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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The idea which this chapter gives us of Samson is not what one might
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have expected concerning one who, by the special designation of heaven,
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was a Nazarite to God and a deliverer of Israel; and yet really he was
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both. Here is,
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I. Samson's courtship of a daughter of the Philistines, and his
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marriage to her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:1-5,7,8">ver. 1-5, 7, 8</A>.
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II. His conquest of a lion, and the prize he found in the carcase of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:5,6,8,9">ver. 5, 6, 8, 9</A>.
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III. Samson's riddle proposed to his companions
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:10-14">ver. 10-14</A>)
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and unriddled by the treachery of his wife,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:15-18">ver. 15-18</A>.
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IV. The occasion this gave him to kill thirty of the Philistines
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:19">ver. 19</A>)
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and to break off his new alliance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:20">ver. 20</A>.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Samson Chooses a Philistine Wife; A Lion Slain by Samson.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1141.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath
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of the daughters of the Philistines.
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2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said,
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I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the
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Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
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3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, <I>Is there</I>
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never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all
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my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised
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Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for
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she pleaseth me well.
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4 But his father and his mother knew not that it <I>was</I> of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at
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that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
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5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to
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Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a
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young lion roared against him.
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6 And the Spirit of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came mightily upon him, and he
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rent him as he would have rent a kid, and <I>he had</I> nothing in his
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hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
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7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased
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Samson well.
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8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside
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to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, <I>there was</I> a swarm
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of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.
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9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and
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came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did
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eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the
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carcase of the lion.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. Samson, under the extraordinary guidance of Providence, seeks an
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occasion of quarrelling with the Philistines, by joining in affinity
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with them--a strange method, but the truth is Samson was himself a
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riddle, a paradox of a man, did that which was really great and good,
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by that which was seemingly weak and evil, because he was designed not
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to be a pattern to us (who must walk by rule, not by example), but a
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type of him who, though he knew no sin, was made sin for us, and
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appeared <I>in the likeness of sinful flesh,</I> that he might
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<I>condemn</I> and <I>destroy sin in the flesh,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:3">Rom. viii. 3</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. As the negotiation of Samson's marriage was a common case, we may
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observe,
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(1.) That is was weakly and foolishly done of him to set his affections
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upon a daughter of the Philistines; the thing appeared very improper.
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Shall one that is not only an Israelite, but a Nazarite, devoted to the
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Lord, covet to become one with a worshipper of Dagon? Shall one marked
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for a patriot of his country match among those that are its sworn
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enemies? He saw this woman
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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and she <I>pleased him well,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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It does not appear that he had any reason to think her wise or
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virtuous, or in any way likely to be a help-meet for him; but he saw
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something in her face that was very agreeable to his fancy, and
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therefore nothing will serve but she must be his wife. He that in the
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choice of a wife is guided only by his eye, and governed by his fancy,
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must afterwards thank himself if he find a Philistine in his arms.
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(2.) Yet it was wisely and well done not to proceed so much as to make
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his addresses to her till he had first made his parents acquainted with
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the matter. He told them, and desired them to <I>get her for him to
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wife,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Herein he is an example to all children. Conformably to the law of the
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fifth commandment, children ought not to marry, nor to move towards
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marrying, without the advice and consent of their parents; those that
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do (as bishop Hall here expresses it) <I>wilfully unchild themselves,
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and exchange natural affections for violent.</I> parents have a
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property in their children as parts of themselves. In marriage this
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property is transferred; for such is the law of the relation that <I>a
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man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife.</I>
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It is therefore not only unkind and ungrateful, but very unjust, to
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alienate this property without their concurrence; whoso thus <I>robbeth
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his father or mother,</I> stealing himself from them, who is nearer and
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dearer to them than their goods, <I>and</I> yet <I>saith, It is no
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transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:24">Prov. xxviii. 24</A>.
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(3.) His parents did well to dissuade him from yoking himself thus
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unequally with unbelievers. Let those who profess religion, but are
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courting an affinity with the profane and irreligious, matching into
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families where they have reason to think the fear of God is not, nor
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the worship of God, let them hear their reasoning, and apply it to
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themselves: "<I>Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy
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brethren,</I> or, if none of our tribe, <I>never a one among all thy
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people,</I> never an Israelite, that pleases thee, or that thou canst
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think worthy of thy affection, that thou shouldest marry a Philistine?"
