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Hebrew noun (feminine) · H2420

חִידָה

chidahkhee-daw'

riddle

17 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: chîydâh

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H2420is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 9 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 16
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H2420

a puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum, sententious maxim

The King James renders it: dark saying (sentence, speech), hard question, proverb, riddle.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

chidah is rendered "riddle". It stands 17 times in the Hebrew text, across nine books.

  • Eight of the uses stand in Judges, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Numbers 12:8I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
  • The Greek text spells it sixteen different ways.

The first use

I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

Numbers 12:8בְחִידֹ֔ת

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Eight of the word's seventeen uses are in Judges.

The other 30 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • the riddle4
  • a riddle2
  • by difficult matters2
  • riddle my2
  • riddles2
  • and parables their1
  • by riddles1
  • of intrigues1
  • of the riddle1
  • riddle your1

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

All 17, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

16 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • הַחִידָ֖ה2
  • בְחִיד֜וֹת1
  • בְּחִידֽוֹת׃1
  • בְחִידֹ֔ת1
  • הַ֣חִידָ֔ה1
  • הַֽחִידָ֥ה1
  • הַחִידָ֑ה1
  • וְחִידֹתָֽם׃1
  • חִידָ֑ה1
  • חִידָ֖ה1
  • חִ֝יד֗וֹת1
  • חִיד֣וֹת1

and 4 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • the definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singular5HTd/Ncfsa
  • noun · feminine plural3HNcfpa
  • preposition + noun · feminine plural3HR/Ncfpa
  • noun · feminine singular2HNcfsa
  • noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singular2HNcfsc/Sp1bs
  • conjunction (“and”) + noun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine plural1HC/Ncfpc/Sp3mp
  • noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 2nd person masculine singular1HNcfsc/Sp2ms

Numbers

one use
  • I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

    Numbers 12:8

    • בְחִידֹ֔תvechidotpreposition + noun · feminine pluraltagged: by riddles

Judges

eight uses
  • “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.

    Judges 14:12

    • חִידָ֑הchidahnoun · feminine singulartagged: a riddle
  • 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.”

    Judges 14:13

    • חִידָתְךָ֖chidatekhanoun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: riddle your
  • So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.” For three days they were unable to explain the riddle.

    Judges 14:14

    • הַחִידָ֖הhachidahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singulartagged: the riddle
  • So on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”

    Judges 14:15

    • הַ֣חִידָ֔הhachidahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singulartagged: the riddle
  • Then Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me! You do not really love me! You have posed to my people a riddle, but have not explained it to me.” “Look,” he said, “I have not even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you?”

    Judges 14:16

    • הַֽחִידָ֥הhachidahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singulartagged: the riddle
  • She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer. And in turn she explained the riddle to her people.

    Judges 14:17

    • הַחִידָ֖הhachidahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singulartagged: the riddle
  • Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”

    Judges 14:18

    • חִידָתִֽי׃chidatinoun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: riddle my
  • Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house,

    Judges 14:19

    • הַחִידָ֑הhachidahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singulartagged: of the riddle

1 Kings

one use
  • Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.

    1 Kings 10:1

    • בְּחִידֽוֹת׃bechidotpreposition + noun · feminine pluraltagged: by difficult matters

2 Chronicles

one use
  • Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. So she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind.

    2 Chronicles 9:1

    • בְחִיד֜וֹתvechidotpreposition + noun · feminine pluraltagged: by difficult matters

Psalms

two uses
  • I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:

    Psalms 49:4

    • חִידָתִֽי׃chidatinoun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: riddle my
  • I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

    Psalms 78:2

    • חִ֝יד֗וֹתchidotnoun · feminine pluraltagged: riddles

Proverbs

one use
  • by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

    Proverbs 1:6

    • וְחִידֹתָֽם׃vechidotamconjunction (“and”) + noun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: and parables their

Ezekiel

one use
  • “Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel

    Ezekiel 17:2

    • חִידָ֖הchidahnoun · feminine singulartagged: a riddle

Daniel

one use
  • In the latter part of their reign, when the rebellion has reached its full measure, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne.

    Daniel 8:23

    • חִידֽוֹת׃chidotnoun · feminine pluraltagged: of intrigues

Habakkuk

one use
  • Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?’

    Habakkuk 2:6

    • חִיד֣וֹתchidotnoun · feminine pluraltagged: riddles

The letters

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →