to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samson
שִׁמְשׁ֛וֹןshim.Shon
H8123
Shimshon · proper noun, a man's name
down
יָרַדyârad
H3381
to descend (literally
father
וְאָבִ֥יוve.'a.Viv
H1
father · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
mother
וְאִמּ֖וֹve.'i.Mo
H517
a mother (as the bond of the family) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Timnath
תִּמְנָ֑תָהtim.Na.tah
H8553
Timnah · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
came
וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙vai.ya.Vo.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
vineyards
כַּרְמֵ֣יkar.Mei
H3754
a garden or vineyard · noun, common masculine plural construct
Timnath
תִמְנָ֔תָהtim.Na.tah
H8553
Timnah · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
young
כְּפִ֣ירke.Fir
H3715
a village (as covered in by walls) · noun, common masculine singular construct
lion
אֲרָי֔וֹת'a.ra.Yot
H738
a lion · noun, common feminine plural absolute
roared
שֹׁאֵ֖גsho.'Eg
H7580
to rumble or moan · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
against
קִרְאָהqirʼâh
H7125
an encountering
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Judges 14:1-9
Here, I. Samson, under the extraordinary guidance of Providence, seeks an occasion of quarrelling with the Philistines, by joining in affinity with them - a strange method, but the truth is Samson was himself a riddle, a paradox of a man, did that which was really great and good, by that which was seemingly weak and evil, because he was designed not to be a pattern to us (who must walk by rule, not by example), but a type of him who, though he knew no sin, was made sin for us, and appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he might condemn and destroy sin in the flesh, Rom 8:3.
1. As the negotiation of Samson's marriage was a common case, we may observe, (1.) That is was weakly and fooli…
HE KILLS A LION. (Jdg 14:5-9)
a young lion--Hebrew, a lion in the pride of his youthful prime. The wild mountain passes of Judah were the lairs of savage beasts; and most or all the "lions" of Scripture occur in that wild country. His rending and killing the shaggy monster, without any weapon in his hand, were accomplished by that superhuman courage and strength which the occasional influences of the Spirit enabled him to put forth, and by the exertion of which, in such private incidental circumstances, he was gradually trained to confide in them for the more public work to which he was destined.
John Gill on Judges 14:5
Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath,.... They were prevailed upon to go with him, either because they perceived his affections were so strongly set upon a wife, that they thought it advisable to agree to it, lest it should be of bad consequence to him, or because he let them know that the thing was of God, and what was his design in it:
and came to the vineyards of Timnath; the land of Canaan was a land of vineyards, and particularly that part of it which was inhabited by the Philistines and Phoenicians; and though we nowhere read of the wine of Timnath, yet frequent mention is made in authors of the wine of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Sarepta, inhabited by the above pe…
This request was granted; and Samson on his return to visit his promised bride, turned a little way out of the road, and straightway there met him a lion from the wood, fierce in its savage freedom. Samson had no companion, nor any weapon in his hand; but he felt ashamed to fly, and conscious power gave him courage. He caught the lion as it rushed upon him in his arms, and strangled it by the tightness of his embrace, leaving it near the wayside lying upon the underwood, for the spot was clothed with luxuriant herbage, and planted with vineyards. The skin of the beast he thought would be little esteemed by his beloved bride, for seasons such as these derive their grace not from savage trophies, but rather from gentle joys and festal garlands.
Many of the fathers have spoken a great deal about this lion, beloved brothers, and all of them have said what is fitting and in accord with the facts. Some have said that the lion prefigured Christ our Lord. Truly, this is very appropriate, for to us Christ is a lion in whose mouth we found the food of honey after his death. What is sweeter than the Word of God? Or what is stronger than his right hand? In whose mouth after death is there food and bees, except his in whose word is the good of our salvation and the congregation of the Gentiles? The lion can further be understood as the Gentiles who believed. First, it was a body of vanity, but is now the body of Christ in which the apostles like bees stored the honey of wisdom gathered from the dew of heaven and the flowers of divine grace. Thus, food came out of the mouth of the one who died; because nations which were as fierce as lions at first, accepted with a devout heart the word of God which they received and produced the fruit of salvation.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Lions — The most powerful of all carnivorous animals. Although not now found in Palestine, they must have been in ancient times very numerous there. They had their lairs in the forests (Jer. 5:6; 12:8; Amos…
Samson — Of the sun, the son of Manoah, born at Zorah. The narrative of his life is given in Judg. 13-16. He was a “Nazarite unto God” from his birth, the first Nazarite mentioned in Scripture (Judg. 13:3-5;…
Timnah — A portion. (1.) A town of Judah (Josh. 15:10). The Philistines took possession of it in the days of Ahaz (2 Chr. 28:18). It was about 20 miles west of Jerusalem. It has been identified with Timnatha…
Timnath — Gen. 38:12, 14. (1.) Heb. Timnathah, which is appropriately rendered in the Revised Version, Timnah, a town in Judah. (2.) The town where Samson sojourned, probably identical with “Timnah” (1) (Judg.…
Timnathah — the residence of Samson’s wife. (Judges 14:1,2,5)
B · Unclean: Lion — Unclean: Lion
Grape · .At Timnath — .At Timnath
Lion · .Sam — .Sam
Lion, The · Slain by: Samson — Slain by: Samson
Marriage · The Jews: Betrothed themselves some time before — The Jews: Betrothed themselves some time before
Samson · General references — General references
Timnath · 2. Home of Sam — 2. Home of Sam
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 14:5-6
When Samson went down with his parents to Timnath, a young lion came roaring towards him at the vineyards of that town. Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, so that he tore the lion in pieces as a kid is torn (lit. "like the tearing in pieces of the kid"), although he had nothing, i.e., no weapon, in his hand. David, when a shepherd, and the hero Benaiah, also slew lions (Sa1 17:34-35; Sa2 23:20); and even at the present day Arabs sometimes kill lions with a staff (see Winer, Bibl. R. W. Art. Lwe). Samson's supernatural strength, the effect of the Spirit of Jehovah, which came upon him, was simply manifested in the fact that he tore the lion in pieces without any weapon whatever in his…
