Samson’s marriage
1Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2When he returned, he said to his father and mother, ‘I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.’
3His father and mother replied, ‘Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?’
But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.’ 4(His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)
5Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring towards him. 6The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.
8Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. 9He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.
10Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 11When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.
12‘Let me tell you a riddle,’ Samson said to them. ‘If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.’
‘Tell us your riddle,’ they said. ‘Let’s hear it.’
14He replied,
‘Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet.’
For three days they could not give the answer.
15On the fourth14:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, ‘Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?’
16Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, ‘You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.’
‘I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,’ he replied, ‘so why should I explain it to you?’ 17She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.
18Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,
‘What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?’
Samson said to them,
‘If you had not ploughed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle.’
19Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home. 20And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.
Samsons giftermål og gåder
1En dag, da Samson var i byen Timna, lagde han særligt mærke til en af de unge filisterpiger. 2Da han kom hjem, sagde han til sin far og mor: „Jeg vil giftes med en filisterpige, som jeg så i Timna.” 3„Er der ikke en eneste pige i vores egen stamme eller i hele Israel, som du kunne tænke dig?” indvendte hans forældre. „Hvorfor vil du absolut giftes med en af disse ugudelige filistre?” Men Samson svarede: „Det er hende, jeg vil have! Du må få fat i hende til mig, far!”
4Samsons forældre var ikke klar over, at Herren derigennem ville få anledning til at skabe strid med filistrene, som på det tidspunkt havde magten i Israel.
5Da Samson og hans forældre nu var på vej til Timna, sprang en løve frem mod Samson på vinmarken uden for byen. 6I det samme kom Herrens Ånd over ham og gav ham styrke, så han rev løvens kæber fra hinanden med de bare næver. Det var så let for ham, som havde det været et gedekid. Men han fortalte ikke sine forældre om den overnaturlige styrke. 7I Timna opsøgte de pigen, og Samson blev forlovet med hende.
8Senere vendte Samson og forældrene tilbage til Timna, for det var tid for Samson at blive gift med pigen. Inden han nåede byen, gjorde han en afstikker ind i vinmarken for at se på løvens rådnende krop. Da så han, at en bisværm havde slået sig ned i ådslet og havde produceret honning. 9Han tog en håndfuld honning med sig, som han spiste undervejs. Han gav også noget af honningen til sine forældre, men han sagde ikke, at den kom fra løvens krop.
10Mens Samsons far gik hen for at hilse på pigen, gjorde Samson klar til en ugelang bryllupsfest, som det var skik blandt de unge mænd. 11Byens mænd udvalgte 30 unge filistre, der skulle med som brudesvende. 12Ved festens begyndelse sagde Samson til dem: „Nu skal jeg fortælle jer en gåde! Hvis I kan løse gåden i løbet af de syv dage, festen varer, skal I hver få en linnedskjorte og et sæt festtøj. 13Men hvis I ikke kan løse gåden, skal hver af jer give mig en linnedskjorte og et sæt festtøj.” „Top,” svarede de, „lad os høre gåden!”
14„Fra rovdyret kom mad,
fra den rå styrke kom sødme!”
Den gåde spekulerede de over i tre dage uden at finde en løsning.
15Den fjerde dag sagde de til Samsons brud: „Få din mand til at røbe svaret, ellers sætter vi ild til din fars hus, så I alle omkommer. Vi er ikke kommet til fest for at blive flået!”
16Så trak hun Samson til side og sagde grådkvalt: „Hvordan kan du elske mig, når du giver mit folk en gåde uden at betro mig løsningen?” „Hvorfor skulle jeg fortælle dig løsningen, når jeg ikke engang har røbet den for min egen mor og far?” svarede han.
17Under resten af festen græd hun uafbrudt. Den syvende dag gav han efter, fordi hun blev ved at plage ham, og han røbede løsningen for hende. Hun fortalte den straks videre til sine landsmænd. 18Inden solnedgang den syvende dag gav de ham derfor følgende svar:
Hvad er sødere end honning?
Hvad er stærkere end en løve?
Samson svarede: „Hvis I ikke havde pløjet med min kvie, ville I aldrig have gættet min gåde!”
19Da kom Herrens Ånd over Samson, og han gik ned til byen Ashkalon, hvor han slog 30 mænd ned, tog deres tøj og gav det til mændene, der havde svaret på gåden. Samson var imidlertid blevet så rasende, at han lod bryllup være bryllup og tog hjem sammen med sine forældre. 20Pigen blev så i stedet givet til den mand, der havde været forlover ved brylluppet.
