Judges 14:1–9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 14:1–9
Samson desires, his parents object, and a hidden purpose advances
He sees, and she is already a demand
Samson goes down to Timnah, sees a Philistine woman, and tells his father and mother to get her for him, for she pleases him well: she is right in his eyes. They object to marriage among the uncircumcised. He does not answer their concern; he repeats the demand.
"Right in my eyes" is the book's later diagnosis spoken here as personal desire. The woman is not heard. Sight becomes possession.
The narrator names an occasion without blessing the motive
His parents do not know that the LORD is seeking an occasion against the Philistines, who rule Israel. Providence can open conflict with an occupying power through this marriage road. That aside does not baptize objectifying a woman, overruling parents as if they were procurement agents, or treating a person as the spark God needed.
On the way a young lion roars. The Spirit rushes on Samson; he tears it as one would tear a kid, with nothing in his hand, and tells neither father nor mother. Later he turns aside to the carcass, finds a swarm and honey, eats, and gives some to his parents, still without saying the honey came from the dead. Strength and secrecy travel together. Contact with the carcass sits in tension with the set-apart life announced in chapter 13, whether or not every Nazirite clause from Numbers 6 is restated here.
How this should shape us
Do not excuse a powerful person's demand because a larger conflict later comes of it. Require free consent and full personhood in any marriage talk. Ancient labels for Philistines are not a slur to hang on modern people or mixed families.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 14:1–9 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Readers debate providence, marriage custom, Nazirite scope, and whether Samson is comic antihero or tragic deliverer. Confidence is high that the narrator distinguishes divine purpose from the parents' and Samson's limited viewpoints.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 14:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 14:1–9
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 476-478, translation and notes on 14:1–9
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 285-340
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Supports: Antiheroic masculinity, women under threat, secrecy, coercion, power, and the distinction between divine use and approval in the Samson cycle.
Mohale, 'A dangerous and powerful woman?' complete open-access article, pp. 1-7, especially pp. 3-6 on Judges 14
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 14:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 14:1–9
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 476-478, translation and notes on 14:1–9
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 285-340
Open source ↗doctoral thesis repository record
Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges: An Inductive, Rhetorical Study
Gregory T. K. Wong
University of Edinburgh, 2005
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Exact location: Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access article
A dangerous and powerful woman? A feminist reading of an old story with new cultural eyes
Makhosazana K. Mohale
Verbum et Ecclesia 43.1, a2558, 2022
Supports: Antiheroic masculinity, women under threat, secrecy, coercion, power, and the distinction between divine use and approval in the Samson cycle.
Exact location: Mohale, 'A dangerous and powerful woman?' complete open-access article, pp. 1-7, especially pp. 3-6 on Judges 14
Open source ↗