Judges 14:2
in Judges 14So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
KJV
And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
⋯
This verse in Judges 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Get her for me - namely, by Paying the requisite dowry (see marginal references) and gifts to relations. Hence, the frequent mention of parents taking wives for their sons Exo 34:16; Neh 10:30, because the parents of the bridegroom conducted the negotiation, and paid the dower to the parents of the bride.
This site's exposition
Samson went down to Timnah
on Judges 14:1-2
Timnah stands in Judah's town list at Joshua 15:57 and is given to Dan at Joshua 19:43, so the woman lives inside his tribe's allotment and under Philistine rule. He goes down to it from the hill country round Zorah and comes back up. His first recorded words are “Now get her for me as a wife”, and his ground is what his eyes had seen.
This site's exposition
Now get her for me as a wife
Albert Barnes explains the request: the father and mother of the bridegroom got the wife for their son and paid the dowry to her family. Matthew Henry notes that Samson asks his father and mother first. His wish still sets the terms.
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 Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he came up, and told his father and his mother,....
This Nazarite, in his subjection to his parents, asking their consent, and not proceeding till he had it, was not only an example to all children, but a type of the holy child Jesus, who went down with his parents to Nazareth (thence called a Nazarene ) and was subject to them, Luke ii. But this treaty of marriage is expressly said to be of the Lord,
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֗עַל | vaiyaal | and he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| וַיַּגֵּד֙ | vaiyaged | and he told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לְאָבִ֣יו | leaviv | to father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וּלְאִמּ֔וֹ | uleimo | and to mother his | H517 → | 220 times |
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִשָּׁ֛ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| רָאִ֥יתִי | raiti | I have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בְתִמְנָ֖תָה | vetimnatah | in Timnah <towards> | H8553 → | 12 times |
| מִבְּנ֣וֹת | mibenot | one of [the] daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| וְעַתָּ֕ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| קְחוּ־ | kechu- | get | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אוֹתָ֥הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> her | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לִּ֖י | li | for <the> me | ||
| לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ | leishah | to a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
וַיַּ֗עַלand he went up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
וַיַּגֵּד֙and he told
vaiyagedH5046 →370 times
לְאָבִ֣יוto father his
leavivH1 →1212 times
וּלְאִמּ֔וֹand to mother his
uleimoH517 →220 times
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אִשָּׁ֛הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
רָאִ֥יתִיI have seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
בְתִמְנָ֖תָהin Timnah <towards>
vetimnatahH8553 →12 times
מִבְּנ֣וֹתone of [the] daughters of
mibenotH1323 →588 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
וְעַתָּ֕הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
קְחוּ־get
kechu-H3947 →966 times
אוֹתָ֥הּ<obj.> her
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
לִּ֖יfor <the> me
li
לְאִשָּֽׁה׃to a wife
leishahH802 →781 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
2 Kings 14:9But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a…
it leads to
- Judges 9:8–15
One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
- Proverbs 26:9
Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11
So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- 2 Samuel 12:1–4
Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.
- 1 Kings 4:33
He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
- Judges 9:8–15
Through
Genesis 34:4So Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”
it leads to
- Genesis 21:21
And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 21:21
Through
Genesis 21:21And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
it leads to
- Numbers 13:3
So at the consent of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,
- Genesis 27:46
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
- Numbers 13:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19.13; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
