Commentary - Judges 14:10-14

Bird's-eye view

The book of Judges is a book of cycles, a book of ups and downs, a book of astonishing heroism and appalling grotesqueries. And in the middle of this swirling vortex of sin and deliverance, we find Samson. He is a man of faith, listed in Hebrews 11, and yet he is a man of profound personal weakness. God uses Samson, not because of his polished righteousness, but through his messy, complicated, and often sinful life. This passage is a prime example of that very thing. Samson is not acting like a sober-minded Nazirite here; he is marrying a Philistine woman, which was contrary to the law, and yet the text tells us plainly that this was "from the Lord" (Judg. 14:4). God was using Samson's weakness for women to provoke a conflict with the Philistines, a conflict the Israelites were too comfortable to seek on their own. So, as Samson goes down to Timnah for his wedding feast, we see the sovereign hand of God orchestrating events through the very flawed choices of His chosen instrument. The feast, the companions, and the riddle are all pieces on a much larger chessboard, and God is the one moving the pieces.

Outline

Context In Judges

The story of Samson comes toward the end of the book of Judges, a period characterized by the refrain, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 17:6, 21:25). This was not a libertarian paradise; it was a time of moral and political chaos. Israel was under the oppression of the Philistines, and unlike previous cycles in Judges, the people were not crying out to the Lord for deliverance. They had grown complacent in their bondage. God, in His inexorable mercy, raises up Samson not to lead an army, but to be a solitary agent of disruption. His personal vendettas, driven by his passions, become the instruments of God's judgment against the Philistines and a goad to wake up a sleeping Israel. This particular episode, the wedding feast, is the catalyst for the first major conflict. Samson's choice of a Philistine wife is the occasion God uses to begin picking a fight.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this.

The first thing to note is the movement: "his father went down." This is not just geographical. Israel was to be a people set apart, on a hill, as it were. Going down to the Philistines was a spiritual descent as well. But notice who makes the feast. Samson does. This is a wedding feast, a covenantal meal. Feasts in Scripture are significant; they are about communion, fellowship, and establishing bonds. But this is a compromised feast from the start. It's a covenant meal with the enemy. Samson is trying to have it both ways. He is an Israelite, a Nazirite, set apart for God, yet he is seeking union with the uncircumcised Philistines. The text notes that this was the custom for young men. Samson is acting just like any other worldly young man, driven by his appetites, following the cultural script. He is doing what is right in his own eyes, and God is about to use that very carnality for His own glorious purposes. This is the hard sovereignty of God at work, not excusing Samson's sin, but weaving it into His grand design.

11 Now it happened that when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him.

When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty companions. Why? The text doesn't say explicitly, but the implication is one of suspicion or fear. Samson was not an ordinary man. There was an aura about him, a strength that was palpable. They didn't bring companions to honor him, but rather to watch him, to contain him. It's a bodyguard, but for the protection of the hosts, not the guest. This is a picture of the world's reaction to the people of God. When the world sees a man set apart by God, even a deeply flawed one, there is an inherent distrust. They don't know what to make of him. They sense a power that is not of this world, and their instinct is to surround it, to manage it, to control it. These thirty men are meant to be his groomsmen, his brothers in the feast, but they are really his guards. The fellowship is a sham from the beginning.

12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.

Samson, seeing this forced fellowship for what it is, decides to play a game. But it's not a friendly game. It's a challenge, a test of wits with high stakes. A riddle is a dark saying, a truth hidden in a puzzle. God Himself sometimes speaks in riddles, not to confuse, but to make us work, to separate the diligent from the lazy. Jesus taught in parables for the same reason. Samson's riddle is a reflection, albeit a distorted one, of this divine method. He is putting the Philistines to the test. The wager is significant. Thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. This was a substantial amount of wealth. Samson is confident, even arrogant. He is using his unique experience, his secret knowledge of killing the lion, as a weapon. He is turning a private act of God's power into a public contest. This is Samson in a nutshell: God's power flowing through a cracked vessel, used for purposes that are a mixture of divine provocation and carnal pride.

13 But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.”

The terms are set. The Philistines, full of their own pride, accept the challenge without hesitation. "Propound your riddle, that we may hear it." They are confident in their numbers and their worldly wisdom. Thirty of their best against one strange Israelite. The odds seem to be in their favor. They do not realize they are not just dealing with Samson, but with the God of Samson. They are being drawn into a conflict they cannot win, because the terms of the conflict have been set by a secret they cannot possibly penetrate by natural reason. This is always the case when the world confronts the gospel. The gospel is a riddle to the natural man. The cross is foolishness. A crucified savior? A God who dies? Strength coming from weakness? Sweetness from a bloody carcass? It makes no sense to them. They accept the challenge, thinking they can figure it out, but they are blind to the reality that stands before them.

14 So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” But they could not tell the riddle in three days.

Here is the riddle itself. It is a perfect summary of the gospel, hidden in a carnal story. Out of the lion, the "eater," the devouring one, came honey, "something to eat." Out of the "strong" came "something sweet." The lion is a picture of death and destruction, a picture of sin and the curse. Samson, empowered by the Spirit, confronts this devouring strength and overcomes it. And what does he find in the carcass? Honey. Sweetness. Life out of death. This is precisely what Christ did. He entered the jaws of the devouring lion, Satan, sin, and death. He went into the grave, the ultimate eater. And in His death, He destroyed him who had the power of death, and brought forth the sweetness of resurrection life, the honey of salvation. The Philistines were stumped. For three days, they wrestled with it. Their worldly wisdom was useless. They could not solve it because they did not have the key, which was the knowledge of Samson's secret encounter. In the same way, no one can understand the gospel riddle without the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Without faith, the story of a dead man bringing life will always be an unsolvable puzzle.

Application

The story of Samson's wedding feast is a messy affair. It involves deceit, compromise, and carnal motivations. And yet, it is shot through with the sovereign purposes of God. God is not afraid to get His hands dirty in the muck of human sinfulness to accomplish His will. He uses Samson, not as a pristine example of piety, but as a blunt instrument of war. This should be a profound encouragement to us. We are all cracked vessels. We are all a mixture of faith and folly. But God, in His grace, uses us anyway. Our weaknesses, our foolish choices, our compromised situations do not thwart His plans. In fact, He specializes in bringing strength out of weakness, and sweetness out of the bitterest of circumstances.

Furthermore, we see in Samson's riddle a picture of the gospel. The central message of our faith is a riddle to the world. "He who loses his life will find it." "The last shall be first." "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And the greatest riddle of all: life comes through death. A dead lion produces honey. A crucified Christ produces salvation. The world cannot solve this riddle. They will try to cheat, just as the Philistines did, by threatening and coercing. But the answer cannot be found through human wisdom or strength. It can only be received by faith, as a revelation from God. We are called to be people of the riddle, people who live by a truth that the world finds nonsensical. We must not be surprised when they look at us with suspicion, like the Philistines looked at Samson. We must be ready to propound the riddle of the gospel, the good news of how God brought the sweetest honey out of the eater of death.