We’re all familiar with Samson and Delilah, but long before Delilah entered the picture, Samson met and married another Philistine woman.
As a young man, Samson went to the Philistine town of Timnah, and while there he saw a Philistine woman who caught his attention. He went to his parents, told them about her, and demanded they arrange for her to marry him.
At first they resisted, encouraging him to instead select for a wife a godly Hebrew woman rather than a pagan Philistine, but Samson insisted.
Judges 14:4 provides us a side note that though his parents didn’t realize it, God was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines since they ruled over Israel.
One day as he traveled to visit the woman, a roaring lion came against him at the vineyards of Timnah. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, allowing him to tear apart the lion with his bare hands, but he didn’t tell anyone what happened.
Time passed. Samson got to know the woman, and she continued to please him.
One day as he passed the vineyard, he noticed the lion’s carcass with a swarm of bees and honey within it. He scooped up some honey and ate it along the way. He shared it with his parents but didn’t tell them where it came from. As a Nazarite Samson wasn’t supposed to have contact with anything dead, so in this little action of scooping out honey from the lion’s carcass, he violated his Nazarite vow.
Despite his parents’ objections, they made the marriage arrangements, and Samson prepared to marry the Philistine woman. It was a marriage doomed from the start.
Read about Samson’s Wife in Scripture: Judges 14:1-9
Listen on Your Favorite Podcast Platform.
Women of Prayer Bible Study
Women of Prayer is a 10-Week Bible study about getting to know the character of God through the stories of Bible women who prayed.
Get daily devotionals delivered directly to your inbox.