Κριταί 14
1 καὶ κατέβη Σαμψων εἰς Θαμναθα καὶ εἶδεν γυναῖκα εἰς Θαμναθα ἀπὸ τῶν θυγατέρων τῶν ἀλλοφύλων
One day when Samson was in Timnah [town], he saw a young Philistine woman there.
2 καὶ ἀνέβη καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν γυναῖκα ἑόρακα ἐν Θαμναθα ἀπὸ τῶν θυγατέρων Φυλιστιιμ καὶ νῦν λάβετε αὐτὴν ἐμοὶ εἰς γυναῖκα
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 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ μὴ οὔκ εἰσιν θυγατέρες τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου καὶ ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ μου γυνή ὅτι σὺ πορεύῃ λαβεῖν γυναῖκα ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων τῶν ἀπεριτμήτων καὶ εἶπεν Σαμψων πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ ταύτην λαβέ μοι ὅτι αὕτη εὐθεῖα ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς μου
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 καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὅτι παρὰ κυρίου ἐστίν ὅτι ἐκδίκησιν αὐτὸς ζητεῖ ἐκ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι κυριεύοντες ἐν Ισραηλ
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 καὶ κατέβη Σαμψων καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ εἰς Θαμναθα καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος Θαμναθα καὶ ἰδοὺ σκύμνος λέοντος ὠρυόμενος εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ ἥλατο ἐπ’ αὐτὸν πνεῦμα κυρίου καὶ συνέτριψεν αὐτόν ὡσεὶ συντρίψει ἔριφον καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἀπήγγειλεν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ ὃ ἐποίησεν
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 καὶ κατέβησαν καὶ ἐλάλησαν τῇ γυναικί καὶ ηὐθύνθη ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς Σαμψων
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 καὶ ὑπέστρεψεν μεθ’ ἡμέρας λαβεῖν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐξέκλινεν ἰδεῖν τὸ πτῶμα τοῦ λέοντος καὶ ἰδοὺ συναγωγὴ μελισσῶν ἐν τῷ στόματι τοῦ λέοντος καὶ μέλι
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 καὶ ἐξεῖλεν αὐτὸ εἰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπορεύετο πορευόμενος καὶ ἐσθίων καὶ ἐπορεύθη πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἔφαγον καὶ οὐκ ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ λέοντος ἐξεῖλεν τὸ μέλι
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 καὶ κατέβη ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ ἐποίησεν ἐκεῖ Σαμψων πότον ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ὅτι οὕτως ποιοῦσιν οἱ νεανίσκοι
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 καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε εἶδον αὐτόν καὶ ἔλαβον τριάκοντα κλητούς καὶ ἦσαν μετ’ αὐτοῦ
Thirty young man were invited to the party.
12 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Σαμψων πρόβλημα ὑμῖν προβάλλομαι ἐὰν ἀπαγγέλλοντες ἀπαγγείλητε αὐτὸ ἐν ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἡμέραις τοῦ πότου καὶ εὕρητε δώσω ὑμῖν τριάκοντα σινδόνας καὶ τριάκοντα στολὰς ἱματίων
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 καὶ ἐὰν μὴ δύνησθε ἀπαγγεῖλαί μοι δώσετε ὑμεῖς ἐμοὶ τριάκοντα ὀθόνια καὶ τριάκοντα ἀλλασσομένας στολὰς ἱματίων καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ προβαλοῦ τὸ πρόβλημα καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα αὐτό
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 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς τί βρωτὸν ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ βιβρώσκοντος καὶ ἀπὸ ἰσχυροῦ γλυκύ καὶ οὐκ ἠδύναντο ἀπαγγεῖλαι τὸ πρόβλημα ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας
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 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τετάρτῃ καὶ εἶπαν τῇ γυναικὶ Σαμψων ἀπάτησον δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα σου καὶ ἀπαγγειλάτω σοι τὸ πρόβλημα μήποτε κατακαύσωμέν σε καὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός σου ἐν πυρί ἦ ἐκβιάσαι ἡμᾶς κεκλήκατε
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 καὶ ἔκλαυσεν ἡ γυνὴ Σαμψων πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν πλὴν μεμίσηκάς με καὶ οὐκ ἠγάπησάς με ὅτι τὸ πρόβλημα ὃ προεβάλου τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ λαοῦ μου οὐκ ἀπήγγειλάς μοι καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ Σαμψων εἰ τῷ πατρί μου καὶ τῇ μητρί μου οὐκ ἀπήγγελκα σοὶ ἀπαγγείλω
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 καὶ ἔκλαυσεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰς ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ἃς ἦν αὐτοῖς ὁ πότος καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτῇ ὅτι παρενώχλησεν αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτὴ ἀπήγγειλεν τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτῆς
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 καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς πόλεως ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ πρὸ τοῦ ἀνατεῖλαι τὸν ἥλιον τί γλυκύτερον μέλιτος καὶ τί ἰσχυρότερον λέοντος καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Σαμψων εἰ μὴ ἠροτριάσατε ἐν τῇ δαμάλει μου οὐκ ἂν ἔγνωτε τὸ πρόβλημά μου
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 καὶ ἥλατο ἐπ’ αὐτὸν πνεῦμα κυρίου καὶ κατέβη εἰς Ἀσκαλῶνα καὶ ἐπάταξεν ἐξ αὐτῶν τριάκοντα ἄνδρας καὶ ἔλαβεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν καὶ ἔδωκεν τὰς στολὰς τοῖς ἀπαγγείλασιν τὸ πρόβλημα καὶ ὠργίσθη θυμῷ Σαμψων καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ γυνὴ Σαμψων ἑνὶ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ ὧν ἐφιλίασεν
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].
