Judges 14:18

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.”

Judges 14:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 14:18

And the men of the city said unto him, on the seventh day,
before the sun went down
And so soon, enough to free them from the obligation they otherwise would have been under, to have given him the sheets and changes of raiment agreed unto:

what is sweeter than honey?
nothing, at least that was known, sugar not being invented. Julian the emperor ^F14, in commendation of figs, shows, from various authors, that nothing is sweeter than they, excepting honey:

and what is stronger than a lion?
no creature is, it is the strongest among beasts, ( Proverbs 30:30 ) . Homer ^F15 gives the epithet of strong to a lion:

and he said unto them, if ye had not ploughed with my heifer;
meaning his wife, whom he compares to an heifer, young, wanton, and unaccustomed to the yoke ^F16; and by "ploughing" with her, he alludes to such creatures being employed therein, making use of her to get the secret out of him, and then plying her closely to obtain it from her; and this diligent application and search of theirs, by this means to inform themselves, was like ploughing up ground; they got a discovery of that which before lay hid, and without which they could never have had the knowledge of, as he adds:

ye had not found out my riddle;
the explanation of it. Ben Gersome and Abarbinel interpret ploughing of committing adultery with her; in which sense the phrase is used by Greek and Latin writers ^F17; but the first sense is best, for it is not said, "ploughed my heifer", but with her.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Opera, par. 9. epist. 24.
F15 Odyss. 4. ver. 336.
F16 Vid. Horat. Carmin, l. 2. ode 5. Graja. "Juvenca venit". Ovid. ep. 5. ver. 117.
F17 Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic par. 1. l. 2. c. 41. col. 406.

Judges 14:18 In-Context

16 Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”

17 She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

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.”

19 The LORD’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck thirty men of them. He took their plunder, then gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the riddle. His anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.

20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.