Judges 14:10 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the story of Samson’s wedding feast and how it became the setting for trouble with the Philistines. Samson followed the custom of the land by making his wedding celebration last seven days (Judges 14:10). Even though he was a Nazirite, a man set apart to God under special vows, he did not try to make himself odd in a matter like this. He did what other young men usually did on such an occasion.

It is no part of true religion to oppose harmless customs where we live. In fact, it harms religion when people who claim to follow it make others think they are greedy, shy, or gloomy. A good man should try, in the best sense, to be a good companion. Samson was not called to reject innocent social customs, but to avoid sin.

His wife’s relatives showed the usual respect for such an event and brought him thirty young men to keep him company during the feast, serving as his attendants or groomsmen (Judges 14:11). When they saw him, they either admired his handsome and noble appearance, or, more likely, noticed how strong and impressive he was. So they brought these men to honor him, though really they may have been watching him closely or acting as spies. The Philistines were suspicious enough already, and they would have been more so if they had known about his victory over the lion, which he had carefully kept hidden. Philistines often showed kindness with some hidden harm in mind.

To entertain the company, Samson gave them a riddle and offered a wager that they could not solve it in seven days (Judges 14:12-14). It seems that in those days, when friends gathered, they often passed the time in harmless wit and conversation. They did not spend all their time eating and drinking, or in pleasures like music, dancing, and shows, but used questions and riddles to test and improve their minds. That is fitting for thoughtful people who value reason.

Samson’s riddle came from his own experience: “Out of the eater came food, and out of the strong came sweetness.” Beasts of prey do not usually provide food for people, yet food came from the one who devoured. Also, creatures that are strong while alive often become unpleasant when dead, yet sweetness came from the strong. If they had only thought carefully about what creature is strongest and what food is sweetest, they could have solved it. Lions and honey were not unknown to them, and the answer would have led them to the story behind it.

This riddle can also be applied to many ways God works in providence and grace, providence meaning God’s wise rule over events. When God brings good out of evil for his church and people, when what seemed likely to ruin them turns into their advantage, when their enemies are made useful to them, and when human anger ends up praising God, then sweetness comes out of the strong and food out of the eater. See (Philippians 1:12).

The wager was more serious for Samson than for the thirty men, because he was one man against thirty. It was not a gamble on God’s providence, or on blind chance, like a die or a card game. It was a test of their understanding, and the reward was only an honor for wisdom and a shame for foolishness.

When the thirty men could not solve the riddle themselves, they pressured Samson’s wife to get the answer from him (Judges 14:15). Whether they were dull in mind, or specially blinded at that moment, it is strange that none of them could see such a plain answer. What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? They were barbarous in their behavior, threatening to burn her and her father’s house if she would not persuade Samson to tell them.

Nothing could be more brutal. It was bad enough to turn a joke into a serious matter, and shameful for men who would go so far rather than admit they were wrong and lose a small wager. It would not even save their honor if they learned the answer only because it was forced out of Samson. Worse still, they were trying to make Samson’s wife betray her own husband, as if her chief loyalty should now be to them. But the worst part was their threat to burn her and her relatives with fire, all because they feared losing the value of a shirt and a change of clothes.

People should never make wagers if they cannot bear to lose in a calm and decent way.

Samson, who had posed the riddle, now admits that they have won the wager. He had good reason to challenge it, since they had not truly declared the riddle as agreed (Judges 14:12), but he decides to say no more about that. Instead, he tells them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer,” meaning, if you had not used my wife to get the answer, you would never have found out my riddle. Satan, in his temptations, could not do us the harm he does if he did not work through the weakness of our own sinful nature.

Samson then pays his wager to these Philistines with the spoils of other Philistines, as in Judges 14:19. He uses this as a chance to act against them. He goes down to Ashkelon, one of their cities, where there was likely a public feast, and there he kills thirty men and takes their clothes. He gives those clothes to the men who had explained the riddle, so the Philistines end up the real losers. One human life is worth more than many fine garments, and the body is more valuable than clothing. The Spirit of the Lord came on Samson here, both to authorize what he did and to give him strength for it.

This trouble also helps pull Samson away from his new connections. He sees how his companions treated him and how his wife betrayed him, and he becomes angry (Judges 14:19). It is better to be angry with Philistines than in love with them, because joining ourselves to them puts us in danger of being trapped by them. After this harsh treatment, Samson goes back up to his father’s house. It would be good for us if the unkindness and disappointments we meet in the world drove us back, in faith and prayer, to our heavenly Father’s house, where we can rest.

As soon as Samson leaves, his wife is given to another man (Judges 14:20). Instead of asking forgiveness for the wrong she had done, she quickly marries the man who had been the chief guest, the friend of the bridegroom, the one she may have favored too much. She had been too ready to please him when she got her husband to tell the riddle. This shows how little trust we should place in people, since even those we use as friends may prove to be our enemies.