Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionAnd after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GSome time later, he returned to take her. He turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion — and there was a swarm of bees in the lion's carcass, and honey.
F.O.G.M
F.O.G MessageSome time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass — and there in the carcass was a swarm of bees, and honey.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleWhen Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey.
Footnotes
That Shimshon 'turns aside' (וַיָּסַר) to inspect the carcass is more than curiosity — touching a human or animal corpse rendered a Nazirite unclean (Num. 6:6–7). He handles what is forbidden, eats what he should not, and gives it to his parents without disclosure. The honey from the lion's carcass is thus a living parable before it becomes a riddle: sweetness drawn from death, strength become a vessel for nourishment. The sign embedded in the landscape foreshadows both Shimshon's own story and something far larger — life wrested from the jaws of the destroyer.
