And the men of the city said to him: The men of the city may be the thirty Philistine companions of Samson, but they are more likely all the men of Timnah, including Samson’s companions. Translators may be more explicit, for example, “the men of Timnah.” The pronoun him refers to Samson, which Contemporary English Version makes explicit.
On the seventh day before the sun went down: The men waited until the last moment of the feast before telling Samson what the solution to his riddle was. This was a ploy to draw out the suspense and to humiliate Samson even more. The men had succeeded in turning Samson’s own bride against him and they won the bet as well. Of course, the number seven often has symbolic meaning in the Scriptures. Thus in this negative situation, it is probably used with some irony. The seventh day was the last day of the party (see verse 14.12). The unusual Hebrew word for sun, together with the verb rendered went down, has led some commentators to change the text here. For example, instead of before the sun went down, Revised English Bible has “just before he entered the bridal chamber.” Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible are similar with “before Samson/he went into the bedroom.” However, there is no textual support for such changes, with Hebrew Old Testament Text Project giving the Hebrew text an {A} rating. So translators are advised to follow the Hebrew text as Revised Standard Version has done. As in Contemporary English Version, many languages will prefer to place this time clause at the beginning of the verse: “Before sunset that day….”
What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?: In verse 14.14 Samson gives his riddle in parallel lines, saying:
Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet.
The men of Timnah do not answer the riddle directly and say “A lion with bees inside of it.” They answer with a set of parallel lines, literally:
What [is] sweeter than honey?
What [is] stronger than a lion?
The men answer in the opposite order of the riddle, beginning with sweeter, and moving to stronger. Their answer is given in a question form, which may have been a culturally acceptable way to answer a riddle. There is no verb present here in Hebrew, but most versions insert the verb “is.” Out of the six Hebrew words in the answer, five begin with the sound m, which certainly communicates some kind of mocking tone. Affirmative statements may be used in the place of questions, for example, “There is nothing sweeter than honey; there is nothing stronger than a lion” or “Honey is sweet; a lion is strong.” Contemporary English Version gives a good model, saying:
A lion is the strongest—
honey is the sweetest!
ver CEVver* indents these two lines to show clearly that their answer, like the riddle itself, has a poetic form.
And he said to them …: Samson has lost the bet, and all he can do is reply. However, he uses figurative language to say what he is thinking. As elsewhere, an appropriate connector may be used for the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And, for example, “Then,” or it may be omitted. The general verb said may be translated “replied” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) or “responded” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).
If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle: Samson’s response is probably an angry one (see verse 14.19). He has been deceived by his fiancée, her family, and their guests at the party. Perhaps correctly, he blames the men of Timnah rather than his bride. His response is in the form of a proverb, but presented as a condition-consequence statement.
If you had not plowed with my heifer is the condition. The Hebrew conjunction rendered If usually introduces a condition that did not happen, but here it introduces a condition that occurred. The meaning is that the men had indeed pressured his fiancée and forced her to act, perhaps contrary to her own conscience. The pronoun you refers to the men of Timnah, including Samson’s companions. The imagery here comes from the world of farming. Where the soil was hard, farmers plowed their fields, turning the soil over to make it ready for planting seeds. There are many ways in which farmers plowed their fields, but here Samson is thinking of cows or bulls pulling a plow. The Hebrew word for heifer refers to a young female cow. Here it is an image for Samson’s wife. Cultures differ concerning the symbolic meaning of various animals. In Song of Songs a woman of beauty is compared to a horse (Song of Songs 1.9), which in many cultures would be an insult rather than a compliment! Calling his wife my heifer was probably not an insult in the culture of that day. Plowed with my heifer is a figurative way to describe what the Philistine men did. Some see here an implicit sexual reference, which is a possibility. However, this expression may just be referring to extreme pressure, including threats of death to the woman and her family Their pressure and threats are compared to plowing. Because it is figurative language, it is important for translators to render the text literally if possible. Samson is being sarcastic, and it is better to allow the reader to work out the meaning. If the meaning is really not understandable from the context, translators can add a footnote, such as “The heifer refers to Samson’s bride.” If it is really necessary to make the meaning explicit, translators may say “If you had not threatened [or, pressured] my bride [so mercilessly
You would not have found out my riddle: This clause presents the consequence of the condition. If the men had not threatened Samson’s wife, they would not have been able to solve the riddle. In many languages a consequence begins with a word such as “then.” Though there is no such conjunction in Hebrew here, it may be added if necessary. In English the modal verb would is used in this kind of condition-consequence statement, but translators will need to use appropriate verb forms in their language. Found out renders the normal Hebrew verb for either finding an object or discovering a solution. For found out my riddle, see verse 14.12. We might say “solved my riddle” (New International Version, New Living Translation), “found the answer to my riddle,” or “discovered the solution to my riddle.” In some languages it may be helpful to place this consequence before the condition by saying “You would not have solved my riddle, if you had not plowed with my heifer.”
Translation models for the second half of this verse are:
• Samson said to the men, “You would not have discovered the answer to my riddle, if you had not plowed with my heifer.”*
* “Heifer” refers to Samson’s bride. These men pressured and threatened her and thus obtained the solution to the riddle.
• Then Samson said to the men, “If you had not plowed with my cow, you would not have found the answer to my riddle.”
Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .