Hakim-hakim 14:1

Samson’s Unconsummated Marriage

14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye. ¹ 

Hakim-hakim 15:1

Samson Versus the Philistines

15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, ²  Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. ³  He said to her father, ⁴  “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” ⁵  But her father would not let him enter.

Hakim-hakim 16:1

Samson’s Downfall

16:1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her. ⁶ 

[14:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”

[15:1]  ² sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.

[15:1]  ³ tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”

[15:1]  ⁴ tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).

[15:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).

[16:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he went in to her.” The idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations.