Judges 14:1-3 - I have seen a Philistine woman

14:1,2

So far the story has been mostly about Samson’s parents, and they, particularly the wife, have come out of it pretty well. Manoah and his wife appear to be a devout couple who genuinely seek to serve the Lord. We now come to Samson proper, and the whole tone changes. Samson went down to Timnah, a town about 20 miles west of Jerusalem, and was, according to archeological evidence, a thriving place during the time of the Judges. Samson sees a Philistine woman, fancies her, and tells his parents to get her for him as a wife. This incident sums up all that was wrong with Samson. First, he should not be marrying a woman from a foreign nation (Ex 34:16; Deut 7:3). His attitude towards his parents is appalling, and he comes across as an entitled little git.

14:3

His parents don’t like the idea. We are not told exactly why, but given their devotion to the Lord expressed in the previous chapter, and that they were told Samson had a special mission in God’s plans, it is likely because they know it is against the Law. Their statement “isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or our people” was probably a way of trying to coax Samson to do something different. The alternative is that it was just an expression of a natural desire for him to marry someone from their own people. The term “uncircumcised Philistine” shows that they didn’t think much of the Philistines. However, Samson is a head strong idiot. His response in NIV, “she is the right one for me” is less accurate than ESV (and others) which has “she is right in my eyes”, and this compares well with 13:1.