The Meaning of Judges 14:1 Explained

Judges 14:1

KJV: And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

YLT: And Samson goeth down to Timnath, and seeth a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines,

Darby: Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.

ASV: And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Samson  went down  to Timnath,  and saw  a woman  in Timnath  of the daughters  of the Philistines. 

What does Judges 14:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 14:1-14 - A Self-Willed Youth
Timnath lay just across the frontier, in the Philistine country. It was a bad match and the beginning of life-trouble. Young people cannot be too careful as to their first love-match. Pray over it before you let your heart go. Take the advice of parents and friends. Whatever you do, marry only "in the Lord." For a Christian to marry one who is destitute of the divine life, is not only to set Christ's law at defiance, but to incur the misery of perpetual discord. It is impossible to have perfect fellowship with one who is not agreed with you in your deepest nature, 1 Corinthians 7:39.
This young lion, on the path between the vineyards, seems to have been the means of awakening Samson to claim that divine strength which had awaited his appeal but until that moment had been undiscovered. May it not be that lions have been allowed to roar at you, that you might be driven back upon God, and compelled to avail yourself of those infinite resources which reside in the ever-living Savior? [source]

Chapter Summary: 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

What do the individual words in Judges 14:1 mean?

And went down Samson to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines
וַיֵּ֥רֶד שִׁמְשׁ֖וֹן תִּמְנָ֑תָה וַיַּ֥רְא אִשָּׁ֛ה בְּתִמְנָ֖תָה מִבְּנ֥וֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים

וַיֵּ֥רֶד  And  went  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
שִׁמְשׁ֖וֹן  Samson 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שִׁמְשֹׁון  
Sense: a Danite, son of Manoah, a Nazarite for life, and a judge of Israel for 20 years.
תִּמְנָ֑תָה  to  Timnah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: תִּמְנָה  
Sense: a town on the northern boundary of Judah later assigned to Dan.
וַיַּ֥רְא  and  saw 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
אִשָּׁ֛ה  a  woman 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
בְּתִמְנָ֖תָה  in  Timnah 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, feminine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: תִּמְנָה  
Sense: a town on the northern boundary of Judah later assigned to Dan.
מִבְּנ֥וֹת  of  the  daughters 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים  of  the  Philistines 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine plural
Root: פְּלִשְׁתִּי  
Sense: an inhabitant of Philistia; descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) to the western seacoast of Canaan.