King James Version

Judges 14:18

And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

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וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּvayomrvand sayאָמַרconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “and say”, the next action in the storyH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…לוֹ֩lvotoלוֹ֩preposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “to”toאַנְשֵׁ֨יanshea certainאִישׁnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct — “a certain”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH376a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)also, another, any (man), a certain, [phrase] champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), [phrase] none, one, people, person, [phra…הָעִ֜ירhairthe cityעִירdefinite article, noun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “the city”, the ordinary formH5892a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town.בַּיּ֣וֹםbayomin as long asיוֹםpreposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in as long as”, the ordinary formH3117a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)age, [phrase] always, [phrase] chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), [phrase] elder, [idiom] end, [phrase] evening, [phrase] (for) ever(-lasting, -more), [idiom] full, life, as (so) lon…הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗יhashviithe seventhשְׁבִיעִיdefinite article, adjective, ordinal, masculine, singular, absolute — “the seventh”, the ordinary formH7637seventhseventh (time).בְּטֶ֨רֶם֙beteremin beforeטֶרֶםpreposition, adverb — “in before”H2962properly, non-occurrence; used adverbially, not yet or beforebefore, ere, not yet.יָבֹ֣אyavoto comeבּוֹאverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “to come”, an unfinished actionH935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)abide, apply, attain, [idiom] be, befall, [phrase] besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, [idiom] certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, [idiom] doubtless again, [phrase] eat,…הַחַ֔רְסָהhacharsahthe itchחֶרֶסdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute, directional ending — “the itch”, the ordinary formH2775the itch; the sunitch, sun.מַהmahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.מָּת֣וֹקmatoqsweetמָתוֹקadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “sweet”, the ordinary formH4966sweetsweet(-er, -ness).מִדְּבַ֔שׁmidvashfrom honeyדְּבַשׁpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “from honey”, the ordinary formH1706honey (from its stickiness); by analogy, syruphoney(-comb).וּמֶ֥הumehand howמָהconjunction, particle, interrogative — “and how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.עַ֖זazstrongעַזadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “strong”, the ordinary formH5794strong, vehement, harshfierce, [phrase] greedy, mighty, power, roughly, strong.מֵאֲרִ֑יmearifrom lionאֲרִיpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “from lion”, the ordinary formH738a lion(young) lion, [phrase] pierce (from the margin).וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvayomerand sayאָמַרconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and say”, the next action in the storyH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…לָהֶ֔םlahemtoלָהֶ֔םpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “to”toלוּלֵא֙luleifלוּלֵאconjunction — “if”H3884if notexcept, had not, if (...not), unless, were it not that.חֲרַשְׁתֶּ֣םcharashtembe deafחָרַשׁverb, qal, perfect, 2nd person, masculine, plural — “be deaf”, a completed actionH2790to scratch, i.e. (by implication) to engrave, plough; hence (from the use of tools) to fabricate (of any material); figuratively, to devise (in a bad sense); hence (from the idea of secrecy) to be silent, to let alone; hence (by implication) to be deaf (as an accompaniment of dumbness)[idiom] altogether, cease, conceal, be deaf, devise, ear, graven, imagine, leave off speaking, hold peace, plow(-er, man), be quiet, rest, practise secretly, keep silence, be silent, speak not a word, be still, hold tongue, worker.בְּעֶגְלָתִ֔יbeeglatiin heiferעֶגְלָהpreposition, noun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “in heifer”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5697a (female) calf, especially one nearly grown (i.e. a heifer)calf, cow, heifer.לֹ֥אlono , -r,לֹאparticle, negative — “no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…מְצָאתֶ֖םmetsatemcomeמָצָאverb, qal, perfect, 2nd person, masculine, plural — “come”, a completed actionH4672properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present[phrase] be able, befall, being, catch, [idiom] certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), [idiom] have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-) on, meet (with)…חִידָתִֽיchidatidark sayingחִידָהnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “dark saying”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH2420a puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum, sententious maximdark saying (sentence, speech), hard question, proverb, riddle.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them: If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle.

Young’s Literal Translation

And the men of the city say to him on the seventh day, before the sun goeth in: — 'What [is] sweeter than honey? And what stronger than a lion?' And he saith to them: 'Unless ye had ploughed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle.'

World English Bible

The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.”

Darby Translation

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey, And what stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle.

Douay-Rheims

And they on the seventh day before the sun went down said to him: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before sunrise, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? and Sampson said to them, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye would not have known my riddle.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς πόλεως ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ πρὸ τοῦ ἀνατεῖλαι τὸν ἥλιον, τί γλυκύτερον μέλιτος, καὶ τί ἰσχυρότερον λέοντος; καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Σαμψὼν, εἰ μὴ ἠροτριάσατε ἐν τῇ δαμάλει μου, οὐκ ἂν ἔγνωτε τὸ πρόβλημά μου.