SERIES H --- THE JUDGES --- LESSON 15

SAMSON’S MARRIAGE

THE LION AND BEES

From Judges 14

On one of his trips to Timnah, Samson fell in love with a Philistine girl. When he came home, he talked with his father and mother about her. ‘I saw a Philistine girl whom I want to marry,’ he said. ‘Make arrangements for me to have her for my wife.’ His father and mother were upset. ‘Isn’t there any girl among our people for you to marry?’ they asked. ‘Why do you have to choose a wife from among the heathen Philistines?’ ‘I want to marry this girl!’ Samson insisted. ‘Make the arrangements; for she’s the one I want.’ At that time the Philistines ruled Israel and YHVH was using this situation to set a trap for them. But Samson’s parents could not know of YHVH’s plan. With his father and mother, Samson set out for Timnah. When Samson was alone in the vineyards at the edge of town, a young lion attacked him. At that moment, the Spirit of Adonai came upon Samson and gave him strength so great that Samson, even without a weapon, tore the lion apart as though it were a helpless little goat. When Samson arrived in Timnah, he did not tell his parents about the lion, but went instead to talk to the girl. He was very pleased with her. Later, when he came back for the wedding, he went into the vineyard to look at the lion he had killed. A swarm of bees had come into the body of the lion and had made some honey in it. Samson scraped out some of the honey and took it with him, eating some as he went. When he met his father and mother, he gave some of the honey to them. At the wedding party in the village, Samson told a riddle. ‘If, during the seven days of the wedding party, you can tell me what this riddle means I will give you each a plain linen robe and a decorative robe,’ he said to the thirty young men of the village. ‘But if you can’t tell me what it means during the seven days, then each of you must give me a plain linen robe and a decorative robe.’ ‘We agree. Tell us the riddle,’ they said. And Samson told them his riddle: ‘From the eater came something to eat. From the strong came something sweet.’ For three days the young men struggled with the riddle, but could not think of a good solution. The next day the young men spoke to Samson’s wife. ‘If you don’t give us the answer to Samson’s riddle, we’ll burn down your father’s house while you are in it,’ they said. ‘Did you invite us to your wedding party to make us poor?’ Samson’s wife began to cry whenever she was with him. ‘You hate me!’ she whined. ‘How can you say you love me when you tell my friends a riddle, but won’t tell me what it means?’ ‘I haven’t told the answer to my father and mother!’ Samson answered. ‘Do you expect me to tell it to you?’ But Samson’s wife cried throughout the remaining days of the wedding feast. By the time the seventh and last day came, she had pestered him so much that Samson finally told the solution to the riddle. Immediately she told the thirty young Philistines. Before sunset the thirty young men came to see Samson and gave him the solution to the riddle. ‘What is sweeter than honey or stronger than a lion?’ they said. Samson was angry. ‘If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would not have the solution to my riddle.’ Again, the Spirit of Adonai came upon Samson, giving him strength so great that he went to Ashkelon, another Philistine city, killed thirty of the men of that city and took their robes to the thirty young men of Timnah. Samson was very angry about this whole matter, so he went home to live with his parents, leaving his wife behind in Timnah. Her father thought that Samson had abandoned her so he arranged for her to be married to the best man at Samson’s wedding.

COMMENTARY

CANAANITE FEASTS AND FESTIVALS

The people of Israel were not to intermarry with the pagan peoples of Canaan. When Samson demanded that his parents arrange a marriage with a young Philistine woman, they were shocked. Yet YHVH would use Samson’s desire to launch a lasting feud between Samson and the Philistine oppressors. The Canaanites enjoyed feasts and festivals for many different occasions. In the home, families would celebrate a son’s safe return from battle or the birth of a child. But perhaps the greatest private festival was a wedding. The bride and groom each invited a group of friends to a lavish feast lasting at least a week, possibly two. On the first day the guests surrounded the bride and groom, singing as they ushered them to the place of the marriage. Throughout the festival the guests addressed the couple as [king] and [queen.] Aside from food, drink, singing and dancing, games and contests were offered as entertainment. Most other Canaanite festivals were religious celebrations honouring their various fertility gods. Throughout the year, much revelry marked any important event such as sheep shearing, the beginning of the New Year and the grape and grain harvests.