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.
Read Chapter 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 th...
Why should I mention many examples? Of the many, I shall set forth one, and by the mention of this one it may be clear how dangerous it is to marry a woman who is a stranger [to the faith]. Who more than the Nazarite, Samson, ever was mightier and from the cradle more endowed with strength by the Spirit of God? Yet he was betrayed by a woman and because of her he was unable to stay in God’s good favor.…
By chance one day, during a nuptial feast, the young people at the banquet challenged one another to a game of question and answer. And while one caught up the other with spicy banter, as is the custom on such occasions, the contest, which had begun in fun, grew heated. Then Samson proposed the question to his fellow guests: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.” He promised as the reward for their wisdom that those who guessed it should have thirty shirts and the same number of coats, for that was the number of men present, but if they did not s...
As to the question implied in the words “Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness,” what else does it signify but Christ rising from the dead? Truly, out of the eater, that is, from death which devours and consumes all things, came forth that food which said, “I am the bread that has come down from heaven.” The Gentiles were converted and received the sweetness of life from him whom human iniquity loaded with bitterness and offered bitter vinegar and gall as a drink. Thus, from the mouth of the dead lion, that is, from the death of Christ who lay down and slept like the lion, there proceeded a swarm of bees, that is, of Christians. When Samson said, “If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle,” this heifer is the church which had the secrets of our faith revealed to her by her husband. By the teaching and preaching of the apostles and saints, she spread to the ends of the earth the mysteries of the Trinity, the resurr...
Let us see further what kind of a parable Samson proposed to the strangers. “Out of the eater came forth food,” he said, “and out of the strong came forth sweetness.” This parable was revealed, carried to friends and solved. Samson was defeated. If he was a just man, the fact is well hidden and the justice of the man is deep down. For since he is read to have been overcome by the flattery of a woman and went in to a harlot, his merits seem to totter in the eyes of those who do not understand so well the secrets of truth. Indeed, he is commanded by a precept of the Lord to take the harlot as his wife. Perhaps we can say that in the Old Testament this was not blameworthy or disgraceful, seeing that whatever was said or done was a matter of prophecy. - "Sermon 118.2"
Riddle. Samson must no longer be considered as a private man. He was authorized by the Spirit of the Lord, thus to punish the oppressors of Israel. (Calmet)
Though these 30 men had done him no injury in person, (Haydock) they had sinned against God, and deserved to die. (Salien)
He slew them publicly in the city (Menochius) though others believe that he did it in the neighbouring country, as it does not appear that the people knew of their death. (Calmet)