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In the old world the sons of God corrupted and ruined themselves, their
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families, and that truly primitive church, by marrying with the
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<I>daughters of men,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:2">Gen. vi. 2</A>.
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God had forbidden the people of Israel to marry with the devoted
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nations, one of which the Philistines were,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:3">Deut. vii. 3</A>.
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(4.) If there had not been a special reason for it, it certainly would
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have been improper in him to insist upon his choice, and in them to
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agree to it at last. Yet their tender compliance with his affections
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may be observed as an example to parents not to be unreasonable in
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crossing their children's choices, nor to deny their consent,
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especially to those that have seasonably and dutifully asked it,
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without some very good cause. As children must <I>obey their parents in
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the Lord,</I> so parents must not <I>provoke their children to wrath,
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lest they be discouraged.</I> This Nazarite, in his subjection to his
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parents, asking their consent, and not proceeding till he had it, was
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not only an example to all children, but a type of the holy child
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Jesus, who <I>went down with his parents to Nazareth</I> (thence called
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a <I>Nazarene</I>) and was subject to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:51">Luke ii. 51</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. But this treaty of marriage is expressly said to be <I>of the
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Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Not only that God afterwards overruled it to serve his designs against
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the Philistines, but that he put it into Samson's heart to make this
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choice, that he <I>might have occasion against the Philistine.</I> It
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was not a thing evil in itself for him to marry a Philistine. It was
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forbidden because of the danger of receiving hurt by idolaters; where
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there was not only no danger of that kind, but an opportunity hoped for
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of doing that hurt to them which would be good service to Israel, the
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law might well be dispense with. It was said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:25"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 25</A>)
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that <I>the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times,</I> and we
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have reason to think he himself perceived that Spirit to move him at
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this time, when he made this choice, and that otherwise he would have
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yielded to his parents' dissuasives, nor would they have consented at
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last if he had not satisfied them it was <I>of the Lord.</I> This would
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bring him into acquaintance and converse with the Philistines, by which
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he might have such opportunities of galling them as otherwise he could
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not have. It should seem, the way in which the Philistines oppressed
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Israel was, not by great armies, but by the clandestine incursions of
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their giants and small parties of their plunderers. In the same way
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therefore Samson must deal with them; let him but by this marriage get
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among them, and he would be a <I>thorn in their sides.</I> Jesus
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Christ, having to deliver us from this present evil world, and to cast
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out the prince of it, did himself visit it, though full of pollution
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and enmity, and, by assuming a body, did in some sense join in affinity
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with it, that he might destroy our spiritual enemies, and his own arm
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might work the salvation.</P>
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<P>
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II. Samson, by a special providence, is animated and encouraged to
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attack the Philistines. That being the service for which he was
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designed, God, when he called him to it, prepared him for it by two
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occurrences:--</P>
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<P>
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1. By enabling him, in one journey to Timnath, to <I>kill a lion,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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Many decline doing the service they might do because they <I>know not
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their own strength.</I> God let Samson know what he could do in the
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strength of the <I>Spirit of the Lord,</I> that he might never be
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afraid to look the greatest difficulties in the face. David, who was to
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complete the destruction of the Philistines, must try his hand first
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upon <I>a lion and a bear,</I> that thence he might infer, as we may
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suppose Samson did, that the uncircumcised Philistine should be as one
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of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+17:36">1 Sam. xvii. 36</A>.
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(1.) Samson's encounter with the lion was hazardous. It was a young
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lion, one of the fiercest sort, that set upon him, roaring for his
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prey, and setting his eye particularly upon him; <I>he roared in
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meeting him,</I> so the word is. He was all alone in the vineyards,
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whither he had rambled from his father and mother (who kept the high
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road), probably to eat grapes. Children consider not how they expose
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themselves to the roaring lion that seeks to devour when, out of a
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foolish fondness for liberty, they wander from under the eye and wing
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of their prudent pious parents. Nor do young people consider what lions
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lurk in the vineyards, the vineyards of red wines, as dangerous as
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snakes under the green grass. Had Samson met with this lion in the way,
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he might have had more reason to expect help both from God and man than
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here in the solitary vineyards, out of his road. But there was a
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special providence in it, and the more hazardous the encounter was,
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(2.) The victory was so much the more illustrious. It was obtained
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without any difficulty: he strangled the lion, and tore his throat as
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easily as he would have strangled a kid, yet without any instrument,
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not only no sword nor bow, but not so much as a staff or knife; he had
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<I>nothing in his hand.</I> Christ engaged the roaring lion, and
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conquered him in the beginning of his public work
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+4:1-11">Matt. iv. 1</A>,
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&c.), and afterwards spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over
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them <I>in himself,</I> as some read it, not by any instrument. He was
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<I>exalted in his own strength.</I> That which added much to the glory
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of Samson's triumph over the lion was that when he had done this great
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exploit he did not boast of it, did <I>not so much as tell his father
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nor mother</I> that which many a one would soon have published through
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the whole country. Modesty and humility make up the brightest crown of
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great performances.</P>
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<P>
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2. By providing him, the next journey, with honey in the carcase of
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this lion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>.
