Judges 15:2 · Bible study
Judges 15:2 Commentary: The Father's Offer of the Younger Sister
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why did the Timnite father offer Samson his younger sister? An exegetical study exploring the legal and moral tensions of this proposal in light of Mosaic law.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The father offers Samson his younger sister as a replacement after giving the original wife to another man, claiming he thought Samson hated her.
- Key words: Amor amarti (“I certainly said/thought”) and sano senetah (“you utterly hated”), infinitive absolutes emphasizing the father’s assertion and the supposed hatred.
- Main debate: Whether the father’s claim was sincere (Clarke) or a pretext (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown).
- Theological theme: Human efforts to fix sin with more sin; the cycle of broken trust and vengeance.
- Best use: A case study on the moral and legal limits of marriage and the consequences of settling conflicts apart from God’s commands.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
“I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.”
KJV King James Version 1769
And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and her father saith, I certainly said, that thou didst certainly hate her, and I give her to thy companion; is not her sister--the young one--better than she? Let her be, I pray thee, to thee, instead of her.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And her father said, I verily thought that thou didst utterly hate her; therefore I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Let her, I pray thee, be thine instead of her.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
I thought thou hadst hated her, and therefore I gave her to thy friend: but she hath a sister, who is younger and fairer than she, take her to wife instead of her.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y dijo el padre de ella: Persuadíme que la aborrecías, y díla á tu compañero. Mas su hermana menor, ¿ no es más hermosa que ella? tómala, pues, en su lugar.
E disse o pai dela: Persuadi-me que a aborrecias, e dei-a a teu companheiro. Mas sua irmã menor, não é mais bela que ela? Toma-a, pois, em seu lugar.
J’ ai pensé dit-il, que tu avais pour elle de la haine, et je l’ ai donnée à ton compagnon. Est-ce que sa jeune sœur n’ est pas plus belle qu’ elle? Prends-la donc à sa place.
und sprach: Ich meinte, du wärest ihr gram geworden, und habe sie deinem Freunde gegeben. Sie hat aber eine jüngere Schwester, die ist schöner denn sie; die laß dein sein für diese.
Want haar vader zeide: Ik sprak zeker, dat gij haar ganselijk haattet, zo heb ik haar aan uw metgezel gegeven. Is niet haar kleinste zuster schoner dan zij? Laat ze u toch zijn in de plaats van haar.
e gli disse: “Io credevo sicuramente che tu l’avessi presa in odio, e però l’ho data al tuo compagno; la sua sorella minore non e più bella di lei? Prendila dunque in sua vece”.
Bo rzekł ojciec jej, mówiąc: Mniemałem, żeś ją miał w nienawiści; przetoż dałem ją towarzyszowi twemu; azaż siostra jej młodsza nie jest cudniejsza nad nię? weźmijże ją sobie miasto niej.
И сказал отец ее: я подумал, что ты возненавидел ее, и я отдал ее другу твоему; вот, меньшая сестра красивее ее; пусть она будет тебе вместо ее.
說：「我估 定 你是極其 恨她，因此我將她給了 你的陪伴。她的妹子 不是 比她 還美麗嗎？ 你 可以 娶來代替她吧！」
And her father said, It seemed to me that you had only hate for her; so I gave her to your friend: but is not her younger sister fairer than she? so please take her in place of the other.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Judges 15:2
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that the father’s claim to have thought Samson hated his wife was either a pretext or a sincere misjudgment. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown calls it a mere sham, a flimsy excuse for refusing Samson entry. Adam Clarke, by contrast, takes the father at his word: the father appears to have been perfectly sincere in this offer. Barnes and Gill add that fear of Samson likely influenced the father. On the offer of the younger sister, all note its illegality: Gill points to Leviticus 18:18, which forbids marrying two sisters while both are alive. The proposal thus placed Samson in a position contrary to God’s law, and he rightly rejected it. The consensus is that the father’s actions, giving away the wife and then offering a sister, were unjust and only escalated the conflict, leading to Samson’s revenge on the Philistines.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Father sincere: Adam Clarke, citing the father's straightforward offer and lack of evident deceit.
- Father insincere: Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, calling the claim a 'mere sham' and a flimsy pretext; also Barnes and Gill cite fear as a key motive.
What is clear: The father’s action broke the marriage bond and the offer of the younger sister was contrary to the Mosaic prohibition in Leviticus 18:18.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The father’s sincerity | He gave Samson’s wife away, which was a breach of trust under the marriage agreement. | Adam Clarke considers the father sincere in his offer of the younger sister; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown calls it a flimsy pretext. Christians differ on whether the father acted out of genuine concern or pure cowardice. |
| Legality of marrying a sister-in-law | The offer was unlawful under Mosaic law if the former wife was still alive. | Some note that the Canaanite culture did not have this restriction, so the father may have been following local custom. Others argue Samson knew the law and rejected the offer on that basis. |
| Samson’s rejection of the offer | Samson refused the substitute and left, which led to his retaliation against the Philistines. | Some see Samson’s refusal as righteous (refusing an unlawful marriage), while others view it as driven by anger and revenge. |
| Moral responsibility for the escalation | The father’s decision contributed to the conflict. | One view blames the father entirely for compounding the injustice. Another sees both the father and Samson as acting in ways that escalated the situation, with shared responsibility. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Judges 15:2 unfolds during the time of wheat harvest in Israel, roughly late spring (May). Timnah was a Philistine town on the border of Judah. Samson’s marriage to a Philistine woman (Judges 14) was unusual but not forbidden in itself. The trouble began when Samson’s wife, under pressure from her countrymen, extracted the answer to his riddle (14:16, 17). Angered, Samson walked out, and her father gave her to Samson’s companion (14:20). Now, months later, Samson returns with a kid as a conciliatory gift, expecting reconciliation.
