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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Judges 14:18

before the sun went down lit. went in. But the word for sun(ḥeres) is rare and poetical, and it has the accus. ending which denotes motion towards. A slight correction proposed by Stade gives the right sense: before he went into the chamber, the same word as in Judges 15:1. They wait till the last moment before the wedding was completed.

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See also Judges 14:18 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Judges 14:18. _IF YE HAD NOT PLOUGHED WITH MY HEIFER_] If my wife had not been unfaithful to my bed, she would not have been unfaithful to my secret; and, you being her paramours, your interest...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    They try to give the answer in a way to make it appear that they had guessed it. Samson saw at once that she had betrayed him. He lets them know in a speech, which was of the nature of a riddle, that...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 14 THE FIRST DEEDS OF SAMSON _ 1. The woman in Timnath (Judges 14:1)_ 2. The killing of the young lion and the honey in the carcass (Judges 14:5) 3. The marriage feast and the riddle (Judge...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    SAMSON'S MARRIAGE. As he could not take an unwelcomed bride to his father's house, Samson resolved to contract a marriage in which his wife would remain at her father's house (Judges 9:2 *). Judges 14...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    WHAT. ? Figure of speech _Anteisagoge._ App-6. IF. Figure of speech _Paroemia._ App-6....

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    IF YE HAD NOT PLOWED WITH MY HEIFER— A proverbial expression; which signifies no more, than that without the assistance of his wife the Philistines could not have found out his riddle....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    _Samson's Feast and Riddle Judges 14:8-20_ 8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carca...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _AND THE MEN OF THE CITY SAID UNTO HIM ON THE SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE SUN WENT DOWN, WHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY? AND WHAT IS STRONGER THAN A LION? AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, IF YE HAD NOT PLOWED WITH MY HE...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE MARRIAGE OF SAMSON 1-5. Samson chooses a wife among the Philistines. He and his parents go down to Timnath....

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    LIFE WITHOUT LAW JUDGES _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 14 V1 Samson went to Timnah. There he saw a young woman, who was a *Philistine. V2 When he returned, he spoke to his father and mother. ‘I have seen...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    WHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY? — Their answer is given in the same rhythmical form as the riddle itself. IF YE HAD NOT PLOWED WITH MY HEIFER. — Many commentators, following Rabbi Levi Ben Gershom, read...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    וַ יֹּ֣אמְרוּ לֹו֩ אַנְשֵׁ֨י הָ עִ֜יר בַּ

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    IN BAD COMPANY Judges 14:15; Judges 15:1 What strong confirmation is afforded, by Samson's experience, of the misery of a mixed marriage! This Philistine wife had no real love for him, and was more r...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    This is the record of tragic things. The boy Samson had grown to manhood's estate full of strength and passion. Going to Timnah, he saw a woman of the Philistines and desired to take her to wife. His...

  • Gary Hampton Commentaries

    While going to Timnath, Samson was attacked by a young lion which he killed with his bare hands, because of the strength he received from God. Later, when he returned to take her home to marry her, Sa...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What [is] sweeter than honey? and what [is] stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, (k) If ye had not plowed wit...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Down, at which time the day ended among the Jews. --- Heifer. This proverbial expression means, that another's property had been used against himself; (Delrio adag.162) or it may intimate, that impro...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    I include the whole relation of this event within the compass of one view. No doubt, there is a spiritual instruction contained in it, otherwise the Holy Ghost would not have been pleased that it shou...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    My object being no more than a sketch, as most of you know, I desire to say but a few words on such of the Chapter s as bear a similar character to that which has been already pointed out in the early...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 14 AND 15. God makes use of Samson's marriage with a Philistine woman to punish that people. Still, in the freshness of his strength, his heart with Jehovah,...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    AND THE MEN OF THE CITY SAID UNTO HIM, ON THE SEVENTH DAY, BEFORE THE SUN WENT DOWN,.... And so soon, enough to free them from the obligation they otherwise would have been under, to have given him th...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What [is] sweeter than honey? and what [is] stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _If ye had not_, &c. If you had not employed my wife to find it out, as men plough up the ground with a heifer, thereby discovering its hidden parts; he calls her _heifer_, because she was joined with...

  • KJV Original Language Details

    1 Samson desireth a wife of the Philistines. 2 In his iourney hee killeth a Lion. 8 In a second iourney hee findeth hony in the carkeis. 10 Samsons marriage feast. 12 His riddle by his wife is mad...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, before the time as fixed by him had expired, WHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY? AND WHAT IS STRONGER THAN A LION? AND HE SAI...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    The Riddle at the Wedding-Feast....

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    10-20 Samson's riddle literally meant no more than that he had got honey, for food and for pleasure, from the lion, which in its strength and fury was ready to devour him. But the victory of Christ o...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    _ If you had not employed my wife to find it out_, as men plough up the ground with a heifer, thereby discovering its hidden parts: he calls her HEIFER, either because he now suspected her wantonness...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Judges 14:18 men H582 city H5892 said H559 (H8799) seventh H7637 day H3117 sun H2775 down H935 ...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    Judges 14:18 a ‘And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” ' Late on the last day they provided...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Samson as Judge. His victory over a lion; his riddles; his wife. CHARACTERS: God, Holy Spirit, Samson, parents, woman of Timnah. CONCLUSION: He that in the choice of a wife is guided only...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Judges 14:1. _Timnath,_ situate in mount Ephraim, often taken and retaken in successive wars. To form a matrimonial connection with the Philistines, or with any of the idolatrous nations, was a violat...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Samson went down to Timnath._ SAMSON’S FIRST LOVE In considering Samson’s choice of a wife, we are conscious of a feeling of painful disappointment. In choosing a Philistine, we begin to see his low...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    JUDGES—NOTE ON JUDGES 14:18 IF YOU HAD NOT PLOWED WITH MY HEIFER. This may have been a saying in Samson’s time (heifers were occasionally used for plowing; see Deuteronomy

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    SAMSON’S FIRST DEALINGS WITH THE PHILISTINES (Judges 14:1.) CRITICAL NOTES.— JUDGES 14:1. TIMNATH.] This was a town on the frontier which, like many other towns had been at first assigned to Judah to...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION JUDGES 14:10 SO HIS FATHER WENT DOWN. It is not clear what is meant by this mention of his father alone; but it was probably some part of the wedding etiquette that the father should go to...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    NOW Samson went down to Timnath (Judges 14:1), Which was a Philistine city and there he fell in love with one of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came home and he said to his parents, "I want...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    If ye had not &c. — If you had not employed my wife to find it out, as men plough up the ground with an heifer, thereby discovering its hidden parts; he calls her heifer, because she was joined with h...

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