Judges 14:16

Jdg 14:16 And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told [it] me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told [it] my father nor my mother, and shall I tell [it] thee?

Ver. 16. And Samson’s wife wept before him.] Tears are women’s weapons or engines, and many of them

“ Ut flerent oculos erudiere suos. ” - Ovid, Amor., lib. ii.

Apollodorus in Athenaeus telleth of the harlot Phryne, that from her feigned tears she was surnamed κλαυσιγελως, laugh-cry; because she could easily do either.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Unto them which are of my nation.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(16) Wept before him.—Samson’s riddle had the effect of making the whole wedding-feast of this ill-starred marriage one of the most embittered and least joyous that ever fell to a bridegroom’s lot. This was a just punishment for his lawless fancies, though God overruled them to His own ends. A weeping, teazing, fretting bride and sullen guests might have served as a warning that Philistine marriages were not good for the sons of Israel.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. before him] upon him and Jdg_14:17, i.e. on his neck; the same idiom in Gen_45:15. For the woman’s wile cf. Jdg_16:15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Samson's wife wept before him,.... When she came to him to get out of him the explanation of the riddle, thinking that her tears would move him to it:

and said, thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: another artifice she used, well knowing he could not bear to have his affection called in question, which was now very strong, as is usual with newly married persons:

thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people; her countrymen, fellow citizens, and neighbour, and could not but be dear to her, and respected by her; so that what affected and afflicted them must have some influence upon her:

and hast not told me; that is, the explanation of it, otherwise it is likely she had heard the riddle itself told:

and he said unto her behold, l have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? his parents he was greatly indebted to, for whom he had the highest reverence and esteem, whose fidelity and taciturnity he had sufficient knowledge of, and yet he had not thought fit to impart it to them; how therefore could she expect to be trusted with such a secret, with whom he had not been long acquainted, not long enough to know whether she could keep it or not?

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Though I have had much more experience of their fidelity and taciturnity than of thine.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. I have not told it my father nor my mother — A thing kept secret from one’s parents is, with the Orientals, a thing not to be told in other ears, or, at least, very rarely. “The greatest proof of confidence,” says Roberts, “is to say, I have told you what I have not revealed to my father. In proof of the great affection one has for another, it is said, He has told things to him that he would not have related to his parents. ‘My friend, do tell me the secret.’ ‘Tell you? Yes, when I have told my parents.’”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Samson"s wife, etc. This statement does not follow ver. 15, but is a parallel narrative to that beginning in ver. 14, And they could not in three days," etc., down to the end of ver. 15, bringing the story down to the same point of time, viz., the seventh day. One stream of the narrative tells us what the young men did when Samson had propounded his riddle; the other tells us what Samson"s wife did. From the very first, no doubt, she had wished to be in the secret, not perhaps from treacherous motives, but from curiosity, and the natural desire to be in her husband"s confidence, and she pressed her request with cajolery and petulance. The young men at the same time had tried to find out the riddle by fair means. But on the seventh day they threatened to burn her and her father unless she found out the riddle for them, and under the terror of this threat she extracted the secret from Samson and divulged it to the Philistine young men. The only difficulty is to explain why a gap of four days occurs in the account between vers. 14 and 15. The most likely thing is, that after three days" vain attempt to find out the riddle, they began to tamper with Samson"s wife, offering her money, as the Philistine lords did to Delilah, (Jud_1:16:5) though the narrative does not mention it; but that on the seventh day, becoming desperate, and thinking that the woman was not doing her best, they resorted to the dreadful threat of burning her.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All you do is hate me! You do not love me

Samson's wife basically said the same thing twice for emphasis. AT: "You do not really love me at all" (See: Parallelism)

riddle

a game in which the players must discover the answer to a difficult question

Look here

This is used to get someones attention. Here "look" means to "listen." AT: "Listen to me" or "Pay attention to what I am about to say"

if I have not told my father or my mother, should I tell you?

Samson was rebuking her for demanding that he tell her the answer. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "I have not even told my father or mother. I will not tell you." or "you should not demand that I tell you, since I have not even told my parents, and they are closer to me than you are." (See: Rhetorical Question and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

during the seven days that their feast lasted

Possible meanings are 1) "during the seven days of their feast" or 2) "during the rest of the seven days of their feast."

the seventh day

"day 7" (See: Ordinal Numbers)

she pressured him very much

Here the word "pressured" means "urged." AT: "she kept urging him to tell her" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

Samson

love

people group

feast

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.