Judges 14:14

King James Version (KJV)

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 expound the riddle.

Adam Clarke
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 κολποιςπ

Αυτης· ταυτα δ ' αφωνα βοην ἱστησι γεγωνον.π

Και δια ποντιον οιδμα, και ηπειρου δια πασης,π

Οἱς εθελει θνητων· τοις δ ' ου παρεουσις ακουεινπ

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."

The relator brings in Sappho interpreting it thus: -

Θηλεια μεν ουν εστι φυσις, επιστολη.π

Βρεφη δ ' εν αυτῃ περιφερει τα γραμματαπ

Αφωνα δ ' οντα ταυτα τοις πορῥω λαλει,π

Οἱς βουλεθ· ἑτερος δ ' αν τυχῃ τις πλησιονπ

Ἑστως αναγινωσκοντος, ουκ ακουσεται.

"The Nature, which is feminine, signifies an epistle; and her children whom she bears are alphabetical characters: and these, being dumb, speak and give counsel to any, even at a distance; though he who stands nigh to him who is silently reading, hears no voice."

Here is another, attributed by the same author to Theodectes: -

Της φυσεως ὁσα γαια φερει τροφος, ουδ ' ὁσα ποντος,π

Ουτε βροτοισιν εχει γυιων αυξησιν ὁμοιαν.π

Αλλ ' εν μεν γενεσει πρωτοσπορῳ εστι μεγιστη,π

Εν δε μεσαις ακμαις μικρα, γηρᾳ δε προς αυτῳπ

Μορφῃ και μεγεθει μειζων παλιν εστιν ἁπαντων.

"Neither does the nourishing earth so bear by nature, nor the sea, nor is there among mortals a like increase of parts; for at the period of its birth it is greatest, but in its middle age it is small, and in its old age it is again greater in form and size than all."

This is spoken of a shadow. At the rising of the sun in the east, the shadow of an object is projected illimitably across the earth towards the west; at noon, if the sun be vertical to that place, the shadow of the object is entirely lost; at sunsetting, the shadow is projected towards the east, as it was in the morning towards the west.

Here is another, from the same author: -

Εισι κασιγνηται διτται, ὡν ἡ μια τικτειπ

Την ἑπεραν, αυτη δε τεκους ' ὑπο τησδε τεκνουται.

"There are two sisters, the one of whom begets the other, and she who is begotten produces her who begat her."

Day and night solve this enigma.

The following I have taken from Theognis: -

Ηδη γαρ με κεκληκε θαλαττιος οικαδε νεκρος,<-144 Τεθνηκως, ζωῳ φθεγγομενος στοματι.

Theogn. Gnom., in fine.

"A dead seaman calls me to his house; And, although he be dead, he speaks with a living mouth."

This dead seaman is a conch or large shellfish, of which the poet was about to eat. The mouth by which it spoke signifies its being used as a horn; as it is well known to produce, when opened at the spiral end and blown, a very powerful sound.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

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.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

Samson's riddle literally meant no more than that he had got honey, for food and for pleasure, from the lion, which in its strength and fury was ready to devour him. But the victory of Christ over Satan, by means of his humiliation, agonies, and death, and the exaltation that followed to him, with the glory thence to the Father, and spiritual advantages to his people, seem directly alluded to. And even death, that devouring monster, being robbed of his sting, and stripped of his horror, forwards the soul to the realms of bliss. In these and other senses, out of the eater comes forth meat, and out of the strong, sweetness. Samson's companions obliged his wife to get the explanation from him. A worldly wife, or a worldly friend, is to a godly man as an enemy in the camp, who will watch every opportunity to betray him. No union can be comfortable or lasting, where secrets cannot be intrusted, without danger of being divulged. Satan, in his temptations, could not do us the mischief he does, if he did not plough with the heifer of our corrupt nature. His chief advantage against us arises from his correspondence with our deceitful hearts and inbred lusts. This proved an occasion of weaning Samson from his new relations. It were well for us, if the unkindness we meet with from the world, and our disappointments in it, obliged us by faith and prayer to return to our heavenly Father's house, and to rest there. See how little confidence is to be put in man. Whatever pretence of friendship may be made, a real Philistine will soon be weary of a true Israelite.

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The Period of the Judges

The Judges of Israel

Samson the the Philistines

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