Judges 14:14
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth food, And out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days declare the riddle.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And he said, Out of the taker of food came food, and out of the strong came the sweet. And at the end of three days they were still not able to give the answer.
Webster's Revision
And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
World English Bible
He said to them, "Out of the eater came forth food. Out of the strong came forth sweetness." They couldn't in three days declare the riddle.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days declare the riddle.
Definitions for Judges 14:14
Clarke's Judges 14:14 Bible Commentary
And he said unto there - Thus he states or proposes his riddle: -
Out of the eater came forth meat,
And out of the strong came forth sweetness.
Instead of strong, the Syriac and Arabic have bitter. I have no doubt that the riddle was in poetry; and perhaps the two hemistichs above preserve its order. This was scarcely a fair riddle; for unless the fact to which it refers were known, there is no rule of interpretation by which it could be found out. We learn from the Scholiast, on Aristophanes, Vesp. v. 20, that it was a custom among the ancient Greeks to propose at their festivals, what were called γριφοι, griphoi, riddles, enigmas, or very obscure sayings, both curious and difficult, and to give a recompense to those who found them out, which generally consisted in either a festive crown, or a goblet full of wine. Those who failed to solve them were condemned to drink a large portion of fresh water, or of wine mingled with a sea-water, which they were compelled to take down at one draught, without drawing their breath, their hands being tied behind their backs. Sometimes they gave the crown to the deity in honor of whom the festival was made: and if none could solve the riddle, the reward was given to him who proposed it. Of these enigmas proposed at entertainments etc., we have numerous examples in Athenaeus, Deipnosoph, lib. x., c. 15, p. 142, edit. Argentorat., and some of them very like this of Samson for example: -
Διδους τις ουκ εδωκεν, ουδ' εχων εχει;
"Who gives, and does not give?
Who has not, and yet has?"
This may be spoken of an enigma and its proposer: he gives it, but he does not give the sense; the other has it, but has not the meaning.
Εστι φυσις θηλεια βρεφη σοζους' ὑπο κολποις
Αυτης· ταυτα δ' αφωνα βοην ἱστησι γεγωνον.
Και δια ποντιον οιδμα, και ηπειρου δια πασης,
Οἱς εθελει θνητων· τοις δ' ου παρεουσις ακουειν
Εξεστι· κωφην δ' ακοης αισθησιν εχουσιν.
"There is a feminine Nature, fostering her children in her bosom; who, although they are dumb, send forth a distinct voice over every nation of the earth, and every sea, to whom soever they please. It is possible for those who are absent to hear, and for those who are deaf to hear also."
continued...
Barnes's Judges 14:14 Bible Commentary
Three days ... on the seventh day - Proposed alterations, such as "six days ... on the fourth day," are unnecessary if it be remembered that the narrator passes on first to the seventh day (at Judges 14:15), and then goes back at Judges 14:16 and beginning of Judges 14:17 to what happened on the 4th, 5th, and 6th days.
To take that we have - See the margin. They affirm that they were only invited to the wedding for the sake of plundering them by means of this riddle, and if Samson's wife was a party to plundering her own countrymen, she should suffer for it.
