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Judges 15:2

in Judges 15

“I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

KJV

And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

This verse in Judges 15

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

at the time of the wheat harvest

on Judges 15:1-3

The reader learned at 14:20 that the wife was given away, so the chapter opens with Samson finding out what the last one reported. Wheat harvest fixes the season. Albert Barnes takes her still being in her father's house as a sign she was betrothed rather than married.

This site's exposition

her younger sister more beautiful than she

Her father says he was sure Samson hated her, and Wesley answers that no father may give away another man's wife without his consent. Barnes notes that Samson's father had paid the dowry, so the younger sister is offered. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown cite Leviticus 18:18 against it.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Letter 19: To Vigilius · Written before 397.

proposed

But the perfidy of the maiden being thus discovered, he abstained from intercourse with her, and returned to his father's house. The damsel, disturbed in mind, and justly dreading that the wrath of this mighty man would be kindled into fury by this wrong, gave her hand to another man, one whom Samson, relying on his fidelity, had brought with him as his bridesman to his marriage. But neither by this expedient of a marriage did she avoid offence.

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

SERMON 118.4 · Written before 542.

proposed

Then follow the words "Samson was angry because a friend married his wife." This friend prefigured all heretics. It is a great mystery, my brothers. Heretics who divide the church have wanted to marry the wife of the Lord and carry her away. By departing …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Hated her - Because thou didst desert her: but this was no sufficient cause; for he should have endeavoured a reconciliation, and not have disposed of another man's wife without his consent.
And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Yet this is all he had to say in excuse of this injury. Thus he made the worst of jealousies to patronize the worst of robberies. But it will never bear us out in doing ill to say, "We thought others designed ill." 2.
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her--This allegation was a mere sham, a flimsy pretext to excuse his refusal of admittance. The proposal he made of a marriage with her younger sister was but an insult to Samson, and one which it was unlawful for an Israelite to accept (Le 18:18).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Thou hadst utterly hated her - As he was conscious she had given him great cause so to do. Her younger sister - The father appears to have been perfectly sincere in this offer.
I gave her - In marriage. Samson had probably not heard of this before. Samson’s father had paid the dowry for the older sister; her father therefore offers her sister in her room. The fear of Samson probably also influenced him.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אָבִ֗יהָfather her

    ʾavihaH1 →1212 times

  • אָמֹ֤רcertainly <to think>

    ʾamorH559 →5305 times

  • אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙I thought

    ʾamartiH559 →5305 times

  • כִּי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • שָׂנֹ֣אcertainly <to hate>

    sano'H8130 →146 times

  • שְׂנֵאתָ֔הּyou hated her

    senetahH8130 →146 times

  • וָאֶתְּנֶ֖נָּהand I gave her

    vaettenenahH5414 →2011 times

  • לְמֵרֵעֶ֑ךָto companion your

    lemereekhaH4828 →7 times

  • הֲלֹ֨א¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • אֲחֹתָ֤הּ[is] sister her

    ʾachotahH269 →

  • הַקְּטַנָּה֙<the> young

    haketanahH6996 →101 times

  • טוֹבָ֣הgood

    tovahH2896 →538 times

  • מִמֶּ֔נָּהmore than her

    mimenahH4480 →1188 times

  • תְּהִי־let her belong

    tehi-H1961 →3559 times

  • נָ֥אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • לְךָ֖to <the> you

    lekha

  • תַּחְתֶּֽיהָ׃in place of her

    tachteihaH8478 →505 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 26:9

    So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 1:13

      I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.

    • Acts 22:8

      ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.

    • Philippians 3:6

      as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

    • Galatians 1:13–14

      For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

  • Through

    Judges 14:16

    Then Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me! You do not really love me! You have posed to my people a riddle, but have not explained it to me.” “Look,”…

    it leads to

    • Judges 16:15

      “How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of…

  • Through

    Genesis 38:14

    she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah…

    it leads to

    • Genesis 38:26

      Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

  • Through

    Judges 14:20

    and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

    it leads to

    • John 3:29

      The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

    • John 13:18

      I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: ‘The one who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Judges

Samson Destroys the Philistines with an Ass' Jawbone — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Samson Destroys the Philistines with an Ass' Jawbone — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19: To Vigilius; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 118.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.