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Judges Chapter 14

Samson desires a wife of the Philistines. He kills a lion: in whose mouth he afterwards finds honey. His marriage feast, and riddle, which is discovered by his wife. He kills, and strips thirty Philistines. His wife takes another man.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 Then Samson went down to Thamnatha, and seeing there a woman of the daughters of the Philistines, 2 He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying: I saw a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines: I beseech you, take her for me to wife. 3 And his father and mother said to him: Is there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou wilt take a wife of the Philistines, who are uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father: Take this woman for me; for she hath pleased my eyes. Is there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren... This shows his parents were at first against his marriage with a Gentile, it being prohibited, Deuteronomy 7:3; but afterwards they consented, knowing it to be by the dispensation of God; which otherwise would have been sinful in acting contrary to the law. 4 Now his parents knew not that the thing was done by the Lord, and that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 5 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Thamnatha. And when they were come to the vineyards of the town, behold a young lion met him, raging and roaring. 6 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion as he would have torn a kid in pieces, having nothing at all in his hand: and he would not tell this to his father and mother. 7 And he went down, and spoke to the woman that had pleased his eyes. 8 And after some days, returning to take her, he went aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of the lion, and a honey-comb. 9 And when he had taken it in his hands, he went on eating: and coming to his father and mother, he gave them of it, and they ate: but he would not tell them that he had taken the honey from the body of the lion.

10 So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for his son Samson: for so the young men used to do. 11 And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought him thirty companions to be with him. 12 And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, which if you declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty shirts, and as many coats: 13 But if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me thirty shirts and the same number of coats. They answered him: Put forth the riddle, that we may hear it. 14 And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not for three days expound the riddle. 15 And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson: Sooth thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the riddle meaneth. But if thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee, and thy father's house. Have you called us to the wedding on purpose to strip us? 16 So she wept before Samson and complained, saying: Thou hatest me, and dost not love me: therefore thou wilt not expound to me the riddle, which thou hast proposed to the sons of my people. But he answered: I would not tell it to my father and mother: and how can I tell it to thee? 17 So she wept before him the seven days of the feast: and, at length, on the seventh day, as she was troublesome to him, he expounded it. And she immediately told her countrymen. 18 And they, on the seventh day before the sun went down, said to him: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle.

19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ascalon, and slew there thirty men whose garments he took away, and gave to them that had declared the riddle. And being exceeding angry, he went up to his father's house: 20 But his wife took one of his friends and bridal companions for her husband.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Descendit ergo Samson in Thamnatha: vidensque ibi mulierem de filiabus Philisthiim, 2 ascendit, et nuntiavit patri suo et matri suæ, dicens: Vidi mulierem in Thamnatha de filiabus Philisthinorum: quam quæso ut mihi accipiatis uxorem. 3 Cui dixerunt pater et mater sua: Numquid non est mulier in filiabus fratrum tuorum, et in omni populo meo, quia vis accipere uxorem de Philisthiim, qui incircumcisi sunt? Dixitque Samson ad patrem suum: Hanc mihi accipe: quia placuit oculis meis. 4 Parentes autem ejus nesciebant quod res a Domino fieret, et quæreret occasionem contra Philisthiim: eo enim tempore Philisthiim dominabantur Israëli. 5 Descendit itaque Samson cum patre suo et matre in Thamnatha. Cumque venissent ad vineas oppidi, apparuit catulus leonis sævus, et rugiens, et occurrit ei. 6 Irruit autem spiritus Domini in Samson, et dilaceravit leonem, quasi hædum in frustra discerpens, nihil omnino habens in manu: et hoc patri et matri noluit indicare. 7 Descenditque, et locutus est mulieri quæ placuerat oculis ejus. 8 Et post aliquot dies revertens ut acciperet eam, declinavit ut videret cadaver leonis, et ecce examen apum in ore leonis erat ac favus mellis. 9 Quem cum sumpsisset in manibus comedebat in via: veniensque ad patrem suum et matrem, dedit eis partem, qui et ipsi comederunt: nec tamen eis voluit indicare quod mel de corpore leonis assumpserat.

10 Descendit itaque pater ejus ad mulierem, et fecit filio suo Samson convivium: sic enim juvenes facere consueverant. 11 Cum ergo cives loci illius vidissent eum, dederunt ei sodales triginta ut essent cum eo. 12 Quibus locutus est Samson: Proponam vobis problema: quod si solveritis mihi intra septem dies convivii, dabo vobis triginta sindones, et totidem tunicas: 13 sin autem non potueritis solvere, vos dabitis mihi triginta sindones, et ejusdem numeri tunicas. Qui responderunt ei: Propone problema, ut audiamus. 14 Dixitque eis:

De comedente exivit cibus,
et de forti egressa est dulcedo.

Nec potuerunt per tres dies propositionem solvere. 15 Cumque adesset dies septimus, dixerunt ad uxorem Samson: Blandire viro tuo et suade ei ut indicet tibi quid significet problema: quod si facere nolueris, incendemus te, et domum patris tui: an idcirco vocastis nos ad nuptias ut spoliaretis? 16 Quæ fundebat apud Samson lacrimas, et quærebatur, dicens: Odisti me, et non diligis: idcirco problema, quod proposuisti filiis populi mei, non vis mihi exponere. At ille respondit: Patri meo et matri nolui dicere: et tibi indicare potero? 17 Septem igitur diebus convivii flebat ante eum: tandemque die septimo cum ei esset molesta, exposuit. Quæ statim indicavit civibus suis. 18 Et illi dixerunt ei die septimo ante solis occubitum:

Quid dulcius melle,
et quid fortius leone?

Qui ait ad eos:

Si non arassetis in vitula mea,
non invenissetis propositionem meam.

19 Irruit itaque in eum spiritus Domini, descenditque Ascalonem, et percussit ibi triginta viros: quorum ablatas vestes dedit iis qui problema solverant. Iratusque nimis ascendit in domum patris sui: 20 uxor autem ejus accepit maritum unum de amicis ejus et pronubis.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition