Judges 14:15

15 And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife, "Entice thy husband, that he may explain unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to take what we have? Is it not so?"

Judges 14:15 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 14:15

And it came to pass on the seventh day
Not on the seventh day of the feast, for some time before that they applied to his wife, and she pressed him hard to disclose it; but on the sabbath day, as Kimchi, and so Jarchi says, on the seventh day of the week, not on the seventh day of the feast, for it was the seventh day of the feast; this is so clear, that the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, instead of the seventh, read the fourth day:

that they said unto Samson's wife, entice thy husband, that he may
declare unto us the riddle;
that is, persuade him to tell the meaning of it to her, that she might declare it to them:

lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire;
in which she now was, not as yet being taken home to her husband, and her in it; this they said to terrify her, and make her importunate with Samson to explain the riddle to her, if he had any value for her, and her life:

have ye called us to take that we have?
invited them to the wedding feast, to strip them of their clothes, and even take their very shirts off of their backs, which they must have been obliged to part with, if they could not explain the riddle, or send for other suits and shirts from their own houses: "is it not so?" verily this is the case, nor can it be understood otherwise than a contrived business between thee and thy husband, to get our raiment, woollen and linen, from us.

Judges 14:15 In-Context

13 but if ye cannot explain it to me, then shall ye give me thirty shirts and thirty changes of garments." And they said unto him, "Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it."

14 And he said unto them, "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

15 And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife, "Entice thy husband, that he may explain unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to take what we have? Is it not so?"

16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, "Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not. Thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me." And he said unto her, "Behold, I have not told it to my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it to thee?"

17 And she wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed sorely upon him; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.