Judges 13:25 says, “The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” Normally when the Spirit comes upon a judge, the very next scene has the judge mustering the Lord’s people for holy war (Judges 3:10; Judges 6:34; Judges 11:29). So we are expecting Judges 14:1–20 to detail a war or at least a skirmish, followed by success. Yet the reality is different. Samson will eventually kill thirty Philistines, but that is some ways off, and he does it himself (no army or tribe involved). In the meantime, he pursues his own purposes.