Plowing with God's Heifer
Introduction: The High Cost of a Bad Covenant
The book of Judges is a grim and bloody business. It is a cycle of apostasy, oppression, crying out, and deliverance, only to have the people slide right back into the muck. And right in the middle of this downward spiral, we have Samson. Samson is a man of faith, the book of Hebrews tells us so. But he is also a man of profound foolishness, particularly when it comes to women. He is a walking contradiction, a Nazirite who touches dead things, a man set apart for God who wants to marry a Philistine. And this is not an accident. God is using Samson's weaknesses, his sinful desires, to accomplish His own sovereign purposes. God is sovereign over the whole mess. He is not the author of sin, but He is the author of the story in which the sin occurs, and He writes all the plot twists.
Samson has just posed a riddle to his Philistine wedding companions, a riddle born from a secret work of God, the killing of the lion. He has entered into a covenant with these men, a wager. But Samson, in his desire for a Philistine wife, has made a covenant with the wrong people. He has yoked himself to unbelievers, and as we are about to see, that yoke will chafe, and it will burn. This passage is a stark lesson in the treachery of the human heart, the manipulative power of feminine tears when they are not submitted to God, the destructive nature of unrighteous anger, and above all, the meticulous sovereignty of God, who can take the ugliest sins of men and weave them into the beautiful tapestry of His redemptive plan. God is always working His purposes out, even through our most spectacular failures.
We see here a conflict that is not just between Samson and the Philistines, but a conflict within Samson's own house, between a man and his wife. And it is a picture of covenantal unfaithfulness. She is his wife, but her loyalties are with her people, the enemies of God. This is what happens when God's people decide that the lines of separation do not matter. The world will always demand that you compromise, that you give up your secrets, that you betray your Lord. And it will often use the closest relationships you have to apply the pressure.
The Text
Then it happened on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?” So Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?” However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have found out my riddle.” Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.
(Judges 14:15-20 LSB)
The World's Tactics (v. 15)
We begin with the Philistines' approach to Samson's wife.
"Then it happened on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, 'Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?'" (Judges 14:15 LSB)
Notice the tactics of the world. When they cannot win by fair means, they resort to threats and manipulation. They do not approach Samson directly; they go after his weak point, his wife. This is the serpent's strategy from the beginning. Go to the woman. And the threat is brutal: "we will burn you and your father's house with fire." The world does not play nice. It promises pleasure and freedom, but under the surface, it is a slaver, and it rules by fear.
Their accusation is telling: "Have you invited us to impoverish us?" They see the covenant of the wager not as a friendly game, but as a hostile act of economic warfare. They are worldly men, and they think in worldly terms. They cannot conceive of a covenant that is not about gaining power or wealth. They see Samson's riddle as a plot to take their stuff, and so they feel entirely justified in using extortion and threats of violence to get their way. This is the logic of the godless: might makes right, and our interests trump any moral law.
Feminine Manipulation (v. 16-17)
In response to the threat, Samson's wife turns her efforts on her husband.
"So Samson’s wife wept before him and said, 'You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people and have not told it to me.' And he said to her, 'Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?' However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard." (Judges 14:16-17 LSB)
Here we see the power of feminine wiles used for wicked ends. Her weapon is tears. Her tactic is emotional blackmail. "You only hate me, and you do not love me." This is a classic manipulative inversion. She is the one about to betray him, but she accuses him of a lack of love. She is trying to make him feel guilty for keeping a confidence, for maintaining his integrity in the wager he made. Her loyalty is not to her husband, but to "the sons of my people." She identifies with the enemy, and she uses the language of love to disguise her treachery.
Samson's initial response is logical and correct. "Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?" He appeals to the principle of honoring his parents and the secrecy of the matter. He is pointing out that his closest, most foundational relationships have not been given this information, so why should she, his new wife, be entitled to it? This is a boundary. But he is weak. His desire for this woman, his inability to stand against her emotional pressure, is his great flaw. She doesn't respond with a counter-argument; she just keeps crying. For seven days. This is water torture. She "pressed him so hard." The Hebrew here means she vexed him, constrained him, harassed him. And he caves. His masculine strength, which can tear a lion apart, cannot withstand the persistent, manipulative weeping of a woman he desires. This is a profound warning. A man who cannot govern his own passions, a man who is ruled by his appetites, will ultimately be unable to lead and protect his own home.