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When he came down the next time to solemnize his nuptials, and his
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parents with him, he had the curiosity to turn aside into the vineyard
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where he had killed the lion, perhaps that with the sight of the place
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he might affect himself with the mercy of that great deliverance, and
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might there solemnly give thanks to God for it. It is good thus to
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<I>remind ourselves</I> of God's former favours to us. There he found
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the carcase of the lion; the birds or beasts of prey, it is likely, had
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eaten the flesh, and in the skeleton a swarm of bees had knit, and made
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a hive of it, and had not been idle, but had there laid up a good stock
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of honey, which was one of the staple commodities of Canaan; such
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plenty there was of it that the land is said to <I>flow with milk and
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honey.</I> Samson, having a better title than any man to the hive,
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seizes the honey with his hands. This supposes an encounter with the
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bees; but he that dreaded not lion's paws had no reason to fear
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<I>their</I> stings. As by his victory over the lion he was emboldened
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to encounter the Philistine-giants, if there should be occasion,
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notwithstanding their strength and fierceness, so by dislodging the
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bees he was taught not to fear the multitude of the Philistines; though
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they <I>compassed him about like bees, yet in the name of the Lord he
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should destroy them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+118:12">Ps. cxviii. 12</A>.
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Of the honey he here found,
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(1.) He ate himself, asking no questions for conscience' sake; for the
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dead bones of an unclean beast had not that ceremonial pollution in
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them that the bones of a man had. John Baptist, that Nazarite of the
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New Testament, lived upon wild honey.
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(2.) He gave to his parents, and they did eat; he did not eat all
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himself. <I>Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for
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thee,</I> and no more,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:16">Prov. xxv. 16</A>.
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He let his parents share with him. Children should be grateful to
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their parents with the fruits of their own industry, and so <I>show
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piety at home,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:4">1 Tim. v. 4</A>.
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Let those that by the grace of God have found sweetness in religion
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themselves communicate their experience to their friends and relations,
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and invite them to come and share with them. He told not his parents
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whence he had it, lest they should scruple eating it. Bishop Hall
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observes here that <I>those are less wise and more scrupulous than
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Samson that decline the use of God's gifts because they find them in
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ill vessels.</I> Honey is hone still, though in a dead lion. Our Lord
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Jesus having conquered Satan, that roaring lion, believers find honey
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in the carcase, abundant strength and satisfaction, enough for
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themselves and for all their friends, from that victory.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud14_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud14_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud14_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud14_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud14_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud14_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud14_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Samson's Riddle; Slaughter of the Philistines.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1141.</TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made
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there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
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11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought
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thirty companions to be with him.
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12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle
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unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days
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of the feast, and find <I>it</I> out, then I will give you thirty
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sheets and thirty change of garments:
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13 But if ye cannot declare <I>it</I> me, then shall ye give me
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thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto
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him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.
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14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and
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out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in
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three days expound the riddle.
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15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto
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Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us
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the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire:
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have ye called us to take that we have? <I>is it</I> not <I>so?</I>
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16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but
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hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the
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children of my people, and hast not told <I>it</I> me. And he said
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unto her, Behold, I have not told <I>it</I> my father nor my mother,
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and shall I tell <I>it</I> thee?
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17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast
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lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her,
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because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the
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children of her people.
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18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day
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before the sun went down, What <I>is</I> sweeter than honey? and what
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<I>is</I> stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not
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plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
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19 And the Spirit of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came upon him, and he went down
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to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil,
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and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle.
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And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.
