The riddle of Sampson.
Judges 14:10 -- 20. 05/25/05
In our last chapter we noted the two trips Sampson and his parents made to Timnath regarding his marriage to the Philistines girl there. In this chapter we will consider what happened after they arrived in Timnath on the second trip. This second trip was for the purpose of finalizing the marriage of Sampson and this Philistines girl. This trip centered on a wedding feast. But the event was not the usual joyous occasion that it was intended to be. It was plagued by arguments and threats and crying and ended up on a very hostile note and was followed by the slaying of 30 Philistine men and the breaking up of the marriage. What should have been a delightful time became instead a very bitter experience for all concerned. But what else can one expect when the course of action is pursued that is contrary to the will of God? Sampson persisted in his own rebellious ways instead of God’s ways, and the results proved it..
That which triggered all the bitter experiences on this occasion was a riddle. At the beginning of the wedding feast, Sampson propounded a riddle for his 30 male wedding guests to solve. If these wedding guests could figure out the riddle each one would be given a suit of clothes; but if they could not solve the riddle, then the group would give 30 suits of clothes to Sampson. The whole riddle reflected Sampson’s corruptness and produced great problems.
For our first point we want to see THE PROPOUNDING OF THE RIDDLE. “Sampson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you; if you can certainly declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you 30 sheets and 30 changes of garments; but if you cannot declare it to me, then shall you give me 30 sheets and 30 changes of garments. And they said unto him, put forth your riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them, out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.”
The traditions which were often followed in Bible times for marriage need to be briefly reviewed here so we will better understand the occasion and situation where Sampson put forth his riddle.
The bridegroom’s parents first arranged a marriage; that included giving money to the bride’s parents. That was done the first trip of Sampson and his parents to Timnath. After this arrangement was secured, a period of time went by, often up to a year before the actual marriage took place and was finalized. During that time the prospective bride and groom generally did not see each other. When the time came for completing the marriage, a feast was then held. The people to be married and their parents and invited guest would all come together for this occasion. This is the second trip of Sampson and his parents to Timnath and this would take place.
The wedding feast was the responsibility of the groom. And so “Sampson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.” The feast would last a number of days, this one-lasted seven days. And with a number of guest involved, male guest alone numbering 30, it would therefore be an expensive feast. Just to wine and dine the 30 male guest alone for a week would require some money to pay the cost. So we would have to conclude that Sampson’s parents, who would foot the bill, Sampson’s parents were people of means. The scale of the wedding feast, as regards numbers and duration, indicated that Sampson’s family was one of wealth and position.
This wedding feast provided this sort of situation in which the entertainment of such things as a riddle would occur. Riddles were a favorite Oriental amusement and festive entertainments of this nature and rewards were offered to those who could give the solution. With seven days of feasting, there would be considerable time that would naturally lend itself to the seeking of some entertainment to have passed the time and keep those attending the feast from being bored. So Sampson, who was obviously prepared for the occasion, propounded a riddle at the beginning of the feast. Trying to solve this riddle would keep the guest at the wedding feast occupied through the entire feast. But as it turns out this would also cause a lot of trouble for all involved.
When Sampson came to Timnath to complete the marriage arrangement the bridegroom’s parents brought 30 companions to be with him. They were the groomsman or friends of the bridegroom who accompanied him to the house of the bride. A feast succeeded this. One commentary said that the reason the bride’s parents provided these guests for Sampson was because Sampson had not brought any with him.
This was not good company for Sampson, and time proved it. You cannot wine and dine 30 Philistines and come away without trouble. Before the feast is over, these unholy men will have cheated Sampson and have caused Sampson’s wife to betray him. But Sampson asked for it. He cast his lot with a Philistine woman and must expect to socialize with the unholy, ungodly, Philistines. And also the riddle was derived from Sampson’s unholy ventures into the vineyard.
It is no mark of wisdom or strength or character to view sin without remorse. Sampson’s lack of feeling guilt was a curse to him; for it left him unchecked in his evil habits, which eventually trapped him and resulted in termination of his ministry prematurely.
The stipulations in the riddle constituted a wager. The stakes were high. The clothing was not crude or cheap. The sheets were not bed sheets as in the normal use of the word today, but they were soft linen under garments that were worn next to the skin. But the stakes being high is not what made it evil. Gambling is gambling whether you wager your life’s savings or whether you play golf for money. And it will not lead to improve character. Rather, it will destroy character and play devastation with all that is good in life, which we will see clearly through the story.
There is one thing we will have to say about old Sampson and that is he had the riddle loaded in his favor. First, it was a difficult riddle, so difficult; in fact, I wonder why the guest accepted the bet. When you get to thinking about it, the guest would not lose as much as Sampson but Sampson thought that he had it set up in a way that he would be a winner.
Not only do we see the propounding of the riddle but also THE PERCEIVING OF THE RIDDLE. Sampson did not expect his riddle to be figured out, but it was.
The 30 male guest at the wedding feast, “could not in three days expound the riddle.” That is in verse 14. But this is the way that Sampson had intended it to be. But then they pursued a course of action to learn the riddle, which Sampson had not intended. They went to Sampson’s new wife to find out if she knew the riddle and would tell them. After all, she was a fellow philistine; and they expected and would insist on corporation. So, “it came to pass on the 7th day that they said unto Sampson’s wife, entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn the and thy father’s house with fire: have you called us to take that we have? Is it not so.”
They threatened to burn Sampson’s wife and her father’s house, which means his household not just a building, if she did not come across and tell them the riddle so they could win a suit of clothes. The wedding guest accomplished their purpose in threatening Sampson’s wife, for she immediately began to try to learn from Sampson the solution to the riddle.
Her first attempt to get Sampson to tell her the riddle’s secret was to accuse him of hating her. But Sampson told her that he had not even told his mother and father, and shall I tell it to you? But this made no impression upon her because she was being dishonest and had ulterior motives for making the acquisition.
The crying worked for the deceiving bride. Look at verse 17. “And it came to pass on the 7th day, that he told her because she lay sore upon him.” That simply means that she pressured him. As soon she was told the riddle’s answer, she told the riddle to the children of her people. And then they came to Sampson and said what is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? Samson knew immediately where they had gotten the answer.
And that leads us to the third and last point and that is THE PRICE OF THE RIDDLE. The riddle was a very expensive one. It was a good deal more expensive than the original stake stipulated when the riddle was given to the wedding guest. Both Sampson and the Philistines got more than they had bargained for. Sin and always has its hidden expenses which the fools never see until it is too late.
It tells us that the spirit of the Lord came on Sampson and he went about two kill 30 men steal their garments to pay his debt.
Losing the wager over the riddle the way he did certainly did not set well with Sampson, which is not difficult to understand. After paying of the wager, his anger was toward his new wife. In verse 19 it says that Sampson went to his father’s house. This meant he left his wife in Timnath and did not begin to live with her, as would have been the more normal thing to do now that the marriage had been finalized. Sampson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend similar to the best man at the wedding.
It’s too bad that he had to find out things the hard way. However he, like a host of young people in our day, had his chance; but he just would not listen.
