NOTES for Jdg 14:1-20
Samson's marriage, which at first seems a whim to his parents, becomes an occasion for inflicting harm on the enemy. Samson's character is evident: strength and a stormy temperament exist alongside simplicity, and quick-wittedness alongside guilelessness.
Samson's exploits certainly harmed Israel's enemies, and he himself looks like an epic hero. But a question arises: what is the spiritual meaning of his antics? Were a special calling from birth and enormous strength really used only for a series of escapades that, though bitterly vexing the enemy, did not shake their dominion?
Perhaps the answer is this: the people were so thoroughly crushed by the pagans that, under such circumstances, Samson's unrestrained deeds were precisely what could encourage them and show that not everyone had bowed before the pagans...