Bible Strands
Judges 14:18
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!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Before sunset on the seventh day of the feast, the men of the city press Samson with his riddle, and he answers by exposing their coerced solution.
The words — The phrase בְּטֶרֶם יָבֹא הַחַרְסָה (be./Te.rem ya.Vo' ha./Char.sa/h) literally means “before the sun went down,” establishing the deadline. The verb וַיֹּאמְרוּ (va/i.Yo.me.ru) records the city men’s direct demand.
The thread — The deadline and forced answer directly follow Judges 14:17, where Samson’s wife relays the solution to her people, and immediately precedes Judges 14:19, where Samson’s anger drives him to Ashkelon. The riddle’s honey-and-lion contrast anchors the immediate narrative cycle.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that revelation yields only under pressure, not through voluntary pursuit. It asks the reader to track how external coercion replaces divine enablement in the pursuit of truth.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.