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Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 14:1-20

2. Samson’s intended marriage to the Timnite ch. 14Chapter 13 describes Samson’s potential: his godly heritage, supernatural birth, calling in life, and divine enablement. The Israelites enjoyed each of these privileges, as does every Christian. Chapter 14 reveals Samson’s problem and God’s providence."Despite all these advantages and this special attention, Samson accomplishes less on behalf of his people than any of his predecessors. Perhaps herein lies his significance. . . . Though Samson... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 14:5-9

Samson’s disregard of God’s grace 14:5-9The first recorded indication of Samson’s superhuman strength is his ability to tear the lion apart with his bare hands (Judges 14:6). A young lion tried to leap on Samson (Judges 14:5), but instead the Spirit of the Lord leaped upon him (Judges 14:6). The writer probably intended this incident to show Samson that God could empower him to dismember the Philistines. However, Samson did not abandon his plan to marry the Timnite but proceeded down to her... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 14:1-20

The Marriage of Samson1-5. Samson chooses a wife among the Philistines. He and his parents go down to Timnath.2. Timnath] some 4 m. SW. of Zorah, allotted to Dan (Joshua 19:43); it was retaken by the Philistines in the reign of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:18). Get her for me to wife] It was customary for parents to conduct the negotiations and pay the dowry: cp. Genesis 34:4-12.3. Cp. Genesis 24:3; Genesis 26:34; Genesis 27:46; Genesis 4. It was of the Lord] God purposed to use Samson as a weapon... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 14:8

(8) After a time.—There is nothing to show how long this time was. A betrothal might last a year. In Judges 11:4 the same phrase (“after days “) is used of many years.To take her.—To lead her to his own home after the bridal feast.A swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.—This incident has been questioned, because it is truly said that bees hate all putrescence and decomposition, and that the notion of bees being generated in the rotting bodies of oxen (which we find in Virgil,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 14:9

(9) He took thereof in his hands.—Unless he considered that a skeleton could not be regarded as a dead body, he could not have done this without breaking the express conditions of his Nazarite vow (Numbers 5:6).He told not them.—Perhaps from the general reticence of his character, but more probably because they might have been more scrupulous than he was about the ceremonial defilement involved in eating anything which had touched a carcase. Possibly, too, he may have already made the riddle in... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Judges 14:1-20

Judges 14:1 All transitions are dangerous; and the most dangerous is the transition from the restraint of the family circle to the non-restraint of the world. Herbert Spencer. Reference. XIV. 4. J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 369. Judges 14:5-6 God never gives strength, but he employs it. Poverty meets one like an armed man; infamy, like some furious mastiff, comes flying in the face of another; the wild boar out of the forest, or the bloody tiger of persecution, sets on one; the brawling... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Judges 14:1-20

5SAMSON PLUNGING INTO LIFEJudges 13:24-25; Judges 14:1-20Or all who move before us in the Book of Judges Samson is preeminently the popular hero. In rude giant strength and wild daring he stands alone against the enemies of Israel, contemptuous of their power and their plots. It is just such a man who catches the public eye and lives in the traditions of a country. Most Hebrews of the time minded piety and culture as little as did the Norsemen when they first professed Christianity. Both races... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Judges 14:1-20

CHAPTER 14 The First Deeds of Samson 1. The woman in Timnath (Judges 14:1-4 ) 2. The killing of the young lion and the honey in the carcass (Judges 14:5-9 ) 3. The marriage feast and the riddle (Judges 14:10-14 ) 4. The riddle answered (Judges 14:15-18 ) 5. Thirty Philistines slain by Samson (Judges 14:19-20 ) Samson was called of God to be a true Nazarite, but in his life which was to manifest the Nazarite character he failed. “He went down to Timnath” is a foreboding beginning. It... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Judges 14:1-20

SAMSON THE NAZARITE The close of chapter 12 furnishes the history of three other civil judges, and then we reach that of another warrior as picturesque as Gideon or Jephthah. Sampson’s life is so full of inconsistencies and mysteries from the divine standpoint, that again we can only await the explanations until we shall know as we are known. THE PROMISED SON (Judges 13:0 ) Here is another theophany, for “the angel of the Lord” is none other than Jehovah Jesus. The beginning of this... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Judges 14:1-20

Samson Light and Shadow Judges 14-16 IT would be unjust to consider this as a finished picture of the man of strength. In all that we have said we have endeavoured to establish by good reasoning and clear reference. But it would be unjust to pronounce upon any life after merely looking at a few incidental points in its course. That is a danger to which all criticism is exposed. We are prone to look upon vivid incidents, and to omit all the great breadths and spaces of the daily life, and to... read more

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