Judges 14:1
in Judges 14One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.
KJV
And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
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This verse in Judges 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Samson went down to Timnath,.... A city which by lot fell to the tribe of Judah, but was afterwards given to the tribe of Dan, and now in the hands of the Philistines, Jos 15:57. Judah is said to go up to it, because the place where he lived lay below it, Gen 38:13, but Samson is said to go down to it, because he lived above it.
This site's exposition
Samson went down to Timnath
on Judges 14:1-2
Timnath stands in Judah's town list at Joshua 15:57 and is handed to Dan at Joshua 19:43, so the woman Samson wants lives inside his own tribe's paper border and under Philistine rule. He goes down to it and comes back up, which fixes the hill country round Zorah above the coastal plain where the town sits. His first recorded words in Scripture are get her for me to wife, and the ground he gives for the request is what his eye had done.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now Samson, approved by such signal tokens from above, turned his thoughts as soon as he grew up, to marriage; whether this was that he abhorred those vague and licentious desires in which young men are wont to indulge, or that he was seeking an occasion of releasing the necks of his countrymen from the power of the hard yoke of the Philistines.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Went down to Timnath - A frontier town of the Philistines, at the beginning of the lands belonging to the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:57; but afterwards given up to Dan, Jos 19:43. David took this place from the Philistines, but they again got possession of it in the reign of Ahaz, 2Ch 28:18.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Timnath - See Jos 15:10 and note. It was below Zorah Jdg 13:2, about three miles S. W. of it.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֥רֶד | vaiyered | and he went down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| שִׁמְשׁ֖וֹן | shimshon | Samson | H8123 → | 38 times |
| תִּמְנָ֑תָה | timnatah | Timnah towards | H8553 → | 12 times |
| וַיַּ֥רְא | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אִשָּׁ֛ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| בְּתִמְנָ֖תָה | betimnatah | in Timnah <towards> | H8553 → | 12 times |
| מִבְּנ֥וֹת | mibenot | one of [the] daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃ | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
וַיֵּ֥רֶדand he went down
vaiyeredH3381 →381 times
שִׁמְשׁ֖וֹןSamson
shimshonH8123 →38 times
תִּמְנָ֑תָהTimnah towards
timnatahH8553 →12 times
וַיַּ֥רְאand he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
אִשָּׁ֛הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
בְּתִמְנָ֖תָהin Timnah <towards>
betimnatahH8553 →12 times
מִבְּנ֥וֹתone of [the] daughters of
mibenotH1323 →588 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 119:37Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 2:16
Through
1 John 2:16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
it leads to
- Romans 13:14
Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
- Galatians 5:17
For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
- Psalms 119:36–37
Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.
- Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave…
- Romans 13:14
Through
Job 31:1“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
it leads to
- James 1:14–15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
- Matthew 5:28–29
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Psalms 119:37
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- James 1:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19.13; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.