Judges Chapter 14 verse 14 Holy Bible
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.
read chapter 14 in ASV
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.
read chapter 14 in BBE
And he said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet." And they could not in three days tell what the riddle was.
read chapter 14 in DARBY
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.
read chapter 14 in KJV
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.
read chapter 14 in WBT
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.
read chapter 14 in WEB
And he saith to them: `Out of the eater came forth meat, And out of the strong came forth sweetness;' and they were not able to declare the riddle `in' three days.
read chapter 14 in YLT
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14) Out of the strong came forth sweetness.--The antithesis is not perfect, but we cannot strain the word "strong" to mean "bitter," as the LXX. and Syriac do. Josephus gives the riddle in the form,"the all-devouring having generated sweet food from itself, though itself far from sweet" (Antt. v. 8, ? 6). The whole of Samson's life has been described by Ewald as "a charming poetic picture, in which the interspersed verses gleam forth like the brightest pearls in a circlet." It must be confessed that the riddle was hardly a fair one, for the event to which it alluded was most unusual, and no one could have guessed such a riddle without some clue; for--" 'Tis seldom when the bee doth leave her combIn the dead carrion."Shakespeare: Henry V., ii. 4.Cassel quotes a curious parallel from the legends of North Germany. The judges offer a woman her husband's life if she can make a riddle which they cannot guess. On her way to the court she had found the carcase of a horse in which a bird had built its nest and hatched six young ones, which she took away. Her riddle was (I venture rudely to translate the rude old lines):--"As hitherwards on my way I sped,I took the living out of the dead,Six were thus of the seventh made quit:--To rede my riddle, my lords, 'tis fit."The judges failed, and the husband was spared (Mullen-hof, Sagen, p. 506).In three days.--It is hard to see why this is mentioned if it was only on the seventh day (Judges 14:15) that they tried the unfair means of inducing Samson's wife to reveal the secret. Bishop Hervey conjectures, with much probability, that we should read shesheth "six," for shelsheth, "four." The LXX. and Syriac read "on the fourth day," and (7) may easily have been confused with (4). . . . Parallel Commentaries ...HebrewSo he said to them:וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 559: To utter, say“Out of the eaterמֵהָֽאֹכֵל֙ (mê·hā·’ō·ḵêl)Preposition-m, Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singularStrong's 398: To eatcameיָצָ֣א (yā·ṣā)Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proximsomething to eat,מַאֲכָ֔ל (ma·’ă·ḵāl)Noun - masculine singularStrong's 3978: An eatableand out of the strongוּמֵעַ֖ז (ū·mê·‘az)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Adjective - masculine singularStrong's 5794: Strong, vehement, harshcameיָצָ֣א (yā·ṣā)Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proximsomething sweet.”מָת֑וֹק (mā·ṯō·wq)Adjective - masculine singularStrong's 4966: Sweet, sweetnessFor threeשְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת (šə·lō·šeṯ)Number - masculine singular constructStrong's 7969: Three, third, thricedaysיָמִֽים׃ (yā·mîm)Noun - masculine pluralStrong's 3117: A daythey were unableוְלֹ֥א (wə·lō)Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particleStrong's 3808: Not, noto explainלְהַגִּ֥יד (lə·hag·gîḏ)Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive constructStrong's 5046: To be conspicuousthe riddle.הַחִידָ֖ה (ha·ḥî·ḏāh)Article | Noun - feminine singularStrong's 2420: A riddle, an enigmatic, perplexing saying or questionJump to PreviousAble Couldn't Declare Eat Eater End Expound Meat Riddle Something Strong Sweet Sweetness Taker Three
