Judges 14:1 - Meaning and Application

Here Samson, under God’s special guidance, seeks a reason to clash with the Philistines by joining himself to them in marriage. It is a strange way to do it, but Samson himself is a kind of riddle, a man whose life was full of seeming contradictions. He did what was truly great and good through what looked weak and wrong, because he was meant to be a type, a picture, of Christ, who had no sin yet was made sin for us and came in the likeness of sinful flesh so he might condemn sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3).

In the matter of his marriage, we can notice several things. First, Samson acted foolishly when he set his heart on a Philistine woman. It was a bad choice for one who was not only an Israelite, but also a Nazarite, a person set apart to the Lord, to desire to unite himself with a worshiper of Dagon, the Philistine idol. He was meant to stand for his country, yet he chose among its sworn enemies. He saw the woman (Judges 14:1), and she pleased him well (Judges 14:3). There is no sign that he had reason to think she was wise, godly, or fit to be his helper. He was moved by what he saw, and that was enough for him. Anyone who chooses a wife only by appearance and fancy will later have only himself to blame if he finds trouble in his marriage.

Yet he did well in one thing, he did not move ahead without first telling his parents. He said this to them and asked them to get her for him as a wife (Judges 14:2). In this he is a good example to all children. According to the fifth commandment, children should not marry, or even begin to pursue marriage, without their parents’ advice and consent. Those who do so, as Bishop Hall says, knowingly stop acting like children and replace natural affection with harsh independence. Parents have a rightful claim on their children as part of themselves, and marriage changes that relationship. A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so it is both unkind and unfair to take that step without their agreement. To steal oneself away from them, while pretending it is no wrong, is to act like a destroyer (Proverbs 28:24).

His parents also did well to warn him against linking himself unequally with unbelievers. Anyone who claims religion, yet is courting close family ties with people who do not fear or worship God, should hear their words and think seriously about them: Is there no woman among your own people, or among all Israel, that pleases you, so that you must marry a Philistine? In the old world, the sons of God ruined themselves, their families, and the early church by marrying the daughters of men (Genesis 6:2). God had forbidden Israel to marry with the nations devoted to destruction, and the Philistines were among them (Deuteronomy 7:3).

Still, if there had not been a special reason, it would have been wrong for Samson to insist on his choice, and wrong for his parents to agree to it. Their tender willingness to yield to his desire can also teach parents not to be harsh when they cross their children’s choices, especially when the children have respectfully and in good time asked for consent. Children must obey their parents in the Lord, and parents must not provoke their children to anger, or they may lose heart. Samson, in submitting to his parents and waiting for their agreement, was not only an example to all children, but also a type of the holy child Jesus, who went down with his parents to Nazareth and was subject to them (Luke 2:51).

This marriage plan is said to be from the Lord (Judges 14:4). That means not only that God later used it for his purposes against the Philistines, but also that he placed the desire in Samson’s heart so he would have a reason to confront them. The marriage was not evil in itself. It was forbidden because of the danger of being harmed by idolaters, but where that danger was turned into an opportunity to strike back at them for Israel’s good, the command could give way to God’s special purpose. We are told earlier that the Spirit of the Lord began to move Samson at times (Judges 13:25), and it seems likely that he sensed that same Spirit directing him here. Otherwise he would have given in to his parents’ objections, and they would not have agreed unless they were persuaded that it was from the Lord.

This choice would also bring him into close contact with the Philistines, giving him chances to trouble them that he would not otherwise have had. It seems the Philistines oppressed Israel not mainly through large armies, but through secret raids by their strong men and small bands of plunderers. In the same way, Samson would meet them. If he could only get among them through this marriage, he would become a thorn in their side. In a higher and better way, Jesus Christ came into this polluted and hostile world to save us from it and to cast out its ruler. By taking a human body, he in a sense joined himself to our race so he could destroy our spiritual enemies and bring salvation by his own power.

