Discovery BoxJudges 13:6 
Context13:6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God 1 came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger – he was very awesome. 2 I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.
Judges 14:15
Context14:15 On the fourth 3 day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. 4 If you refuse, 5 we will burn up 6 you and your father’s family. 7 Did you invite us here 8 to make us poor?” 9
Judges 19:3
Context19:3 her husband came 10 after her, hoping he could convince her to return. 11 He brought with him his servant 12 and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly. 13
1 tn Heb “The man of God.”
2 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome.”
3 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
4 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
5 tn Heb “lest.”
6 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “house.”
8 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew
9 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
10 tn Heb “arose and came.”
11 tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”
12 tn Or “young man.”
13 tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”
