And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave changes of clothing unto them who expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.
All Commentaries on Judges 14:19 Go To Judges 14
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
“What,” answer they, “is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?” To which he replied, “If you had not farmed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.” O divine mystery! O manifest sacrament! We have escaped from the slayer, we have overcome the strong one. The food of life is now there, where before was the hunger of a miserable death. Dangers are changed into safety, bitterness into sweetness. Grace came forth from the offense, power from weakness, and life from death.
There are, however, those who think, on the other hand, that the wedlock could not have been established unless the lion of the tribe of Judah had been slain; and so in his body, that is, the church, bees were found who store up the honey of wisdom, because after the passion of the Lord the apostles believed more fully. This lion, then, Samson as a Jew killed, but in it he found honey, as in the figure of the heritage which was to be redeemed, that the remnant might be saved according to the election of grace.
“And the Spirit of the Lord,” it is said, “came upon him, and he went down to Ascalon, and killed thirty men of them.” For he could not fail to carry off the victory who saw the mysteries. And so in the garments they receive the reward of wisdom, the badge of intercourse, who resolve and answer the riddle.