Second, by a special providence, Samson was strengthened and encouraged to attack the Philistines. Since this was the work he was set apart for, God prepared him for it through two events. First, on a journey to Timnah, he killed a lion (Judges 14:5, Judges 14:6). Many people refuse to do work they are able to do because they do not know their own strength. God let Samson learn what he could do by the power of the Spirit of the Lord, so he would never fear to face great dangers. David, who later would finish breaking the power of the Philistines, first tested himself against a lion and a bear. From that, he could reason, as we may suppose Samson did, that the uncircumcised Philistine would be like one of them (1 Samuel 17:36).

Samson’s meeting with the lion was dangerous. It was a young lion, one of the fiercest kind, and it attacked him, roaring as it came toward its prey and fixing its eyes on him.

He was alone in the vineyards, having wandered away from his father and mother, who stayed on the main road. He was probably there to eat grapes. Children do not think about how they expose themselves to danger when, out of a foolish love of freedom, they leave the care of wise and godly parents. Young people also do not think about the dangers hidden in the vineyards, places that can be as dangerous as snakes in green grass.

If Samson had met this lion on the road, he might have expected help from both God and man more easily than here, alone in the vineyards and off his path. But God had a special purpose in it, and the harder the danger, the more glorious the victory. Samson won without any trouble. He strangled the lion and tore its throat as easily as he would have strangled a young goat, yet he used no weapon at all. He had no sword, no bow, no staff, and no knife in his hand.

Christ met the roaring lion, Satan, and defeated him at the start of his public work (Matthew 4:1, etc.). Later he disarmed rulers and powers and triumphed over them in himself, as some translations read it, without any human weapon. He was raised up by his own strength. What also added much to Samson’s honor was that after this great deed he did not brag about it. He did not even tell his father or mother, though many people would have spread it everywhere at once. Modesty and humility are the brightest crown on great achievements.

God also provided for him on his next trip by giving him honey from the body of this lion (Judges 14:8, Judges 14:9). When he came down later to celebrate his wedding, with his parents with him, he turned aside to the vineyard where he had killed the lion. Maybe he wanted to remember that great rescue and give thanks to God for it. It is good for us to remember God’s past kindnesses.

There he found the lion’s carcass. Birds or wild animals had likely eaten the flesh, and a swarm of bees had made a hive in the skeleton. They had not been idle there, but had stored up a good supply of honey. Honey was one of the main products of Canaan, and the land was said to flow with milk and honey because there was so much of it. Samson, having a better right to the hive than anyone else, took the honey with his hands.

That meant he had to face the bees, but the man who did not fear the lion’s claws had no reason to fear their stings. His victory over the lion also prepared him to face the Philistine giants if needed, despite their strength and fury. In the same way, by driving off the bees, he learned not to fear the Philistines, even if they surrounded him like bees. In the name of the Lord, he would destroy them (Psalm 118:12).

When he found the honey, he did two things. First, he ate some himself without worrying over a matter of conscience, because the dead bones of an unclean animal did not have the same ceremonial uncleanness as a human corpse. John the Baptist, a Nazarite in the New Testament, lived on wild honey. Second, he gave some to his parents, and they ate it too. He did not keep it all for himself. “Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need” (Proverbs 25:16). He shared it with his parents.

Children should repay their parents with the fruit of their own work and show godliness at home (1 Timothy 5:4). In the same way, those who have found sweetness in religion through God’s grace should share their experience with friends and family, inviting them to enjoy it too. Samson did not tell his parents where the honey came from, because he did not want to trouble their consciences. Bishop Hall wisely notes that people are less wise and more picky than Samson when they refuse God’s gifts just because they come from unpleasant vessels. Honey is still honey, even when it is found in a dead lion.

So it is with our Lord Jesus. After he conquered Satan, the roaring lion, believers find honey in the carcass, meaning rich strength and deep satisfaction, enough for themselves and for all their friends, from that victory.