The Meaning of Judges 14:4 Explained

Judges 14:4

KJV: But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

YLT: And his father and his mother have not known that from Jehovah it is, that a meeting he is seeking of the Philistines; and at that time the Philistines are ruling over Israel.

Darby: His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD; for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

ASV: But his father and his mother knew not that it was of Jehovah; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But his father  and his mother  knew  not that it [was] of the LORD,  that he sought  an occasion  against the Philistines:  for at that time  the Philistines  had dominion  over Israel. 

What does Judges 14:4 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 14:4 mean?

But his father and mother not did know that of Yahweh it [was] that an occasion to move He was seeking against the Philistines for time that the Philistines had dominion over Israel -
וְאָבִ֨יו וְאִמּ֜וֹ לֹ֣א יָדְע֗וּ כִּ֤י מֵיְהוָה֙ הִ֔יא כִּי־ תֹאֲנָ֥ה הֽוּא־ מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ מִפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים וּבָעֵ֣ת הַהִ֔יא פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים מֹשְׁלִ֥ים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל פ

וְאָבִ֨יו  But  his  father 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
וְאִמּ֜וֹ  and  mother 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אֵם  
Sense: mother.
יָדְע֗וּ  did  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
כִּ֤י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
מֵיְהוָה֙  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-m, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
הִ֔יא  it  [was] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
כִּי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
תֹאֲנָ֥ה  an  occasion  to  move 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תַּאֲנָה 
Sense: occasion, time of heat or oestrous or copulation, sexual drive (of animal).
מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ  was  seeking 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine singular
Root: בָּקַשׁ  
Sense: to seek, require, desire, exact, request.
מִפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים  against  the  Philistines 
Parse: Preposition-m, 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.
וּבָעֵ֣ת  for  time 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: עֵת  
Sense: time.
הַהִ֔יא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים  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.
מֹשְׁלִ֥ים  had  dominion 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: מָשַׁל  
Sense: to rule, have dominion, reign.
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל  over  Israel 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation