Juges 14
1 Et Samson descendit à Thimna; et il vit à Thimna une femme d’entre les filles des Philistins.
One day when Samson was in Timnah [town], he saw a young Philistine woman there.
2 Et il remonta et le raconta à son père et à sa mère, et dit: J’ai vu à Thimna une femme d’entre les filles des Philistins; et maintenant, prenez-la-moi pour femme.
When he returned home, he told his mother and father, “I saw a young Philistine woman in Timnah, and I want you to get her for me so I can marry her.”
3 Et son père et sa mère lui dirent: N’y a-t-il pas de femme parmi les filles de tes frères, et dans tout mon peuple, que tu ailles prendre une femme d’entre les Philistins, les incirconcis? Et Samson dit à son père: Prends celle-là pour moi, car elle plaît à mes yeux.
His mother and father objected very strongly. They said, “Is there no woman from our tribe, or from the other Israeli tribes, that you could marry? Why must you go to the heathen Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She is the one I want!”
4 Et son père et sa mère ne savaient pas que cela venait de l’Éternel; car [Samson] cherchait une occasion de la part des Philistins. Or en ce temps-là les Philistins dominaient sur Israël.
His mother and father did not realize that Yahweh was arranging this. He was preparing a way for [Samson to defeat] the Philistines, who were ruling over Israel at that time.
5 Et Samson descendit à Thimna avec son père et sa mère; et ils arrivèrent jusqu’aux vignes de Thimna. Et voici, un jeune lion rugissant [vint] à sa rencontre.
So, as Samson was going down to Timnah, followed by his mother and father, a young lion attacked Samson near the vineyards close to Timnah.
6 Et l’Esprit de l’Éternel le saisit: et il le déchira, comme on déchire un chevreau, quoiqu’il n’ait rien en sa main; et il ne déclara point à son père ni à sa mère ce qu’il avait fait.
Then Yahweh’s Spirit came upon Samson powerfully, with the result that he tore the lion apart with his hands. He did it [as easily] as if it were a young goat. But he did not tell his mother and father about it.
7 Et il descendit, et parla à la femme, et elle plut aux yeux de Samson.
When they arrived in Timnah, Samson talked with the young woman, and he liked her very much. [And his father made arrangements for the wedding].
8 Et il retourna quelque temps après pour la prendre, et se détourna pour voir le cadavre du lion; et voici, il y avait dans le corps du lion un essaim d’abeilles, et du miel;
Later, when Samson returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to see the carcass of the lion. He discovered that [after other creatures had eaten all the flesh], a swarm of bees [had made a hive in the skeleton and] had made some honey.
9 et il en prit dans ses mains, et s’en alla, mangeant en chemin; et il alla vers son père et vers sa mère, et leur en donna, et ils en mangèrent; mais il ne leur raconta pas qu’il avait tiré le miel du corps du lion.
So he scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate some of it as he was walking along. He also gave some of it to his mother and father, but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the skeleton of the lion, [because anyone dedicated to God was not to touch any corpse].
10 Et son père descendit vers la femme, et Samson fit là un festin; car c’est ainsi que les jeunes gens avaient l’habitude de faire.
As his father was making the final arrangements for the marriage, Samson gave a party [for the young men in that area]. That was the custom for men to do when they were about to be married.
11 Et il arriva que, quand ils le virent, ils prirent 30 compagnons, et ils furent avec lui.
Thirty young man were invited to the party.
12 Et Samson leur dit: Je vous proposerai, s’il vous plaît, une énigme; si vous me l’ expliquez dans les sept jours du festin et si vous la trouvez, je vous donnerai 30 chemises, et 30 vêtements de rechange.
Samson said to them, “Allow me to tell you a riddle. If you tel me the meaning of my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give each of you a linen robe and an extra set of clothes.
13 Mais si vous ne pouvez pas me l’expliquer, c’est vous qui me donnerez 30 chemises, et 30 vêtements de rechange. Et ils lui dirent: Propose ton énigme, et nous l’entendrons.
But if you cannot tell me the meaning, you must each give me a linen robe and an extra set of clothes.” They replied, “All right. Tell us your riddle.”
14 Et il leur dit: De celui qui mange est sorti le manger, et du fort est sortie la douceur. Et pendant trois jours ils ne purent expliquer l’énigme.
So he said, “From the thing that eats came something to eat; out of something strong came something sweet.” But for three days they could not tell him the meaning of the riddle.
15 Et il arriva, le septième jour, qu’ils dirent à la femme de Samson: Persuade ton mari, et il nous expliquera l’énigme, de peur que nous ne te brûlions au feu, toi et la maison de ton père. C’est pour nous dépouiller que vous nous avez appelés, n’est-ce pas?
On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s bride, “Ask your husband to tell you the meaning of the riddle. If you do not do that, we will burn down your father’s house, with you inside it! Did you invite us here only to make us poor [by forcing us to buy a lot of clothes for your husband]?”
16 Et la femme de Samson pleura auprès de lui, et dit: Tu n’as pour moi que de la haine, et tu ne m’aimes pas; tu as proposé une énigme aux fils de mon peuple, et tu ne me l’as pas expliquée. Et il lui dit: Voici, je ne l’ai pas expliquée à mon père et à ma mère, et je te l’expliquerais à toi?
So Samson’s wife came to him, crying, and said to him, “You do not really love me. You hate me! You have told a riddle to my friends, but you have not told me the meaning of the riddle!” He replied, “I have not told the meaning of the riddle even to my mother and father, so why should I tell it to you?”
17 Et elle pleura auprès de lui pendant les sept jours qu’ils eurent le festin; et il arriva, le septième jour, qu’il la lui expliqua, parce qu’elle le tourmentait; et elle expliqua l’énigme aux fils de son peuple.
She continued to cry every time she was with him, all during the rest of the celebration. Finally, on the seventh day, because she continued to nag him, he told her the meaning of the riddle. Then she told it to the young men.
18 Et le septième jour, avant que le soleil se couche, les hommes de la ville lui dirent: Qu’y a-t-il de plus doux que le miel, et qu’y a-t-il de plus fort que le lion? Et il leur dit: Si vous n’aviez pas labouré avec ma génisse, vous n’auriez pas trouvé mon énigme.
So, before sunset on the seventh day, the young men came to Samson and said to him, “What/Nothing is sweeter than honey [RHQ]. What/Nothing is stronger than a lion [RHQ]!” Samson replied, “[You should not force a heifer to] plow a field [MET]. Similarly, if you had not forced my bride to ask me about the riddle [MET], you would not have known the answer to my riddle!”
19 Et l’Esprit de l’Éternel le saisit; et il descendit à Askalon, et en tua 30 hommes, et prit leurs dépouilles, et donna les vêtements de rechange à ceux qui avaient expliqué l’énigme. Et sa colère s’embrasa, et il monta à la maison de son père.
Then Yahweh’s Spirit powerfully took control of Samson. He went down to [the coast at] Ashkelon [town], and killed 30 men. He took their clothes [and went back to Timnah] and gave them to the men who had told him the meaning of the riddle. But he was very angry about what had happened, so he went back home to live with his mother and father.
20 Et la femme de Samson fut [donnée] à son compagnon, dont il avait fait son ami.
So (Samson’s wife was given/the bride’s father gave Samson’s wife) to the man who who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding, [but Samson did not know that].
