Judges 14:5-9

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Summary

• Lions and bees in Israel.

Details and/or Comments

• Lions - one of the species common in Israel back then, but not now.

• A swarm of bees found the dead lion and moved in. This could have been even a year later; and would have been after scavengers had eaten the lion's flesh, and it had become just a dried, bony carcass. (Honeybees don't move into something that is rotted and decomposing.)

Scripture

Judges 14:5-9 – Lions in Israel (also bees)

Scripture Passage

Comments and Links

Jdg 14:5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and behold, a young lion roared against him. Jdg 14:6 The Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid; and he had nothing in his hand: but he didn't tell his father or his mother what he had done.

Though it seems that his parents were traveling with him; at this point (when Samson was at the vineyard), they were not together. "Young lion" does not mean "newborn"; nor does it necessarily mean "little." To the average human, this animal would have probably been life-threatening. (There are many words in the Old Testament Hebrew language for the English word "lion." Three of them are used in this passage!) Lions Samson often did extreme feats of strength that far exceeded what other humans could do. But this was only possible when "The Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him." "Super-Human" Abilities

Scripture Passage

Comments and Links

Jdg 14:7 He went down, and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. Jdg 14:8 After a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. Jdg 14:9 He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate: but he didn't tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

This would have been after the lion's flesh had been completely eaten by scavengers or had completely decomposed; and there was nothing rotted left... just a dry "shell." Bees

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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.