Judges 14:17
15 So on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”
16 Then Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me! You do not really love me! You have posed to my people a riddle, but have not explained it to me.” “Look,” he said, “I have not even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you?”
She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer. And in turn she explained the riddle to her people.
18 Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”
19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house,
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer. And in turn she explained the riddle to her people.
- KJV
- 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 lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
- WEB
- She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
- ASV
- 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 him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
- DARBY
- And she wept before him the seven days, while they had the feast. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that he explained it to her, for she pressed him. And she explained the riddle to the children of her people.
- BLB
- And she wept on him the seven days, while their feast lasted. And it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her, because she had pressed him so much, and she explained the riddle to the sons of her people.
- ÅB
- Men hun hang over ham med gråt i de syv dager gjestebudet varte, og den syvende dag sa han henne løsningen, fordi hun plaget ham så; og hun sa det til sine landsmenn.
- OTB
- Hun gråt i hele de syv dagene av gjestebudet. På den syvende dagen fortalte han henne det endelig fordi hun presset ham så hardt. Hun forklarte deretter gåten til sitt folk.
- B1930
- Men hun hang over ham med gråt i de syv dager gjestebudet varte, og den syvende dag sa han henne løsningen, fordi hun plaget ham så; og hun sa det til sine landsmenn.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Judges 16:16
Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,
Read in contextLuke 18:4–5
For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,
Read in contextJob 2:9
Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Read in contextProverbs 7:21
With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
Read in contextJudges 16:13
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man. ”
Read in contextProverbs 2:16–17
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
Read in contextGenesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
Read in contextJudges 16:6
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
Read in context