Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Samson, at God's impulse, seeks a Philistine wife. Going to her, he tears apart a lion that meets him, in whose mouth after some days he finds a swarm of bees and a honeycomb. Then, in verse 10, at his wedding feast, he proposes this riddle to his companions: Out of the eater came food, and out of the strong came sweetness. When they cannot solve it, they extort the solution from Samson through his wife, and report it to Samson. Therefore he pays them the thirty linen garments taken from thirty Ashkelonites he killed, as agreed, and returns home angry.
Vulgate Text: Judges 14:1-20
1. Samson therefore went down to Timnah, and seeing there a woman from the daughters of the Philistines, 2. he went up and told his father and mother, saying: I have seen a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines; please take her for me as a wife. 3. His father and mother said to him: Is there no woman among the daughters of your brothers, and in all my people, that you wish to take a wife from the Philistines, who are uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father: Take this one for me, because she pleases my eyes. 4. But his parents did not know that the matter was from the Lord, and that He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 5. So Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. And when they came to the vineyards of the town, a fierce young lion appeared, roaring, and rushed at him. 6. But the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Samson, and he tore apart the lion, rending it to pieces like a kid, having nothing at all in his hand; and this he did not wish to tell his father and mother. 7. He went down and spoke with the woman, who had pleased his eyes. 8. And after some days, returning to take her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, a swarm of bees was in the mouth of the lion, and a honeycomb. 9. Taking it in his hands, he ate as he walked; and coming to his father and mother, he gave them a share, and they also ate, but he did not wish to tell them that he had taken the honey from the body of the lion. 10. So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for his son Samson. For so the young men were accustomed to do. 11. When therefore the citizens of that place saw him, they gave him thirty companions to be with him. 12. And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, and if you solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and the same number of tunics; 13. but if you cannot solve it, you will give me thirty linen garments and the same number of tunics. They answered him: Propose the riddle, that we may hear it. 14. And he said to them: Out of the eater came food, and out of the strong came sweetness; and they could not solve the proposition in three days. 15. When the seventh day arrived, they said to Samson's wife: Coax your husband and persuade him to tell you what the riddle means; if you refuse to do this, we will burn you and your father's house. Did you invite us to the wedding to rob us? 16. She poured out tears before Samson and complained, saying: You hate me and do not love me; that is why you will not explain to me the riddle you proposed to the sons of my people. But he answered: I did not wish to tell my father and mother — could I tell you? 17. For seven days of the feast therefore she wept before him, and at last on the seventh day, when she was troublesome to him, he explained it. And she immediately told her citizens. 18. And they said to him on the seventh day before sunset: What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? He said to them: If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my proposition. 19. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck down thirty men there, whose clothes he took and gave to those who had solved the riddle. And very angry, he went up to his father's house; 20. but his wife took one of his friends and groomsmen as her husband.
Verse 1: Samson Went Down to Timnah
1. SAMSON THEREFORE WENT DOWN TO TIMNAH. — "Timnah," says Adrichomius on page 24, is on the road between Ptolemais and Gaza. Here Judah sheared his sheep. A city of the Philistines, near which Samson tore apart a lion, and there married a wife from the Philistines. Timnah therefore was a town on the border of three tribes, namely Judah, Dan, and Ephraim, toward the Mediterranean Sea, between Ptolemais and Gaza in the territory of Diospolis, says St. Jerome, which the tribe of Judah received as its lot (Joshua 16:17); but the Philistines snatched it from the Jews, as is clear from this chapter, and Josephus expressly asserts this.
Verse 3: She Has Pleased My Eyes
3. TAKE THIS ONE FOR ME, BECAUSE SHE HAS PLEASED MY EYES — not only because she was beautiful, but also because she will be an occasion for me to attack the Philistines, and thus to begin my office as liberator of the Hebrews, to which God destines me, as is clear from what follows.
Verse 4: The Matter Was from the Lord
4. THAT THE MATTER WAS FROM THE LORD. — From this it is clear that Samson did not sin in seeking a Philistine wife contrary to the law, because he did this at God's impulse, and therefore with a dispensation in His law. Otherwise such marriages with unbelievers, as with heretics, are generally dangerous and harmful, as St. Ambrose teaches at length in Epistle 24, and Samson learned this to his own harm — he who here, as in other things, was a type of Christ, who betrothed the Church from the Gentiles, having rejected the Jews. Hence St. Ambrose states these notable maxims: "First, in marriage religion is sought. Second, charity cannot agree where faith differs. Third, the allurement of a woman has often deceived even stronger husbands, and made them depart from religion."
