1 And Samson went down to Timnah {Timnatah: border town near Philistine territory}, and he saw a woman in Timnah from among the daughters {banot: marriageable women} of the Philistines.
2 He went up and told his parents, and said, “I have seen a woman in Timnah {Timnah: Philistine border town} from among the daughters of the Philistines; now take her for me as a wife {ishah: marriage partner}.”
3 And his father and his mother said to him, “Is there not a woman {ishah: chosen partner} among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people that you must go and take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Take her for me, for she is right {yashrah: upright, fitting} in my eyes.”
4 But his father and his mother did not know that it was from the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Arranger}, for He was seeking an occasion {to’anah: providential opportunity} against the Philistines; and at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
5 And Samson {Shimshon: Nazirite Warrior} went down with his father and his mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards {karmei: Vine Plantings} of Timnah; and behold, a young lion was roaring as it came toward him.
6 And the Spirit of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Empowerer} seized him, and he tore him apart as one might tear a young goat {gedi: kid-goat}; he had nothing in his hand, and he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
7 So he went down and spoke {vayedabber: conversed} to the woman, and she was pleasing {tishar: upright agreeable} in the eyes of Samson.
8 Then, after some days {miyamim: unspecified interval}, he came back to take her, and he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey {devash: natural sweetness} were in the body of the lion.
9 He scraped it {radah: Removed by Force} into his palms and continued on his way, eating as he went. When he came to his father and his mother, he gave them some, and they ate; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass {geviyah: Lifeless Body} of the lion.
10 So his father went down to the woman, and Samson {Shimshon: consecrated servant} held a feast there, for this was customary among the bachurim {bachurim: unmarried males}.
11 And it happened that when they saw him, they brought {vayikchu: active selection} thirty {sheloshim: exact number} companions, and they were with him.
12 And Samson said to them, “Let me set before you a riddle {ḥiddāh: enigmatic puzzle}. If you can truly explain it to me during the seven days of the feast {mishteh: festive banquet} and solve it, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”
13 But if you are not able to declare it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments {sedinim: fine cloths} and thirty changes of clothes. And they said to him, “Propose your riddle {khidah: enigmatic saying}, and we will hear it.”
14 And he said to them, “From the eater came forth food {ma‘akhal: edible supply}, and from the strong came forth sweet.” And for three days they were unable to declare the riddle {chidah: enigmatic saying}.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, and let him tell us the riddle {hachidah: mystery puzzle}, lest we burn you and your father’s house {beit: ancestral household} with fire. Is it not that you have called us here to impoverish us?”
16 Then the wife of Samson wept before him and said, "Surely you hate me {snetani: hostile feeling} and do not love me. You have posed the riddle {hachidah: secret challenge} to the sons of my people, but you have not told me." He replied, "Look, I have not even told it to my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?"
17 And she wept upon him for the seven days of the feast, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him {hetsikathu: distressed him}, and she told the riddle {chidah: enigmatic saying} to the sons of her people.
18 Then the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before sunset, “What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion?” Samson answered them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer {eglah: figurative for wife}, you would not have found my riddle {khidah: enigmatic puzzle}.”
19 Then the Spirit of the LORD {YHWH, Empowering Agent} came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men from among them. He took their spoil and their garments, and he gave the changes of clothing to those who explained {maggidei: riddle expounders} the riddle. Then his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.
20 And Samson’s wife {eshet: marriage partner} was given to his companion {mere’ehu: wedding guest}, who had befriended him.