The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Riddle” it comes from the Hebrew Word “chidah” which means “riddle, dark saying.”
Samson falls for a Philistine woman, and his wedding feast turns into a dangerous game. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Judges 14.
Samson sees a Philistine woman in Timnath and insists on marrying her despite his parents’ objections that he should marry among his own people, though Scripture notes this was actually part of God’s plan to create an occasion against the Philistines. On the way to arrange this marriage, a young lion attacks Samson, and the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him mightily, enabling him to tear the lion apart with his bare hands, though he tells no one about it.
Later, Samson finds a swarm of bees and honey inside the lion’s dried carcass, and eats some, sharing it with his parents without revealing its source. At his wedding feast, Samson poses a riddle, “chidah” in Hebrew, to his thirty Philistine companions, wagering thirty changes of clothing that they cannot solve it within seven days. “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness,” a riddle drawn directly from his secret encounter with the lion and the honey.
Unable to solve it, the Philistine men threaten Samson’s new wife, demanding she extract the answer from him or they will burn her father’s house. She weeps and pressures Samson relentlessly throughout the feast until he finally tells her, and she reveals the answer to her countrymen. Furious at being betrayed, Samson kills thirty Philistine men elsewhere to pay off his debt with their clothing, and returns home in anger, while his wife is given instead to his best man.
Samson’s incredible physical strength, coming directly from the Spirit of the Lord, stands in sharp contrast to his consistently poor judgment in relationships throughout this chapter. Extraordinary spiritual gifting, this story shows early on, doesn’t automatically come paired with wisdom or self-control in every other area of a person’s life.
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