A Devotional for Thoughtful Disciples
“Out of the eater came something to eat,
out of the strong came something sweet.”
— Judges 14:14, New International Version
Samson, fresh from the vows laid on him before birth (see yesterday’s reading, Judges 13), heads to Timnah and sees a Philistine woman. His words to his parents are blunt:
“Get her for me. She is right in my eyes.”
Hebrew note: yāšār bĕʿênay (“right in my eyes”) will appear later to describe the whole nation: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Samson’s private appetite previews Israel’s public drift.
Cross-references
• Deuteronomy 7:3-4 – Israel warned against marrying the peoples of the
land
• Proverbs 14:12 – “There is a way that appears to be right…”
• 2 Corinthians 6:14 – the unequal yoke
Yet verse 4 whispers a greater plan: “This was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines.” Divine purpose weaves through human weakness. William Cowper’s hymn “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” sings the same truth.
On the road Samson meets a roaring lion. “The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him” (v. 6) and he tears it apart. The verb šāsaʿ paints a sudden, violent rip—used elsewhere for young lions devouring prey.
Weeks later, bees have nested in the dried carcass. Samson scoops out honey, eats, and shares it with his parents—but hides the source. This quiet secrecy is the first crack in his Nazirite calling: contact with a dead body (Numbers 6:6) was forbidden. Appetite is now joined by concealment.
Archaeological footnote: Asiatic lions roamed the Judean foothills until at least the 9th century B.C. Rock-cut tombs near Timnah preserve bee fossils, showing that wild hives often formed in hollow carcasses or crevices.
Cross-reference
• 1 Samuel 14:24-30 – Jonathan’s taste of honey strengthens an army,
foreshadowing a different son breaking a father’s rash rules.
Philistine weddings ran a full week. The groom provided a mishteh—literally “a drinking banquet.” Thirty local men (“companions,” v. 11) are assigned to guard or entertain the outsider groom. The stage is set for Samson’s playful mind:
“Let me tell you a riddle…”
Riddles were common in ancient feasts (see 1 Kings 10:1 for the Queen of Sheba’s “hard questions”). Samson wagers thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes—costly items imported from Egypt or dyed in Philistine looms at Ashkelon.
Literary device: Hebrew riddles use parallelism—ʾōkēl (food) / ʾāzah (strong)—to hide answers in wordplay.
Unable to solve the riddle, the companions threaten Samson’s bride: “Entice your husband, or we will burn you and your father’s house” (v. 15). The verb pattî (“coax, seduce”) echoes Genesis 3:13; behind it lurks the serpent’s old craft.
She weeps the answer out of Samson; he repays with a new wave of Spirit-given strength, killing thirty men of Ashkelon for their clothes. The chapter ends in cold estrangement: “Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions.” Seeds of the next conflict are sown.
Cross-references
• James 1:14-15 – Desire, sin, death
• Romans 12:19 – “Do not take revenge…”
Eyes, Appetite, and Calling
Samson’s physical sight guides him; yet his real calling was to live by
the Lord’s sight. Where do my eyes pull harder than my ear
listens to Scripture?
Spirit and Flesh
Three times God’s Spirit empowers him (13:25; 14:6; 14:19), yet Samson
gives those gifts the direction of his own temper. Gifts are not the
same as fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
God’s Sovereign Hand in Flawed Hands
Augustine saw Samson as proof that God can write straight with crooked
lines. John Calvin warned that this does not excuse sin, but magnifies
grace.
Honey from the Carcass—A Gospel Glimpse
Early church writers (e.g., Jerome) read the lion’s carcass as a figure
of Christ’s cross: out of death comes sweetness. The riddle whispers
resurrection truth before history knew the empty tomb.
• Bride-Price vs. Wedding Feast – In Philistine
custom the groom paid heavily, sometimes by feats of valor. Samson’s
riddle is his way to finance the clothing without silver.
• Honor-Shame Dynamics – To lose a wager in public
meant deep humiliation. For the companions, threatening the bride was
about saving face.
• Nazirite Hair, not Nazirite Heart – Western readers
may focus on Samson’s hair (not yet mentioned) but overlook the wider
Nazirite call to avoid corpses and strong drink—both already broken in
this chapter.
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” – William Cowper, 1774
Stanza 2 fits the chapter:
“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust Him for His grace;
behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.”
• Read Matthew 26:49-54 to compare betrayal leading to divine
purpose.
• Explore archaeological reports from Tel Batash (identified with
Timnah) for Philistine pottery and cultic objects that frame Samson’s
world.
• Consider how Hebrews 11:32 lists Samson among the faithful—evidence
that grace, not performance, secures our place.
Lord of hidden purposes,
You bring honey from carcasses and hope from broken vows.
Guard our eyes, steady our appetites,
and let Your Spirit guide not only our strength but our motives.
Use even our stumbles to work justice and mercy,
until the true and better Deliverer, Jesus Christ,
finishes the story You have begun.
Amen.