Reading for December 28th

Read Judges 14.1-20
In verses 1-20: Samson's riddle.
In verse 3: Their hesitation is fitting for intermarriage often leads to apostasy (Deut 7.3-4).
In verse 4: God works behind ordinary human events (compare 9.24).
In verse 5: The first trip to Timnah is for parental negotiations and a meeting of the couple (v. 7).
In verse 6: The spirit of the Lord gave other judges the ability to serve as military leaders (3.10; 6.34; 11.29), but infuses Samson with physical strength (v. 19).
In verses 8-9: Samson's second trip was to marry her.
Does he discover the honey or on his way back from Timnah?
In verse 10: Now his father arrives in Timnah, and Samson gives a feast.
In verse 11: Companions were standard feature of marriage celebrations (Ps 45.14).
In verse 14: Proposing and solving riddles was a favorite intellectual exercise in the ancient world.
In verses 16-17: Her persistence is akin to Delilah (16.6-17; compare to you do not really love me with 16.15).
In verse 18: Their solution sounds like a riddle itself.
Is "love" a more profound answer to their question?
Samson's response also occurs in riddle form.
By exploiting his wife, they have plowed with his heifer.
In verse 19: The people of Ashkelon were also Philistines.
Samson can pay off his wager and still not lose.
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