John Gill Commentary Judges 14:15

John Gill Commentary

Judges 14:15

1697–1771
Reformed Baptist
John Gill
John Gill

John Gill Commentary

Judges 14:15

1697–1771
Reformed Baptist
SCRIPTURE

"And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson`s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father`s house with fire: have ye called us to impoverish us? is it not [so]?" — Judges 14:15 (ASV)

And it came to pass on the seventh day
Not on the seventh day of the feast, for some time before that they applied to his wife, and she pressed him hard to disclose it; but on the sabbath day, as Kimchi, and so Jarchi says, on the seventh day of the week, not on the seventh day of the feast, for it was the seventh day of the feast; this is so clear, that the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, instead of the seventh, read the fourth day:

that they said unto Samson's wife, entice your husband, that he may
declare unto us the riddle ;
that is, persuade him to tell the meaning of it to her, that she might declare it to them:

lest we burn you and your father's house with fire ;
in which she now was, not as yet being taken home to her husband, and her in it; this they said to terrify her, and make her importunate with Samson to explain the riddle to her, if he had any value for her, and her life:

have you called us to take that we have ?
invited them to the wedding feast, to strip them of their clothes, and even take their very shirts off of their backs, which they must have been obliged to part with, if they could not explain the riddle, or send for other suits and shirts from their own houses: "is it not so?" verily this is the case, nor can it be understood otherwise than a contrived business between you and your husband, to get our raiment, woollen and linen, from us.