Judges 14:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson’s eyes.

NIV: Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

NASB: So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked pleasing to Samson.

CSB: Then he went and spoke to the woman, because she seemed right to Samson.

NLT: When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.

KJV: And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

NKJV: Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

Samson has not told anyone about his eventful trip into Timnah. His parents had apparently gone ahead of him when he was attacked by a young lion. Empowered by the sudden indwelling of the Lord's Spirit, Samson tore the lion apart with his bare hands (Judges 14:5–6).

Now he arrives in Timnah to talk to the object of his desire: the Philistine woman he asked his parents to arrange for him to marry. It's possible this is the first time Samson has spoken to her, having only seen her on his previous trip to the city. This encounter reinforces his initial infatuation. Whether it is right, in the eyes of God, for him to marry a woman from the idol-worshipping, oppressive Philistines (Judges 14:1–4), he seems not to care. Samson's only concern is that she is what he wants: she is "right in [his] eyes." This pattern of ignoring God's will in favor of preferences is a tragic theme of the book of Judges (Judges 14:3; 17:6; 21:25).

Judges 14:5–9 is the first example of Samson's supernatural strength, as empowered by the Holy Spirit. While travelling to meet his future wife, he is attacked by a young lion. Samson rips the animal apart with his bare hands. Later, he finds a beehive growing in the lion's carcass. He takes honeycomb and eats it, sharing this with his parents.

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).

Accessed 5/5/2024 11:00:56 AM