Betrayal and a Bitter Proverb (v. 18)
The result of Samson's weakness is immediate betrayal.
"So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, 'What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?' And he said to them, 'If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have found out my riddle.'" (Judges 14:18 LSB)
The Philistines, armed with the secret, come to him at the last minute to claim their prize. They parrot the answer, gloating in their victory. But Samson is not a fool. He knows exactly how they got the answer. His response is a bitter, rustic proverb. "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."
This is a coarse and angry statement, and it is meant to be. He is calling his wife a beast of burden, a dumb animal that they have used for their own purposes. But he is also acknowledging her covenantal infidelity. To "plow with" someone's heifer was a Hebrew idiom for having adulterous relations with his wife. He is publicly shaming her and them. He is saying, "You have corrupted my wife, you have violated my marriage bed, and through this treachery, you have stolen my secret." He is exposing their sin and her betrayal for all to see. The covenant of the feast has been broken by the breaking of the marriage covenant.
The Spirit and the Spoil (v. 19)
Samson's anger is not just a fleshly tantrum. It is the precursor to a divine action.
"Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house." (Judges 14:19 LSB)
Here we see the sovereignty of God break through in a startling way. "The Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily." This is not the gentle, indwelling Spirit of the new covenant. This is the Spirit of God equipping a man for holy war. God is not endorsing Samson's every motive, but He is anointing Samson's strength for His own purposes. God wanted to provoke a fight with the Philistines, and this betrayal was the means.
Samson goes down to Ashkelon, another Philistine city, and kills thirty men. He is a one-man wrecking crew. And he takes their clothes, their "changes of clothes," to pay off his wager. This is a profound act of poetic justice. The Philistines used treachery to win thirty sets of clothes. Samson, empowered by God, uses righteous violence to take thirty sets of clothes from the Philistines to pay the debt. He is making the enemy pay for their own victory. He honors the letter of his foolish wager, but he does so in a way that brings judgment upon the enemies of God.
His anger burned. This is not necessarily sinful anger. There is a righteous anger, an anger at injustice, betrayal, and wickedness. But his response is to go home to his father's house. He abandons his new wife. The marriage, founded on sinful desire and sealed with betrayal, is over before it really began.
The Final Treachery (v. 20)
The chapter concludes with the final, pathetic act of faithlessness.
"But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend." (Judges 14:20 LSB)
The woman who betrayed her husband for "her people" is now treated as a piece of property by her own father. She is given to Samson's "friend," the best man at the wedding. This is the final nail in the coffin of this disastrous attempt at syncretism. Everyone in this story, apart from God and His anointed judge, is faithless. The companions are faithless, the wife is faithless, the father-in-law is faithless, and the "friend" is faithless. This is the world. It is a web of self-interest, betrayal, and broken covenants. When you try to make a home in it, you will find that it has no foundation.
Conclusion: God's Riddle
This whole sorry episode is a picture of God's relationship with His unfaithful people. Like Samson, God enters into a covenant with a bride, Israel. And that bride repeatedly plays the harlot, going after other gods, betraying His secrets, and siding with His enemies. And God, in His righteous anger, brings judgment. But the story of Samson is not just about failure. It is a pointer to a greater Samson, a greater Judge.
Jesus Christ also came and told a riddle. The riddle was the cross. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Out of the eater, death, came something to eat, eternal life. Out of the strong one, Satan, came something sweet, the honey of salvation. And Jesus was also betrayed. He was betrayed by his companion, Judas, for pieces of silver. He was handed over by his own people to the pagan oppressors. His bride, the church, for whom He died, is often unfaithful, tempted by the world, and pressured to give up His secrets.
But unlike Samson, Jesus was not overcome by weakness. He did not give in to the pressure. He went to the cross, and with his arms stretched wide, He took the full force of the world's treachery and God's righteous wrath. And in His death, He, like Samson, brought down the temple on the heads of His enemies. He spoiled the principalities and powers. He paid the debt, not with the clothes of dead Philistines, but with His own precious blood. And He rose again, securing a true bride for Himself, a bride He is cleansing and making holy.
The lesson for us is clear. Do not make covenants with the world. Do not be unequally yoked. And when you are tempted, when the world threatens you, when those closest to you pressure you to compromise, do not give in. Stand firm. Because our God is a sovereign God who uses even the treachery of men to accomplish His glorious purposes. He is the one who plows with the heifer of human history to bring forth the harvest of His own glory.