AND HE WAS SEEKING AN OCCASION AGAINST THE PHILISTINES. — For Samson was reasoning with this dilemma: the Philistines will either give me the Philistine wife I seek, or refuse. If they refuse, I will seize the occasion to attack them, since by refusing me a wife they dishonor me. If they grant her, they will have to be more gracious to me and my Hebrews, as now bound to them by kinship; and if they do not show this, it will be my occasion for a new quarrel.
Verse 5: A Fierce Young Lion
5. A FIERCE AND ROARING YOUNG LION APPEARED. — For young lions are fiercer than full-grown ones, both because they are hungrier, their stomachs growling, and because youth makes them more aggressive, more spirited, and more ferocious.
Verse 6: The Spirit of the Lord Rushed upon Samson
6. BUT THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD RUSHED UPON SAMSON — encouraging and strengthening him to attack and kill the lion. Hence it follows: "And he tore apart the lion." Hear St. Ambrose, Epistle 24: "A fierce lion from the forest met him, more savage in its wild freedom. No companion was with him; no weapon was at hand. Shame forbade retreat, and conscious valor gave confidence. Then, embracing the beast as it rushed upon him with his arms, he killed it, and having strangled it with the grip of his muscles, he threw it beyond the embankment onto the wild plants, and left it."
From this it is clear that Samson's strength and power were not natural, but supernaturally implanted in him by God: hence they also depended on his hair, God so ordaining, as we shall hear in the following chapter.
Tropologically, the lion represents something arduous, such as a grave temptation, which like Samson we must courageously attack and overcome by invoking the Spirit of God: strike down this lion of terror — once killed, it will trouble you no more; and so it will happen that he who formerly seemed an invincible lion will now appear a feeble ant. For such is the demon to those who are courageous.
Moreover this was the first act of Samson's strength, by which he gave a prelude to his greater deeds and struck terror into the Philistines: for he who had torn apart the lion, the strongest of animals — whom would he not tear apart? But Samson did nothing of the sort that others have done to tame lions — rather, he attacked the lion while it was fully alert and sharp-sighted, unarmed without sword or club, and seizing it with his bare hand tore it apart, to show that he was stronger than lions and would rush upon the Philistines as more than a lion.
AND THIS HE DID NOT WISH TO TELL HIS FATHER AND MOTHER — both out of modesty, and because by God's design, from this slain lion and the honey found in its mouth, he was going to make a riddle to propose to the Philistines. Samson teaches here that whoever wishes to keep a secret should tell it to no one, not even to the closest friend or parent, and should say with Isaiah 24:16: "My secret is my own."
Verse 8: Bees in the Mouth of the Lion
8. AND BEHOLD, A SWARM OF BEES WAS IN THE MOUTH OF THE LION, AND A HONEYCOMB. — The Chaldean says: in the body. Better our Vulgate, the Septuagint, and others: in the mouth. For bees tend to be attracted to the mouths of animals, whether living or dead. Hence bees were seen settling on the mouths of Pindar, Plato, and St. Ambrose, as a foreshadowing of their honeyed eloquence.
Allegorically, the lion signified Christ, for He Himself is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Genesis 49, and Apocalypse 4 and 5, who by His death conquered death, sin, the demon, and hell. Hence from Him after death came forth the honey of the Eucharist, and the swarm of bees, that is, the innumerable multitude of the faithful and saints. So St. Augustine.
Verse 12: The Riddle
12. I WILL PROPOSE TO YOU A RIDDLE — in Hebrew chiddah, that is, an enigma; for this was properly an enigma, that is, an obscure, hidden, and wrapped-up proposition.
Verse 14: Out of the Eater Came Food
14. OUT OF THE EATER CAME FOOD, AND OUT OF THE STRONG CAME SWEETNESS. — Behold, this is the riddle proposed by Samson to the young Philistines at the feast. For it was the custom of the ancients to propose enigmas and similar puzzles to guests at a banquet, with a promised reward for the solver. In Hebrew there is a beautiful paronomasia; for it reads: out of the eater came something eatable. The meaning is: From the mouth of the lion, which customarily devours other animals, came forth a honeycomb, which is the sweetest food; and out of the strong, that is, from the same lion, which is the strongest of animals, came forth sweetness, that is, the sweetest honey.