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20 But Samson's wife was <I>given</I> to his companion, whom he had
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used as his friend.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account of Samson's wedding feast and the occasion it
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gave him to fall foul upon the Philistines.</P>
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<P>
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I. Samson conformed to the custom of the country in making a festival
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of his nuptial solemnities, which continued seven days,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Though he was a Nazarite, he did not affect, in a thing of this nature,
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to be singular, but did <I>as the young men used to do</I> upon such
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occasions. It is no part of religion to go contrary to the innocent
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usages of the places where we live: nay, it is a reproach to religion
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when those who profess it give just occasion to others to call them
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covetous, sneaking, and morose. A good man should strive to make
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himself, in the best sense, a good companion.</P>
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<P>
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II. His wife's relations paid him the accustomed respect of the place
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upon that occasion, and brought him thirty young men to keep him
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company during the solemnity, and to attend him as his grooms-men
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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<I>When they saw him,</I> what a comely man he was, and what an
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ingenuous graceful look he had, they brought him these to do him
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honour, and to improve by his conversation while he staid among them.
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Or, rather, when they saw him, what a strong stout man he was, they
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brought these, seemingly to be his companions, but really to be a guard
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upon him, or spies to observe him. Jealous enough they were of him, but
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would have been more so had they known of his victory over the lion,
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which therefore he had industriously concealed. The favours of
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Philistines have often some mischief or other designed in them.</P>
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<P>
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III. Samson, to entertain the company, propounds a riddle to them, and
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lays a wager with them that they cannot find it out in seven days,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:12-14"><I>v.</I> 12-14</A>.
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The usage, it seems, was very ancient upon such occasions, when friends
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were together, to be innocently merry, not to spend all the time in
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dull eating and drinking, as bishop Patrick expresses it, or in other
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gratifications of sense, as music, dancing, or shows, but to propose
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questions, by which their learning and ingenuity might be tried and
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improved. This becomes men, wise men, that value themselves by their
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reason; but very unlike to it are the infamous and worse than brutish
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entertainments of this degenerate age, which send nothing round but the
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glass and the health, till reason is drowned, and wisdom sunk. Now,
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1. Samson's riddle was his own invention, for it was his own
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achievement that gave occasion for it: <I>Out of the eater came forth
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meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.</I> Read my riddle,
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what is this? Beasts of prey do not yield meat for man, yet <I>food
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came from the devourer;</I> and those creatures that are strong when
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they are alive commonly smell strong and are every way offensive when
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they are dead, as horses, and yet <I>out of the strong,</I> or out of
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<I>the bitter,</I> so the Syriac and Arabic read it, <I>came
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sweetness.</I> If they had but so much sense as to consider what eater
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is most strong, and what meat is most sweet, they would have found out
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the riddle, and neither lions nor honey were such strangers to their
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country that the thoughts of them needed to be out of the way; and the
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solving of the riddle would have given him occasion to tell them the
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entertaining story on which it was founded. This riddle is applicable
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to many of the methods of divine providence and grace. When God, by an
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over-ruling providence, brings good out of evil to his church and
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people,--when that which threatened their ruin turns to their
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advantage,--when their enemies are made serviceable to them, and the
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wrath of men turns to God's praise,--then comes <I>meat out of the
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eater</I> and <I>sweetness out of the strong.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+1:12">Phil. i. 12</A>.
