometimes used of an individual deity other than the Lord (see BDB 43 s.v. 2.a). One cannot assume that Manoah was a theologically sophisticated monotheist.
  44. Judges 13:23 tn Heb “our hand.”
  45. Judges 13:24 tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”
  46. Judges 13:24 tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”
  47. Judges 13:24 tn Traditionally, “blessed.”
  48. Judges 13:25 tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”
  49. Judges 14:1 tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
  50. Judges 14:2 tn Heb “and he went up.”
  51. Judges 14:2 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
  52. Judges 14:3 tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.
  53. Judges 14:3 tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
  54. Judges 14:3 tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.
  55. Judges 14:3 tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”
  56. Judges 14:4 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
  57. Judges 14:4 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
  58. Judges 14:5 tc The Hebrew includes “and his father and his mother.” See the next note.
  59. Judges 14:5 tc The MT reads “they approached,” while the LXX reads “he approached.” The previous sentence suggests that his parents were there, reading literally, “he went down, Samson and his father and his mother, to Timnah.” But the story line suggests that his parents were not there, as v. 6b reports that Samson did not tell them about the incident. The following sentence begins with וְהִנֵּה (vehinneh, “and behold”). This particle is used to focus or shift attention, typically pointing something out or introducing it into the scene (here the lion). But the scene that וְהִנֵּה comments on is set by the previous verb. If the verb “approached” were plural, then Samson’s parents should be with him when the lion attacks, something that contradicts the story as a whole. This indicates the verb should be singular. Since the previous verb, “went down,” is also singular (so also v. 7a), the phrase “and his father and his mother” may have been accidentally copied into the text under the influence of v. 4a. Later the verb was changed to “they approached” to account for the addition, but not until after the LXX was translated. Or one might suppose that his parents had gone on this trip down to Timnah (retaining “and his father and his mother”), but he had separated from them before approaching to the vineyards.
  60. Judges 14:5 tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”
  61. Judges 14:6 tn Heb “rushed on.”
  62. Judges 14:6 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  63. Judges 14:6 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
  64. Judges 14:7 tn Heb “He went down.”
  65. Judges 14:7 tn Heb “She was the right one in the eyes of Samson.”
  66. Judges 14:8 tn Heb “get.”
  67. Judges 14:8 tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees….”
  68. Judges 14:9 tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.
  69. Judges 14:9 sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.
  70. Judges 14:10 tn Heb “And his father went down to the woman.”
  71. Judges 14:10 tn Or “[wedding] feast.”
  72. Judges 14:10 tn Heb “the young men.”
  73. Judges 14:11 tn Heb “When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him.” Instead of כִּרְאוֹתָם (kirʾotam, “when they saw”) some ancient witnesses (e.g., some mss of the LXX) assume the reading בְּיִרְאָתָם (beyirʾatam, “because they feared”).
  74. Judges 14:12 tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”
  75. Judges 14:12 tn Heb “changes.”
  76. Judges 14:13 tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”
  77. Judges 14:13 tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”
  78. Judges 14:15 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (reviʿi, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (sheviʿi, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (sheloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
  79. Judges 14:15 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
  80. Judges 14:15 tn Heb “lest.”
  81. Judges 14:15 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
  82. Judges 14:15 tn Heb “house.”
  83. Judges 14:15 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (haloʾ), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.
  84. Judges 14:15 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
  85. Judges 14:16 tn Heb “on him.”
  86. Judges 14:16 tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”
  87. Judges 14:16 tn Heb “the sons of my people.”
  88. Judges 14:16 tn Heb “Should I tell you?”
  89. Judges 14:17 tn Heb “on him.”
  90. Judges 14:17 tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
  91. Judges 14:17 tn Heb “because she forced him.”
  92. Judges 14:17 tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”
  93. Judges 14:18 sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.
  94. Judges 14:19 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
  95. Judges 14:19 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
  96. Judges 14:19 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
  97. Judges 14:20 tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”
  98. Judges 15:1 sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.
  99. Judges 15:1 tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”
  100. Judges 15:1 tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).
  101. Judges 15:1 tn Heb “I want to approach.” The verb בּוֹא (boʾ) with the preposition אֶל (ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
  102. Judges 15:1 tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).
  103. Judges 15:2 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (ʾamar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
  104. Judges 15:2 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
  105. Judges 15:2 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
  106. Judges 15:3 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”
  107. Judges 15:3 tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”
  108. Judges 15:4 tn Traditionally, “foxes.”
  109. Judges 15:4 tn Heb “He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle.”
  110. Judges 15:5 tn Heb “He set fire to the torches.”
  111. Judges 15:6 tn Or “said.”
  112. Judges 15:6 tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
  113. Judges 15:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  114. Judges 15:6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  115. Judges 15:6 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.
