Judges 14:11

when they saw him With a slight change LXX. cod. A etc. read because they feared him; theymust be the Philistines, though not mentioned in the context. The sight of Samson, ortheir fear of him, induced the Philistines to procure thirty companions(cf. Judges 14:20), nominally as friends and supporters, but really in self-defence. The text does not give an altogether satisfactory sense, and may have suffered from alterations. If we read that he brought, which would be an improvement, we must treat when they saw himas an interpolation. This is Moore's view, and Budde proposes further re-arrangements; the original state of the verse is not easy to recover. The thirty(cf. Song of Solomon 3:7 sixty) are of course Philistines, Judges 14:18. At village weddings in Syria the bridegroom is still attended by a body-guard of young men with their leader (Judges 14:20), who superintend the festivities and bear the cost. This ancient institution probably goes back to days when the party really needed protection (Wetzstein, Z. f. Ethnologie, 1873, 288 f.).