Judges 14:1

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 14:1-9

Here, I. Samson, under the extraordinary guidance of Providence, seeks an occasion of quarrelling with the Philistines, by joining in affinity with them?a strange method, but the truth is Samson was himself a riddle, a paradox of a man, did that which was really great and good, by that which was seemingly weak and evil, because he was designed not to be a pattern to us (who must walk by rule, not by example), but a type of him who, though he knew no sin, was made sin for us, and appeared in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 14:1

And Samson went down to Timnath ,.... A city which by lot fell to the tribe of Judah, but was afterwards given to the tribe of Dan, and now in the hands of the Philistines, Joshua 15:57 . Judah is said to go up to it, because the place where he lived lay below it, Genesis 38:13 , but Samson is said to go down to it, because he lived above it. The Jews F20 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 10. 1. differ about the reconciliation of these two places; some say there were two of this name, the one is... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 14:1

Went down to Timnath - A frontier town of the Philistines, at the beginning of the lands belonging to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:57 ; but afterwards given up to Dan, Joshua 19:43 . David took this place from the Philistines, but they again got possession of it in the reign of Ahaz, 2 Chronicles 28:18 . read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 14:1

Timnath - See Joshua 15:10 and note. It was below Zorah Judges 13:2, about three miles S. W. of it. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 14:1-2

Judges 14:1-2. Samson went After he was come to mature age; to Timnath A place not far from the sea. Get her for me to wife Herein he is an example to all children, conformable to the fifth commandment. Children ought not to marry, nor to move toward it, without the advice and consent of their parents. They that do, as Bishop Hall speaks, unchild themselves. Parents have a property in their children, as parts of themselves. In marriage this property is transferred. It is, therefore,... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 14:1-20

Samson’s exploits (14:1-16:31)So dominant were the Philistines in Israel, that the Israelites had decided to live with them peacefully rather than try to rise up in armed rebellion. Samson had other ideas. He thought that his marriage to a Philistine woman would give him the opportunity to do some harm to the enemy (14:1-4).In spite of Samson’s desire to help Israel, he had little respect for either his Nazirite vow or the Israelite law. He handled a dead lion, married a Philistine woman and... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Judges 14:1

SAMSON'S FIRST DEALINGS WITH THE PHILISTINES;HE CHOOSES A PHILISTINE WIFE"And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all thy people, that thou goest to take a wife of the... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 14:1

CHAP. XIV. Samson marries a wife of the Philistines: he rends a lion in pieces, in whose carcase he afterwards finds a swarm of bees and honey: he puts forth a riddle to his companions, the interpretation of which his wife enticeth from him: he slays thirty Philistines. Before Christ 1155. Judges 14:1. Timnath— See on Joshua 19:43. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Judges 14:1

1, 2. Timnath—now Tibna, about three miles from Zorah, his birthplace. saw a woman . . . of the Philistines; and told his father and his mother, and said, . . . get her for me to wife—In the East parents did, and do in many cases still, negotiate the marriage alliances for their sons. During their period of ascendency, the Philistine invaders had settled in the towns; and the intercourse between them and the Israelites was often of such a friendly and familiar character as to issue in... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 14:1-4

Samson’s decision to marry a Philistine 14:1-4Timnah was only about four miles southwest of Zorah. The word "woman" in Judges 14:2 is in the emphatic position in the Hebrew text. Samson described her to his parents as the ideal woman from his viewpoint. Dating as we know it in the West was unknown in Samson’s culture. The parents of young people contacted each other and arranged for their children to meet and eventually to marry.Samson’s godly parents’ response to his desire was undoubtedly a... read more

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