JUDGES 14

SAMSON’S RIDDLE + DISASTROUS WEDDING

Samson decides to marry a Philistine woman, despite the Philistines’ oppression of the Israelites.

Before their wedding feast, Samson kills a lion with his bare hands. When he returns a few days later, he uses his hands to scoop honey out of the carcass of the lion. Samson never told his father, mother, or bride about the lion.

During the wedding feast, Samson shares a riddle with thirty companions and promises them that if they solve the riddle, he will give them all new linen clothing. In the riddle was information about the lion and the honey, which he had kept secret from everyone.

Upset that she did not know what was going on, Samson’s bride repeatedly questions Samson until he tells her. After learning the answer to the riddle, she runs to tell Samson’s companions. After they have the correct answer to the riddle, Samson leaves to collect their prize of linen clothing. While he is gone, Samson’s bride is given to Samson’s best man! This is the strangest, most dramatic wedding ever. These strange events foreshadow some aspects of Samson's character, particularly his strength, unpredictable behavior, and the ongoing conflict with the Philistines.