King James Version · The judges
Judges 14
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And went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the . And he came up, and told his and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the : now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the ? And said unto his , Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. But his and his mother knew not that it was of , that he sought an occasion against the : for at that time the had over Israel. 5Then went down, and his and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And of came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his or his mother what he had done. 7And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased well. And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. So his went down unto the woman: and made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. And said unto them, I will now put forth a unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: 13But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy , that we may hear it. And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the . And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto ’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the , lest we burn thee and thy ’s house with : have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? And ’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the to the children of her people. 18And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my . And of came upon him, and he went down to , and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the . And his was kindled, and he went up to his ’s house. But ’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
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.