Judges 14:14

And he said unto them, out of the eater came forth meat,.... Out of a devouring eater, such as the lion is, came forth honey, or that was taken out of it, which Samson, and his father and mother, ate

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. No JFB commentary on these verses.

i.e. Out of that strong and devouring creature, the lion, came forth sweet meat, to wit, honey; withal it is covertly implied, that the Philistines, though now they had strength on their side, and dominion over Israel, whom they did devour upon all occasions, yet at last they should become meat to the Israelites.

Judges 14:14 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.Ver. 14. Out of the eater came forth meat.] Vorator cibat, et crudelis delectat. This was the problem or riddle, made up of contraries, as many of God’ s ways are. An express figure, saith Diodate, of the mystery of the sweet and saving food of the soul, brought forth by Christ’ s death, by which he destroyed death and the devil. See John 6:5 Hebrews 2:14. Others apply it to affliction sanctified, where, as in honey, the sweetest lieth in the bottom, and all things co-operate for good. God loveth to store up comforts for his people, where they would least expect to find them. And they could not in three days.] Though they had tried their utmost, and tired their wits, and well nigh cracked their heads together, yet they could not unriddle it. And as little can carnal people comprehend the gospel, which therefore they reprehend, and persecute the professors thereof. Much study cere-diminuit-brum, saith Ennius.

(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 comb In 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 ã (7) may easily have been confused with ã (4).

Verse 14. 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 honour 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 c., 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: - Διδουςτιςουκεδωκεν, ουδ' εχωνεχει; "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. Εστιφυσιςθηλειαβρεφησοζους' ὑποκολποις Αυτης·ταυταδ' αφωναβοηνἱστησιγεγωνον. Καιδιαποντιονοιδμα, καιηπειρουδιαπασης, Οἱςεθελειθνητων·τοιςδ' ουπαρεουσιςακουειν Εξεστι·κωφηνδ' ακοηςαισθησινεχουσιν. "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: - Θηλειαμενουνεστιφυσις, επιστολη. Βρεφηδ' εναυτῃπεριφερειταγραμματα Αφωναδ' ονταταυτατοιςπορῥωλαλει, Οἱςβουλεθ uu903? ἑτεροςδ' αντυχῃτιςπλησιον Ἑστωςαναγινωσκοντος, ουκακουσεται. "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: - Τηςφυσεωςὁσαγαιαφερειτροφος, ουδ' ὁσαποντος, Ουτεβροτοισινεχειγυιωναυξησινὁμοιαν. Αλλ' ενμενγενεσειπρωτοσπορῳεστιμεγιστη, Ενδεμεσαιςακμαιςμικρα, γηρᾳδεπροςαυτῳ Μορφῃκαιμεγεθειμειζωνπαλινεστινἁπαντων.

14. The riddle is cast into poetical form; the verse consists of two members with three beats in each. The structure of the retort in Judges 14:18 is the same.

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. Out of the eater came forth meat, And out of the strong came forth sweetness.Riddles were generally put in a poetical form, and so here the two parts of the riddle are made to form a distich.