Judges 14:14
New International Version
He replied, “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” For three days they could not give the answer.

New Living Translation
So he said: “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet.” Three days later they were still trying to figure it out.

English Standard Version
And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” And in three days they could not solve the riddle.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.

New American Standard Bible
So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” But they could not tell the answer to the riddle in three days.

NASB 1995
So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” But they could not tell the riddle in three days.

NASB 1977
So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.”But they could not tell the riddle in three days.

Legacy Standard Bible
So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” But they could not tell the riddle in three days.

Amplified Bible
So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” And they could not solve the riddle in three days.

Christian Standard Bible
So he said to them: Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet. After three days, they were unable to explain the riddle.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So he said to them: Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet. After three days, they were unable to explain the riddle.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
He said to them: “From the eater went out food, and from the cruel went out sweetness.” And they could not interpret the riddle for three days

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he said to them, Meat came forth of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong: and they could not tell the riddle for three days.

Contemporary English Version
Samson said: Once so strong and mighty--now so sweet and tasty! Three days went by, and the Philistine young men had not come up with the right answer.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to 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.

English Revised Version
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 declare the riddle.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So Samson said to them, "From the eater came something to eat. From the strong one came something sweet." For three days they couldn't solve the riddle.

Good News Translation
He said, "Out of the eater came something to eat; Out of the strong came something sweet." Three days later they had still not figured out what the riddle meant.

International Standard Version
So he told them: From the eater came something edible; from the strong something sweet. For three days they couldn't solve the riddle.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Literal Standard Version
And he says to them: “Out of the eater came forth something to eat, | And out of the strong came forth [something] sweet”; and they were not able to declare the riddle [in] three days.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
So he said to them, “Out of the eater came food, out of the strong came sweetness.” For three days they were unable to answer the riddle,

NET Bible
He said to them, "Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong one came something sweet." They could not solve the riddle for three days.

New Revised Standard Version
He said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” But for three days they could not explain the riddle.

New Heart English Bible
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.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Samson's Riddle
13But 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.” 14So 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. 15So 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?”…

Cross References
Judges 14:13
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 14:15
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?"


Treasury of Scripture

And he said to 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.

out of the eater

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Deuteronomy 8:15,16
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; …

1 Kings 17:6
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

they could

Proverbs 24:7
Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

Matthew 13:11
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Acts 8:31
And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

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Able Couldn't Declare Eat Eater End Expound Meat Riddle Something Strong Sweet Sweetness Taker Three
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Judges 14
1. Samson desires a wife of the Philistines.
6. In his journey he kills a lion
8. In a second journey he finds honey in the carcass
10. Samson's marriage feast
12. His riddle by his wife is made known
19. He strikes down thirty Philistines
20. His wife is married to another.














(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 (7) may easily have been confused with (4). . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So he said to them:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Out of the eater
מֵהָֽאֹכֵל֙ (mê·hā·’ō·ḵêl)
Preposition-m, Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

came
יָצָ֣א (yā·ṣā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

something to eat,
מַאֲכָ֔ל (ma·’ă·ḵāl)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3978: An eatable

and out of the strong
וּמֵעַ֖ז (ū·mê·‘az)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 5794: Strong, vehement, harsh

came
יָצָ֣א (yā·ṣā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

something sweet.”
מָת֑וֹק (mā·ṯō·wq)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 4966: Sweet, sweetness

For three
שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת (šə·lō·šeṯ)
Number - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

days
יָמִֽים׃ (yā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

they were unable
וְלֹ֥א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

to explain
לְהַגִּ֥יד (lə·hag·gîḏ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5046: To be conspicuous

the riddle.
הַחִידָ֖ה (ha·ḥî·ḏāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2420: A riddle, an enigmatic, perplexing saying or question


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OT History: Judges 14:14 He said to them Out (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 14:13
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