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Judges 14:13

in Judges 14

But if you cannot solve it, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.” “Tell us your riddle,” they replied. “Let us hear it.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

but if ye cannot declare it unto me, then shall ye give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

KJV

But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

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This verse in Judges 14

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

I will now put forth a riddle--Riddles are a favorite Oriental amusement at festive entertainments of this nature, and rewards are offered to those who give the solution. Samson's riddle related to honey in the lion's carcass. The prize he offered was thirty sindinim, or shirts, and thirty changes of garments, probably woolen.

This site's exposition

now put forth a riddle

on Judges 14:12-14

The word for riddle is chidah, the same word used of the hard questions the queen of Sheba brings to Solomon at 1 Kings 10:1 and of the dark saying Ezekiel is told to speak at Ezekiel 17:2. The stake is thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment against the same, so a wedding game carries the price of a small fortune on each side. Adam Clarke observes that the riddle offers no rule of interpretation to anyone who was not there, since the road to the answer runs through a lion nobody saw and honey nobody was told about. Three of the seven days are spent by the end of verse 14.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

But if ye cannot declare it unto me,.... Explain the riddle in the space of time allowed: then shall ye give me thirty sheets, and thirty change of garments; so many shirts and suits of apparel: and they said unto him, put forth thy riddle that we may hear it; not thereby to judge whether they would agree to his proposals, but hereby suggesting that they accepted his terms and conditions, either to give or receive the above premium, if they did or did not hit on the explanation of the riddle.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Samson's riddle was his own invention, for it was his own achievement that gave occasion for it: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. Read my riddle, what is this?

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאִם־and if

    veim-H518 →1069 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תוּכְלוּ֮you will be able

    tukheluH3201 →194 times

  • לְהַגִּ֣ידto tell

    lehagidH5046 →370 times

  • לִי֒to <the> me

    li

  • וּנְתַתֶּ֨םand you will give

    unetatemH5414 →2011 times

  • אַתֶּ֥םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • לִי֙to <the> me

    li

  • שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםthirty

    sheloshimH7970 →172 times

  • סְדִינִ֔יםlinen garments

    sedinimH5466 →

  • וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֖יםand thirty

    usheloshimH7970 →172 times

  • חֲלִיפ֣וֹתchanges of

    chalifotH2487 →12 times

  • בְּגָדִ֑יםgarments

    begadimH899 →217 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • ל֔וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • ח֥וּדָהask [the] riddle !

    chudahH2330 →4 times

  • חִידָתְךָ֖riddle your

    chidatekhaH2420 →17 times

  • וְנִשְׁמָעֶֽנָּה׃so we may hear it

    venishmaenahH8085 →1159 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Samson Slays a Lion — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Samson Slays a Lion — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 14 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 14 →