Judges 14:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

NASB: So he took out the honey on 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 took the honey out of the body of the lion.

CSB: He scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. 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 scooped the honey from the lion’s carcass.

NLT: He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.

KJV: And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

NKJV: He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

On his way to Timnah to claim his Philistine wife, Samson has stopped to see the body of the lion he killed (Judges 13:1–6). In an extraordinary moment, the Lord's Spirit rushed upon Samson just as the lion was attacking him. With God's power, Samson fatally wounded the lion with his bare hands. Upon his return, Samson has discovered something unusual inside the remains: a hive of bees producing honey.

This would not have been a normal sight. Bees will make hives in almost anywhere they can find room, but animal carcasses don't normally make good foundations. In this case, the lion's leftover bones and skin may have helped create a suitable space. Or the bees made their home in the skull. It's also possible this was simply a bizarre, supernaturally driven moment decreed by God. Such details are absent, but irrelevant to the story. The bizarre nature of what Samson sees is, itself, an important part of what happens next.

One possible reason God might have engineered this discovery was to test Samson, or to make use of his lack of self-control (Judges 13:4). Samson had been set aside as a Nazirite by "the angel of the LORD" (Judges 13:5). This vow (Numbers 6:1–21) came with certain restrictions and was tied to his special mission. Careful readers will note that a normal Nazirite vow involved having no contact with a dead body. At the same time, the only aspect of a Nazirite vow explicitly given to Samson, himself, involved not cutting his hair.

Since touching dead bodies wasn't directly mentioned by "the angel of the LORD" to Samson's parents, it's unclear whether this was part of his special designation. Even so, all Israelites were prohibited from eating unclean food (Leviticus 11). One way or another, Samson's choice to eat honey from an animal carcass body was a direct violation of God's law for Israel. Worse, he gave it to his parents without telling them where he got it, making them unclean, as well.

If the honey in the lion's carcass was meant as a test for Samson, he failed miserably. Adding to his errors, Samson will use this unusual experience as the basis of a bet with his Philistine groomsmen (Judges 14:12–14).

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).