  116. Judges 15:7 tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.
  117. Judges 15:7 tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”
  118. Judges 15:8 tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.
  119. Judges 15:9 tn Or “camped in.”
  120. Judges 15:9 tn Or “spread out.” The Niphal of נָטָשׁ (natash) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
  121. Judges 15:10 tn Or “come up against.”
  122. Judges 15:10 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  123. Judges 15:12 tn Or “swear to me.”
  124. Judges 15:12 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
  125. Judges 15:13 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
  126. Judges 15:14 tn Heb “rushed on.”
  127. Judges 15:14 tn Heb “burned with.”
  128. Judges 15:14 tn Heb “his bonds.”
  129. Judges 15:15 tn Heb “he found.”
  130. Judges 15:15 tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.
  131. Judges 15:15 tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”
  132. Judges 15:15 tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  133. Judges 15:16 tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).
  134. Judges 15:17 tn Heb “from his hand.”
  135. Judges 15:17 sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”
  136. Judges 15:18 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
  137. Judges 15:18 tn Heb “the hand of uncircumcised.” “Hand” often represents power or control. “The uncircumcised [ones]” is used as a pejorative and in the context refers to the Philistines.
  138. Judges 15:19 tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.
  139. Judges 15:19 tn Heb “spirit.”
  140. Judges 15:19 tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  141. Judges 15:19 sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”
  142. Judges 15:20 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
  143. Judges 15:20 tn Heb “in the days of the Philistines.”
  144. Judges 16:1 tn Heb “approached her.” The idiom בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel, “to go to”) is a euphemism for sexual relations.
  145. Judges 16:2 tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”
  146. Judges 16:2 tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.
  147. Judges 16:2 tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”
  148. Judges 16:2 tn Heb “were silent.”
  149. Judges 16:2 tn Heb “saying.”
  150. Judges 16:2 tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  151. Judges 16:2 tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”
  152. Judges 16:3 tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”
  153. Judges 16:3 tn Heb “with the bar.”
  154. Judges 16:3 tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”
  155. Judges 16:5 tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”
  156. Judges 16:6 tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”
  157. Judges 16:7 tn Or “moist.”
  158. Judges 16:7 tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.
  159. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vehaʾorev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).
  160. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  161. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “when it smells fire.”
  162. Judges 16:9 tn Heb “His strength was not known.”
  163. Judges 16:10 tn See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II תָּלַל, talal), which also occurs in v. 13.
  164. Judges 16:11 tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”
  165. Judges 16:12 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  166. Judges 16:12 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”
  167. Judges 16:12 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  168. Judges 16:13 tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.
  169. Judges 16:13 tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.
  170. Judges 16:14 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  171. Judges 16:14 tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.
  172. Judges 16:14 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  173. Judges 16:15 tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”
  174. Judges 16:16 tn Heb “forced him with her words.”
  175. Judges 16:16 tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”
  176. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “all his heart.”
  177. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”
  178. Judges 16:17 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
  179. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”
  180. Judges 16:17 tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).
  181. Judges 16:18 tn Heb “all his heart.”
  182. Judges 16:18 tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”
  183. Judges 16:18 tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).
  184. Judges 16:18 tn Heb “all his heart.”
  185. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.
  186. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.
  187. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.
  188. Judges 16:19 tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.
  189. Judges 16:20 tn Heb “are upon you.”
  190. Judges 16:20 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  191. Judges 16:20 tn Heb “and said.”
  192. Judges 16:20 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
  193. Judges 16:22 tn Heb “the hair of his head.”
  194. Judges 16:24 tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.
  195. Judges 16:24 tn Heb “multiplied our dead.”
  196. Judges 16:25 tn Heb “When their heart was good.”
  197. Judges 16:25 tn Heb “before them.”
  198. Judges 16:26 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”
  199. Judges 16:27 tn Heb “house.”
  200. Judges 16:28 tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (ʾadonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).
  201. Judges 16:28 tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”
  202. Judges 16:29 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house was founded.”
  203. Judges 16:30 tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”
  204. Judges 16:30 tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”
  205. Judges 16:31 tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”
  206. Judges 16:31 tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”
  207. Judges 16:31 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
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