The father’s excuse, I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her, reflects an attempt to justify his actions. The double infinitive in Hebrew ( amōr amarti and sanō senetah ) intensifies both his claim and the supposed hatred. Culturally, offering a younger sister as a substitute was not unknown in ancient Near Eastern custom, but the Mosaic law explicitly prohibited it (Leviticus 18:18). The father’s fear of Samson’s strength (Barnes, Gill) likely drove his offer, but it put Samson in a moral and legal bind.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Judges 15:2. The most notable feature is the Hebrew syntax: the infinitive absolute amōr coupled with amarti (“saying I said”) and sanō coupled with senetah (“hating you hated”). This construction intensifies the verb, underscoring the father’s assertion and the depth of supposed hatred. The form tehi (let her belong) plus na (please) forms a polite but desperate plea.
Reception History
Early Christian readers, such as Augustine, saw in this verse an example of how human attempts to mend relationships can stray from God’s order. Medieval Jewish commentators like Rashi emphasized the father’s fear and the legal impropriety of offering a sister. Reformation-era commentators (Geneva, Matthew Henry) focused on the father’s weak excuse and the tragic spiral of sin. In modern times, the verse is often used to illustrate the problematic nature of marital arrangements in the period of the judges and the need for fidelity to God’s law even in difficult circumstances.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Broken trust and weak excuses. The father’s claim to have thought Samson hated his wife does not justify giving her away (v. 2). His fear of Samson drove a decision that shattered any chance of peace.
- A bad proposal compounds the wrong. Offering the younger sister was both unlawful (Lev. 18:18) and insulting. It attempted to solve one injustice with another.
- From personal grievance to national conflict. One man’s private betrayal escalates into a cycle of vengeance that consumes whole communities (v. 6). Small relational choices have large consequences.
Five-point outline
- The return of the offended. Samson comes back with a gift, willing to reconcile. His heart is not bitter.
- An impossible situation. The wife is gone. The father’s explanation rings hollow.
- A forbidden offer. The younger sister is proposed, against God’s law. The father tries to salvage his own skin.
- Samson’s refusal. He does not accept the substitute. He leaves, setting a different course.
- The spark that burned the fields. The father’s decision becomes the match that ignites Samson’s revenge and later the death of the woman and her father (v. 6).
Illustration hooks
- A boss who passes over an employee for a promotion, then offers a less desirable role to keep the peace. The gesture feels like an insult.
- A friend who breaks a confidence and then suggests a different friend as a replacement confidant. Trust broken is not easily repaired with a swap.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why did the father think offering the younger sister was a good idea?
- Was Samson wrong to walk away angry again?
- How could this personal conflict lead to such widespread destruction?
Leading a Discussion
This verse shows what happens when people try to fix a broken relationship by offering a substitute. The father’s offer sounds generous, a younger, fairer sister, but it violates both God’s law and Samson’s trust. As you discuss this passage, consider how our attempts to smooth over wrongs sometimes create new ones.
Discussion questions
- Read Judges 14:20 and 15:1, 2. What prompted the father to give Samson’s wife to his companion?
- The father says he thought Samson hated her. Is that a reasonable assumption or an excuse? What evidence supports each side?
- Why does the father offer the younger sister? What does this suggest about his motives and his fear?
- How does Leviticus 18:18 inform our reading of this proposal? What does it tell us about God’s standard for marriage?
- How would you describe Samson’s response in verse 3? Is it justifiable, or does it continue the cycle of revenge?
- In what ways do people today offer “substitutes” to fix relational breaches, only to make things worse?
- What might a faithful response have looked like for the father? For Samson?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 38:14 | She took off the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn’t given to him as a wife. |
| Judges 14:16 | Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?” |
| Judges 14:20 | But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend. |
| Acts 26:9 | “I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Thou hadst utterly hated her - As he was conscious she had given him great cause so to do. Her younger sister - The father appears to have been perfectly sincere in this offer.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes observes that Samson's father had already paid the dowry for the older sister, so the father's offer of her younger sister in her place was driven primarily by fear of Samson's reaction, not by fairness. Samson appears to have been unaware of this arrangement until now.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
And her father sayde, I thought that thou hadst hated her: therefore gaue I her to thy companion. Is not her yonger sister fayrer then shee? take her, I pray thee, in stead of the other.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill points out that the father defends himself by insisting Samson had repeatedly declared total hatred for his wife, which justified giving her to another man. He then offers the younger sister, citing her beauty and youth, but Gill notes such a marriage was incestuous under God's law.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB dismisses the father's claim that he thought Samson hated his wife as a flimsy pretext. He also notes that offering the younger sister was both an insult to Samson and forbidden for an Israelite under Leviticus 18:18.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch note that Samson brought a kid as a customary gift when he returned to his wife, showing an intent to reconcile. The father's refusal reveals that he already assumed Samson hated her, which is why he gave her away to another man.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange emphasizes Samson's noble refusal to take personal revenge against his father-in-law; instead he treats the wrong done to him as a rightful basis for attacking the Philistines as a whole. By catching three hundred foxes and torching their harvest, he transforms a private injury into a strategic blow for Israel's freedom.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that Samson's gift of a kid was not about its value but its meaning as a customary token of reconciliation, intended to restore friendship after a quarrel. This small gesture shows that even in his anger, Samson was willing to make the first step toward peace.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley rejects Matthew Henry's claim that the goodness of God's promised land will intensify the punishment of those who perish. He argues that this reasoning fails under predestination: if some are not elected, they never had a genuine offer, and if all the elect are saved, the grant was never free to the others.