Judges 14:19

19 Therefore the spirit of the Lord felled into him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed there thirty men, whose clothes he took away, and he gave to them that solved the problem; and he was full wroth, and went up into his father's house. (And then the spirit of the Lord fell upon him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed thirty men there, whose clothes he took away, and he gave them to those who had solved his riddle; and he was very angry, and went back to his father's house.)

Judges 14:19 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 14:19

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him
The Spirit of might from the Lord, as the Targum; which filled him with zeal and courage, animating him to the following undertaking, and increased his bodily strength to perform it:

and he went down to Ashkelon;
one of the five principal cities of the Philistines; it lay near the Mediterranean sea, and, according to Bunting F18, was twenty four miles from Timnath; why he went so far, is not easy to say; some think there was some grand solemnity or festival observed there at this time, which he knew of, when persons put on their best suits of apparel, and such he wanted: and slew thirty men of them; in vindication of which, it may be observed, that Samson was now raised up of God to be judge of Israel; and that he acted now as such, and under the direction and impulse of the Spirit of God, and the persons he slew were the common enemies of Israel; and if now observing a festival in honour of their gods, they were justly cut off for their idolatry:

and took their spoil;
their clothes off their backs, stripped them of their apparel, and even of their shirts, all which he brought away with him: and here it may be observed, that though Samson was a Nazarite, yet not a common one, and was an extraordinary person, and not in all things bound to the law of the Nazarites; at least that law was dispensed with in various instances relative to him, as taking honey out of the carcass of the lion, and here stripping dead bodies which were defiling, and other things:

and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle;
to the thirty companions, to whom it was proposed, each man a suit of apparel taken from the thirty men he slew at Ashkelon, and sheets or shirts also no doubt, though not expressed. Indeed some have thought, because they did not find out the riddle of themselves, he did not give them the whole premium, and that by their own consent:

and his anger was kindled;
against his wife, for her treachery and unfaithfulness to him, and against his companions for their deceitful usage of him, and against the citizens of the place, who perhaps laughed at him, being thus tricked and deceived:

and he went up to his father's house;
left his wife, and her relations, and his companions, and the men of Timnath, and betook himself to his father's house again, as if he had been never married; his parents very probably had returned before him.


FOOTNOTES:

F18 Travels of the Patriarchs p. 116.

Judges 14:19 In-Context

17 Therefore by seven days of the feast she wept upon him; and at the last in the seventh day, he told it to her clearly, when she was dis-easeful to him. And anon she told it to her citizens. (And so for the remainder of the seven days of the feast, she wept before him; and at last on the seventh day, he told her the answer, after that she had made his life miserable. And at once she told it to her fellow citizens.)
18 And they said to him in the seventh day before the going down of the sun, What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not eared, or busied you, in my cow calf, that is, my wife, ye had not found (out) my proposition. (And so on the seventh day, before the going down of the sun, they said to him, What is sweeter than honey, and stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not busied yourselves with my cow calf, that is, with my wife, ye would not have solved my riddle.)
19 Therefore the spirit of the Lord felled into him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed there thirty men, whose clothes he took away, and he gave to them that solved the problem; and he was full wroth, and went up into his father's house. (And then the spirit of the Lord fell upon him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed thirty men there, whose clothes he took away, and he gave them to those who had solved his riddle; and he was very angry, and went back to his father's house.)
20 Forsooth his wife took (as) an husband, one of the friends and privy keepers of her. [Forsooth the wife of him took an husband, one of his friends and wooers.]
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.