Judges 6:19

6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, ¹  along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food ²  to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.

Judges 9:24

9:24 He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ³  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ⁴ 

Judges 14:9

14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ⁵  to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. ⁶ 

---

¹ tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”

² tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “their brother.”

⁴ tn Heb “so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come, and their blood might be placed on Abimelech, their brother, who murdered them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to murder his brothers.”

⁵ tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.

⁶ sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.