Judges 14:18 - 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.”
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What does "Judges 14:18" mean?
This verse is the climax of a riddle contest in the biblical story of Samson (Judges 14). Let's break it down:
"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?” This is the Philistine men giving Samson the correct answer to his riddle. Samson posed the riddle at his wedding feast, promising a reward if they solved it within seven days.
"He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.” This is Samson's bitter response. "Plowing with my heifer" is an idiom meaning they cheated. In this context, the "heifer" is Samson's Philistine wife. They pressured (or threatened) her to get the answer from Samson and reveal it to them.
In essence, the verse means:
The Philistine men successfully answered Samson's riddle, but he accused them of cheating, claiming they only knew the answer because they used his wife to trick him. It reveals his anger and sense of betrayal, which is a catalyst for the escalating conflict between Samson and the Philistines.
Judges 14:18 - 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.”
What does "Judges 14:18" mean?
This verse is the climax of a riddle contest in the biblical story of Samson (Judges 14). Let's break it down:
"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?” This is the Philistine men giving Samson the correct answer to his riddle. Samson posed the riddle at his wedding feast, promising a reward if they solved it within seven days.
"He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.” This is Samson's bitter response. "Plowing with my heifer" is an idiom meaning they cheated. In this context, the "heifer" is Samson's Philistine wife. They pressured (or threatened) her to get the answer from Samson and reveal it to them.
In essence, the verse means:
The Philistine men successfully answered Samson's riddle, but he accused them of cheating, claiming they only knew the answer because they used his wife to trick him. It reveals his anger and sense of betrayal, which is a catalyst for the escalating conflict between Samson and the Philistines.