Judges 14:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

NIV: When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

NASB: When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

CSB: When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty men to accompany him.

NLT: When the bride’s parents saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.

KJV: And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

NKJV: And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

With the help of his father, Samson is hosting a week-long wedding feast in Timnah. In that culture, the wedding feast would follow a betrothal period, after which the groom would officially take the bride and the relationship would be consummated. He has taken a Philistine bride out of sheer impulse: he saw her, and she looked good to him (Judges 14:1–3). He seems unconcerned about God's laws for Israel (Exodus 34:15–16) or for those under a Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:1–21; Judges 13:5; 14:8).

Thirty men have been assigned as Samson's companions—roughly the equivalent of modern groomsmen. Commentators speculate about exactly what was expected of these men. It may be that Philistine custom required that many men from the bride's people to participate as guests. Other scholars suggest these thirty men were assigned to protect the bride's interests, ensuring fair treatment. Still others speculate Samson already had a reputation for chaos, and these men were called in to provide security. The men are said to have been brought when "the people saw [Samson]," though this might simply refer to custom, and not something alarming about Samson, himself.

Whatever their official reason for being there, these men will soon come into vicious conflict with Samson.

Judges 14:10–20 explains the disastrous outcome of Samson's attempted marriage to a Philistine woman. As was the custom, a weeklong wedding feast is held. Thirty Philistines companions are assigned to Samson. He makes an exorbitant bet with them, making a riddle about his killing of the young lion (Judges 14:5–6). The men threaten the future bride, who pesters Samson until he tells her the secret, which she gives to the groomsmen. Enraged at her betrayal, and empowered by the Lord's Spirit, Samson assaults thirty Philistine men in another town (Judges 14:4). He takes their clothes as the payment for the wager. Because Samson angrily abandons the wedding feast, his bride is given to another man.

Samson (Judges 13:24–25) is now old enough to marry. He demands his parents arrange marriage to a Philistine woman with whom he is infatuated. When attacked by a lion, Samson rips the animal apart with his bare hands, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Later, he finds a beehive and honey in the lion's carcass. At the wedding feast, Samson proposes a wager based on this secret. His thirty Philistine companions become frustrated when they can't solve it. They threaten Samson's bride, and she manipulates him to get the secret. Samson attacks thirty Philistines in another town to pay the wager.

This chapter leaps forward from Samson's birth (Judges 13:5, 24–25) to somewhere in his adulthood. He demands a Philistine woman for a wife. At the wedding feast, he proposes a bet with thirty Philistine men. They learn the answer to his trick question by threatening to kill the bride. Samson attacks thirty Philistines in another town to secure the payment for the wager. His bride is given to one of the men who threatened her. Samson will return, expecting marital rights, only to be told she has been given to someone else (Judges 15:1–2).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).