Allegorically, St. Augustine, Sermon 107 On Time: "Out of the eater came food, and out of the strong came sweetness. What else does this signify but Christ rising from the dead? Out of the eater, that is, out of death, which devours and consumes all things, came forth that food who said: I am the living bread who came down from heaven."
Tropologically, St. Ambrose, Book I of On Elijah and Fasting, chapter 11: for in temptations and labors overcome, as in lions slain, the sweetest honeycombs of consolations, joys, and rewards are found. Therefore "Christ tasted honeycombs after gall," says Tertullian. The Martyrs did the same, whose express type Samson here exhibits.
Verses 15-17: The Wife's Tears
14-15. AND THEY COULD NOT SOLVE THE PROPOSITION IN THREE DAYS. WHEN THE SEVENTH DAY ARRIVED. — It seems that these Philistine companions of Samson on the first day sent Samson's wife to seek the riddle's solution from him. But when after three days of thinking they had not found it, they again pressed the wife with threats to extract the solution from Samson. Finally on the seventh and last day they attacked the wife with all their force, threatening to burn her with her house.
DID YOU INVITE US TO THE WEDDING TO ROB US? — Of our linen garments and tunics, which Samson will take unless we solve his riddle.
17. FOR SEVEN DAYS OF THE FEAST THEREFORE SHE WEPT BEFORE HIM. — "For seven days" means at the end of seven days, or on the seventh and last day she wept. See here how treacherous are a woman's tears. Cato said truly: "Do not fear the words of an angry wife; a woman sets traps with tears while she weeps."
AND SHE IMMEDIATELY TOLD HER CITIZENS. — See here how the wife betrayed her husband Samson. Menander said truly: "A woman, even when she says the best and sweetest things, is to be feared most of all."
Verse 18: What Is Sweeter than Honey?
18. WHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY, AND WHAT IS STRONGER THAN A LION? — As if to say: The solution of your riddle is that you found a honeycomb in the mouth of a voracious and powerful lion. St. Ambrose, Epistle 24, adds from Josephus that Samson immediately added: "What is more treacherous than a woman?"
IF YOU HAD NOT PLOWED WITH MY HEIFER, YOU WOULD NOT HAVE FOUND OUT MY PROPOSITION. — In Hebrew charas means to devise, to investigate, and also to plow. So "to plow" here stands for to investigate, to probe, because just as by plowing the covered earth is opened, so by probing the truth of a hidden matter is opened and found. The meaning is: Unless you had fraudulently sought the solution of my riddle through my treacherous wife, you would never have found it by your own investigation.
WHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY? — I answer: sugar. But sugar in that age and for many following ages was unknown. Hence in Scripture no mention is made of it.
WHAT IS STRONGER THAN A LION? — Hear Zerubbabel: "Wine is strong, the king is stronger, women are stronger still, but truth conquers above all things" (III Esdras 3:10). Truth therefore is stronger than a lion, and indeed the strongest of all things.
Verse 19: The Spirit of the Lord Rushed upon Him
19. THEN THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD RUSHED UPON HIM, AND HE WENT DOWN TO ASHKELON AND STRUCK DOWN THIRTY MEN THERE. — Thus indeed he paid to enemies the promised enemy's prize from the slaughter and spoils of those same enemies. Samson therefore did this justly, both because Israel's war with the Philistines was just, and because the Spirit of the Lord rushing upon him drove him to this.
AND VERY ANGRY HE WENT UP TO HIS FATHER'S HOUSE. — "Angry" — first, at his wife, who had revealed and betrayed the secret solution of the riddle to the Philistines, and who loved the young Philistines more than her own husband Samson. Angry also at his Philistine groomsmen, who by fraud had extorted the riddle's solution from him. Angry, finally, at the whole Philistine city.
Verse 20: His Wife Took Another Husband
20. BUT HIS WIFE TOOK ONE OF HIS FRIENDS AND GROOMSMEN AS HER HUSBAND. — The Septuagint calls him a nymphagogue; others, a paranymph. Christ, in Matthew 9, calls them "friends of the bridegroom"; elsewhere they are called "sons of the bridegroom" or "sons of the wedding feast" — as John the Baptist was to Christ, when by his preaching he honored and as it were arranged His nuptials with the Church.