Judges 14:8
New International Version
Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey.

New Living Translation
Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass.

English Standard Version
After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

Berean Standard Bible
When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey.

King James Bible
And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

New King James Version
After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion.

New American Standard Bible
When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

NASB 1995
When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

NASB 1977
When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he returned later to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

Amplified Bible
When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

Christian Standard Bible
After some time, when he returned to marry her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and there was a swarm of bees with honey in the carcass.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
After some time, when he returned to get her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and there was a swarm of bees with honey in the carcass.

American Standard Version
And after a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he returned from after days to take her and departed to see the skeleton of the lion, and behold, a swarm of bees was in the corpse of the lion, and the honey ran over his hands and he was walking

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And after some time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees, and honey were in the mouth of the lion.

Contemporary English Version
Later, Samson returned to Timnah for the wedding. And when he came near the place where the lion had attacked, he left the road to see what was left of the lion. He was surprised to see that bees were living in the lion's skeleton, and that they had made some honey.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And after some days returning to take her, he went aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of the lion and a honeycomb.

English Revised Version
And after a while he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Later he went back to marry her. [On his way] he left the road to look at the lion he had killed. He saw a swarm of bees and some honey in the lion's dead body.

Good News Translation
A few days later Samson went back to marry her. On the way he left the road to look at the lion he had killed, and he was surprised to find a swarm of bees and some honey inside the dead body.

International Standard Version
When he came back later to marry her, he turned aside to observe the lion's carcass. Amazingly, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, complete with honey.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And after a while he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

Literal Standard Version
and he turns back after [some] days to take her, and turns aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, a swarm of bees [are] in the body of the lion—and honey.

Majority Standard Bible
When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey.

New American Bible
Later, when he came back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the remains of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, and honey.

NET Bible
Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to see the lion's remains. He saw a swarm of bees in the lion's carcass, as well as some honey.

New Revised Standard Version
After a while he returned to marry her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

New Heart English Bible
After a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and look, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

Webster's Bible Translation
And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.

World English Bible
After a while he returned to take her, and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

Young's Literal Translation
and he turneth back after some days to take her, and turneth aside to see the carcase of the lion, and lo, a company of bees are in the body of the lion -- and honey.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Samson's Riddle
8When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey. 9So he scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. And when he returned to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.…

Cross References
Judges 14:7
Then Samson continued on his way down and spoke to the woman, because she was pleasing to his eyes.

Judges 14:9
So he scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. And when he returned to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.

Proverbs 25:16
If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.


Treasury of Scripture

And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.

to take her

Genesis 29:21
And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

Matthew 1:20
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

a swarm.

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Judges 14
1. Samson desires a wife of the Philistines.
6. In his journey he kills a lion
8. In a second journey he finds honey in the carcass
10. Samson's marriage feast
12. His riddle by his wife is made known
19. He strikes down thirty Philistines
20. His wife is married to another.














(8) After a time.--There is nothing to show how long this time was. A betrothal might last a year. In Judges 11:4 the same phrase ("after days ") is used of many years.

To take her.--To lead her to his own home after the bridal feast.

A swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.--This incident has been questioned, because it is truly said that bees hate all putrescence and decomposition, and that the notion of bees being generated in the rotting bodies of oxen (which we find in Virgil, Georgic 4, &c.) is a vulgar error. But it is overlooked that the word "carcase" here means (as the Syriac renders it) "skeleton." The fierce sun of the East dries up all the animal moisture of a dead body, and reduces it to a skeleton with extreme rapidity, and bees have no dislike to dried bones as a place in which to swarm. Thus Herodotus tells us (v. 114) that when the Amathusians cut off the head of Onesilus, because he besieged them, and hung it over their gates, a swarm of bees filled the skull with their combs and honey. Rosenmller also quotes the authority of the physician Aldrovand for the story that swarms of bees built their combs between the skeletons of two sisters who were buried in the Church of Santa Croce, at Verona, in 1566. (Comp. Plin. H. N., xi. 24; Varro, R. R., 3:16.)

Verse 8. - He returned to take her. All the preliminaries being settled between the parents, he returned to Timnath to take his bride by the same road which he and his parents had travelled by before, and, remembering his feat in killing the lion, very naturally turned aside to see what had become of the carcase. And, behold, there was a swarm of bees, etc. This has been objected to as improbable, because bees are very dainty, and would not approach a putrefying body. But as a considerable time had elapsed, it is very possible that either the mere skeleton was left, or that the heat of the sun had dried up the body and reduced it to the state of a mummy without decomposition, as is said to happen often in the desert of Arabia.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When [Samson] returned
וַיָּ֤שָׁב (way·yā·šāḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

later
מִיָּמִים֙ (mî·yā·mîm)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

to take her,
לְקַחְתָּ֔הּ (lə·qaḥ·tāh)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

he left
וַיָּ֣סַר (way·yā·sar)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5493: To turn aside

the road to see
לִרְא֔וֹת (lir·’ō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7200: To see

the lion’s
הָאַרְיֵ֑ה (hā·’ar·yêh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 738: A lion

carcass,
מַפֶּ֣לֶת (map·pe·leṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 4658: Fall, decadence, a ruin, a carcase

and in [it]
בִּגְוִיַּ֥ת (biḡ·wî·yaṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1472: A body, corpse

was
וְהִנֵּ֨ה (wə·hin·nêh)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

a swarm
עֲדַ֧ת (‘ă·ḏaṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 5712: A stated assemblage

of bees,
דְּבוֹרִ֛ים (də·ḇō·w·rîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 1682: The bee

along with their honey.
וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ (ū·ḏə·ḇāš)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1706: Honey, syrup


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OT History: Judges 14:8 After a while he returned to take (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 14:7
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