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2. His water was more considerable to him than to them, because he was
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one against thirty partners. It was not a wager laid upon God's
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providence, or upon the chance of a die or a card, but upon their
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ingenuity, and amounted to no more than an honorary recompence of wit
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and a disgrace upon stupidity.</P>
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<P>
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IV. His companions, when they could not expound the riddle themselves,
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obliged his wife to get from him the exposition of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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Whether they were really of a dull capacity, or whether under a
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particular infatuation at this time, it was strange that none of the
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thirty could in all this time stumble upon so plain a thing as that,
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<I>What is sweeter than honey</I> and <I>what stronger than a lion?</I>
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It should seem that in wit, as well as manners, they were
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barbarous--barbarous indeed to threaten the bride that, if she would
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not use means with the bridegroom to let them into the meaning of it,
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they would <I>burn her and her father's house with fire.</I> Could any
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thing be more brutish? It was base enough to turn a jest into earnest,
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and those were unworthy of conversation that would grow so outrageous
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rather than confess their ignorance and lose so small a wager; nor
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would it save their credit at all to tell the riddle when they were
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told it. It was yet more villainous to engage Samson's wife to be a
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traitor to her own husband, and to pretend a greater interest in her
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than he had. Now that she was married she must <I>forget her own
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people.</I> Yet most inhuman of all was it to threaten, if she could
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not prevail, to burn her and all her relations with fire, and all for
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fear of losing each of them the value of a shirt and a coat: <I>Have
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you called us to take what we have?</I> Those must never lay wagers
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that cannot lose more tamely and easily than thus.</P>
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<P>
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V. His wife, by unreasonable importunity, obtains from him a key to his
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riddle. It was <I>on the seventh day,</I> that is, the seventh day of
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the week (as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures), but the fourth day of the
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feast, that they solicited her to entice her husband
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
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and she did it,
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1. With great art and management
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
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resolving not to believe he loved her, unless he would gratify her in
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this thing. She knew he could not bear to have his love questioned, and
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therefore, if any thing would work upon him, that would: "<I>Thou dost
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but hate me, and lovest me not,</I> if thou deniest me;" whereas he had
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much more reason to say, "Thou dost but <I>hate me,</I> and <I>lovest
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me not,</I> if thou insistest on it." And, that she might not make this
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the test of his affection, he assures her he had not told his own
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parents, notwithstanding the confidence he reposed in them. If this
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prevail not, she will try the powerful eloquence of tears: she <I>wept
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before him</I> the rest of <I>the days of the feast,</I> choosing
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rather to mar the mirth, as the bride's tears must needs do, than not
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gain her point, and oblige her countrymen,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
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2. With great success. At last, being quite wearied with her
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importunity, he told her what was the meaning of his riddle, and though
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we may suppose she promised secresy, and that if he would but let her
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know she would tell nobody, she immediately told it to the <I>children
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of her people;</I> nor could he expect better from a Philistine,
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especially when the interests of her country were ever so little
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concerned. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+7:5,6">Mic. vii. 5, 6</A>.
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The riddle is at length <I>unriddled</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
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<I>What is sweeter than honey,</I> or a better meat?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+24:13">Prov. xxiv. 13</A>.
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<I>What is stronger than a lion,</I> or a greater devourer? Samson
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generously owns they had won the wager, though he had good reason to
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dispute it, because they had not declared the riddle, as the bargain
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was
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
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but it had been declared to them. But he only thought fit to tell them
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of it: <I>If you had not ploughed with my heifer,</I> made use of your
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interest with my wife, <I>you would not have found out my riddle.</I>
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Satan, in his temptations, could not do us the mischief he does if he
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did not plough with the heifer of our own corrupt nature.</P>
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<P>
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VI. Samson pays his wager to these Philistines with the spoils of
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others of their countrymen,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
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He took this occasion to quarrel with the Philistines, went down to
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Ashkelon, one of their cities, where probably he knew there was some
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great festival observed at this time, to which many flocked, out of
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whom he picked out thirty, slew them, and took their clothes, and gave
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them to those that had expounded the riddle; so that, in balancing the
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account, it appeared that the Philistines were the losers, for one of
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the lives they lost was worth all the suits of clothes they won: the
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body is more than raiment. <I>The Spirit of the Lord came upon
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him,</I> both to authorize and to enable him to do this.</P>
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<P>
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VII. This proves a good occasion of weaning Samson from his new
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relations. He found how his companions had abused him and how his wife
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had betrayed him, and therefore <I>his anger was kindled,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
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Better be angry with Philistines than in love with them, because, when
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we join ourselves to them, we are most in danger of being ensnared by
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them. And, meeting with this ill usage among them, he <I>went up to his
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father's house.</I> It were well for us if the unkindnesses we meet
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with from the world, and our disappointments in it, had but this good
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effect upon us, to oblige us by faith and prayer to return to our
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heavenly Father's house and rest there. The inconveniences that occur
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in our way should make us love home and long to be there. No sooner had
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he gone than his wife was disposed of to another,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
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Instead of begging his pardon for the wrong she had done him, when he
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justly signified his resentment of it only by withdrawing in
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displeasure for a time, she immediately marries him that was the chief
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of the guests, the friend of the bridegroom, whom perhaps she loved too
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well, and was too willing to oblige, when she got her husband to tell
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her the riddle. See how little confidence is to be put in man, when
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those may prove our enemies whom we have used as our friends.</P>
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