Judges 15:2

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) Verily thought . . . utterly hated.—In the emphatic simplicity of the Hebrew style it is, Saying I said that hating, thou hatest her. As Samson had left his wife in anger immediately after the wedding feast, the father might have reasonably supposed that he meant finally to desert her.

I gave her.—This must mean I have betrothed her, for otherwise she would not have still been living in her father’s house. But if the father had been an honourable man he could not under these circumstances have done less than restore the dowry which Manoah had given for her.

To thy companion.—See on Judges 14:20.

Her younger sister.—The father sought in this way to repair the wrong he had inflicted, and to offer some equivalent for the dower which he had wrongly appropriated.

Benson Commentary

Jdg 15:2. That thou hadst utterly hated her — Because thou didst desert her: but this was no sufficient cause; for he should have endeavoured to effect a reconciliation, and not have disposed of another man’s wife without his consent. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? — The marrying of a sister while the other was alive was expressly forbidden by the law of Moses: see Leviticus 18:18. And therefore this offer might probably irritate Samson the more.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-8 When there are differences between relations, let those be reckoned the wisest and best, who are most forward to forgive or forget, and most willing to stoop and yield for the sake of peace. In the means which Samson employed, we must look at the power of God supplying them, and making them successful, to mortify the pride and punish the wickedness of the Philistines. The Philistines threatened Samson's wife that they would burn her and her father's house. She, to save herself and oblige her countrymen, betrayed her husband; and the very thing that she feared, and by sin sought to avoid, came upon her! She, and her father's house, were burnt with fire, and by her countrymen, whom she thought to oblige by the wrong she did to her husband. The mischief we seek to escape by any unlawful practices, we often pull down upon our own heads.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I gave her - In marriage. Samson had probably not heard of this before. Samson's father had paid the dowry for the older sister; her father therefore offers her sister in her room. The fear of Samson probably also influenced him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her—This allegation was a mere sham, a flimsy pretext to excuse his refusal of admittance. The proposal he made of a marriage with her younger sister was but an insult to Samson, and one which it was unlawful for an Israelite to accept (Le 18:18).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her, because thou didst desert her in great wrath: but this was not sufficient cause; for he should have endeavoured a reconciliation, or waited for it; and not have disposed of another man’s wife without his consent; which is not only against the law of God, but of nature also.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her,.... Not only thought so, but said so, and had said it over and over again; for the words are, "saying I said" (t), affirmed it confidently and constantly, that "in hating thou hast hated her" (u), with an implacable hatred, that there was no hope of any reconciliation:

therefore I gave her to thy companion; this he said to excuse his daughter, and soften his resentment, that it was not his daughter's doing, but his, and that he had disposed of her not to anybody, but to a companion of Samson's; and what follows seems to be said with the same view, for he might be in some fear of Samson, knowing him to be a man of spirit and strength:

is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her; that is, to wife; and two things he observes to recommend her, her youth and beauty, in which she was preferable to her sister. Such incestuous marriages were common with the old Canaanites, and it seems still continued; but were condemned by the law of God, and not allowed an Israelite, which Samson knew full well, and therefore listened not to the proposal; see Leviticus 18:3.

(t) "dicendo dixi", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator. (u) "odiendo odires eam", Pagninus, Montanus; so Piscator.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - Is not her younger sister, etc. Samson's father-in-law might well have thought that Samson had forsaken his wife, and would never forgive her treachery. Possibly too he was a covetous man, and glad to get a second dower. Anyhow, his answer was conciliatory; but Samson was not in a mood to accept excuses, or be softened by conciliation. Judges 15:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Further Acts of Samson. - Judges 15:1-8. His Revenge upon the Philistines. - Judges 15:1.

Some time after, Samson visited his wife in the time of the wheat harvest with a kid-a customary present at that time (Genesis 38:17)-and wished to go into the chamber (the women's apartment) to her; but her father would not allow him, and said, "I thought thou hatedst her, and therefore gave her to thy friend (Judges 14:20): behold her younger sister is fairer than she; let her be thine in her stead."