World English Bible · The judges
Judges 14
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went down to , and saw a woman in of the daughters of the . He came up, and told his and his mother, saying, "I have seen a woman in of the daughters of the . Now therefore get her for me as my wife." Then his and his mother said to him, "Isn't there a woman among your brothers' daughters, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the ?" said to his , "Get her for me, for she pleases me well." But his and his mother didn't know that it was of ; for he sought an occasion against the . Now at that time the ruled over Israel. 5Then went down to with his and his mother, and came to the vineyards of ; and behold, a young lion roared at him. came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat with his hands, but he didn't tell his or his mother what he had done. 7He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased well. After a while he returned to take her, and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. He came to his and mother and gave to them, and they ate, but he didn't tell them that he had taken the honey out of the lion's body. His went down to the woman; and made a feast there, for the young men used to do so. When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. said to them, "Let me tell you a now. If you can tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing; 13but if you can't tell me the answer, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing." They said to him, "Tell us your , that we may hear it." He said to them, "Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness." They couldn't in three days declare the . On the seventh day, they said to wife, "Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the , lest we burn you and your house with . Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn't that so?" wife wept before him, and said, "You hate me, and don't love me. You've told a to the children of my people, and haven't told it to me." He said to her, "Behold, I haven't told or my mother, so why should I tell you?" She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the to the children of her people. 18The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" He said to them, "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have found out my ." came mightily on him, and he went down to and struck thirty men of them. He took their plunder, then gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the . His burned, and he went up to his house. But wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.
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The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.