Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 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." — Judges 14:5 (ASV)

The vineyards of Timnath. — All this part of Palestine, and especially the neighboring valley of Sorek (Judges 16:4), was famous for its vines (Isaiah 5:2; Jeremiah 2:21). The hills of Judah, which at that time were laboriously terraced up to the summit, like the hillsides of the Italian valleys, were particularly favorable for vineyards (Genesis 49:11). Now they are bleak and bare from the denudation of centuries, but through labor could once more be made beautiful and fruitful.

A young lion. —Literally, a lion of lions, like “a kid of goats” (Judges 13:15). We see that lions and other wild beasts were still common in Palestine, both from the direct statement of the fact (1 Kings 10:19; 2 Kings 17:25, and others), from the incidents that show it was so (1 Samuel 17:34; 2 Samuel 23:20; 1 Kings 13:25; 1 Kings 20:36), and from the names Arieh (2 Kings 15:6), Lebaoth (“lionesses,”Joshua 15:32), Beth Lebaoth (Joshua 19:6), Shaalbim (“jackals”), Zeboim (“hyenas”), and others.