Judges 14

¹And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

²And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

In my day all I wanted was a Motorbike, I suppose now it would be a ps2 or a wii.

³Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

⁴But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

⁵Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.

In all the tellings of this tale the word "young" has never been pointed out

⁶And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

A teenage boy kills a lion with his bare hands and does not brag....There are only two reasons teenage boys do not brag about something; first it would embarrass them; second it would get them into trouble

⁷And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

⁸And 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 carcase of the lion.

How long ? For it to be long enough for the bees to have built a hive to that degree there could not have been much of the corpse left...especially for such a small kitty kat.

⁹And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

¹⁰So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

¹¹And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹²And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

Why all this "thirty" I would have expected fourty , perhaps this tale is borrowed from somewhere else

¹³But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

¹⁴And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

Is that really a riddle ?......a dictionary definition is as follows...

a question or statement so framed as to exercise one's ingenuity in answering it or discovering its meaning; conundrum.

¹⁵And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?

Ah they are phillistines they follow a different set of rules

Ah here it is Bollocks 13 :13 And if thy neighbour doth confound thee. Thy must take his wife and in-laws and burn them with fire until one or all of them the beans doth spilleth.

¹⁶And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?

¹⁷And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

¹⁸And 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 ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

Samson seems to have taken after his stepfather rather than his real father with his ability to keep their women satisfied. I doubt they were but does anyone know if steroids were available back then?

¹⁹And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

²⁰But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

Are we talking wife swapping or just passed on like a second hand car and are we saying samson swung both ways?