Samson and Marriage

Marriage & Family

14

1Then Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, get her for me as a wife.” 3But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Yet Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is right for me.”

– Judges 14:1-3
(NASB® © 2020)

Simson and the women. A tragic story. Not much time had passed since the Holy Spirit began to write something about this man – and already now He is “compelled” to point out that Samson had his eye on a woman (Judges 14:1). Samson must have been so fascinated by this lady that he immediately went to his parents to arrange a wedding (Judges 14:2).

After all, he asked his parents. That wasn’t bad, of course. But it was more of a pro forma request. However, when they asked him – a little cautiously – if he didn’t want to take one of God’s people, he disregarded their advice and entered into this union, which was not permitted under the law of God (Deuteronomy 7:1). But that didn’t matter to Samson, as long as the woman was right in his eyes (Judges 14:7).

When the wedding feast came, however, it became apparent that Samson had not yet sufficiently detached himself from his parental home. He said to his wife: “Behold, I have not told my father and my mother, and should I tell you?” (Judges 14:16). With these words, he made it clear that he valued his relationship with his parents more than his relationship with his wife. He would discuss things with his parents that he would not discuss with his wife.

The whole wedding celebration took such an unhappy turn that Samson stormed off in a rage and returned to his father’s house (Judges 14:19). When he finally changed his mind and wanted to return to his wife, she had already been taken (Judges 15:1) …

Conclusion: Anyone who wants to get married would do well to heed their parents’ advice. Those who have married would do well to put their new relationship with their spouse above their old relationship with their parents.

We don’t need to point indignantly at Samson for all the things he did wrong, but we should learn something from his mistakes.

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