Riddle

The riddle (Hebrew ḥidah) appears in scripture as a wager, as a proverb-form, as a prophetic device, and as a category of wisdom worth pursuing. The two narrative cases are Samson's wedding-feast riddle and the numbered "three things — yes, four" sayings of Agur. Ezekiel uses the form as the opening of an oracle, and Sirach commends working through the riddles of the wise as instruction.

Samson's Wedding-Feast Riddle

The Samson narrative turns on a riddle posed at the seven-day wedding feast, with thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment as the wager:

"And Samson said to them, Let me now put forth a riddle to you⁺: if you⁺ can declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you⁺ thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment;" (Jdg 14:12).

The Philistine guests accept the wager and demand the riddle:

"but if you⁺ can't declare it to me, then you⁺ will give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said to him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it." (Jdg 14:13).

The riddle itself is two clipped lines drawn from the lion-and-honey episode, and the men cannot solve it in three days:

"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 declare the riddle." (Jdg 14:14).

Threatened with burning, the Philistine guests force Samson's wife to extract the answer:

"And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, or else we will burn you and your father's house with fire: have you⁺ called us to impoverish us? Or not?" (Jdg 14:15).

She presses Samson with tears across the whole feast until he tells her, and she passes the answer along:

"And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, You only hate me, and don't love me: you have put forth a riddle to the sons of my people, and haven't told it to me. And he said to her, Look, I haven't told it to my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him intensely; and she told the riddle to the sons of her people." (Jdg 14:16-17).

The exchange ends with the men's correct answer, formed as its own riddle-couplet, and Samson's reply that the only way they could have solved it was through his wife:

"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 is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you⁺ did not plow with my heifer, You⁺ did not find out my riddle." (Jdg 14:18).

Agur's Numbered Sayings

The book of Proverbs preserves a sequence of numbered "three things — yes, four" sayings under the heading of Agur. They function as riddles in form: a class is named, the listener counts the members, and the punchline closes the count.

The sequence opens with the horseleach's two daughters and the four things that are never satisfied:

"The horseleach has two daughters, [crying] Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, [Yes,] four that don't say, Enough: Sheol; and the barren womb; The earth that is not satisfied with water; And the fire that does not say, Enough." (Pr 30:15-16).

A separate verse on the eye that mocks the father stands between the numbered groups:

"The eye that mocks at his father, And despises to obey his mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it." (Pr 30:17).

The next "three — yes four" names the things too wonderful to know, with a closing application to the adulterous woman:

"There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I don't know: The way of an eagle in the air; The way of a serpent on a rock; The way of a ship in the midst of the sea; And the way of a [noble] man with a young woman. So is the way of an adulterous woman; She eats, and wipes her mouth, And says, I have done no wickedness." (Pr 30:18-20).

The third group names what the earth cannot bear:

"For three things the earth trembles, And for four, [which] it can't bear: For a slave when he is king; And a fool when he is filled with food; For an odious woman when she is married; And a female slave when she takes the place of her mistress." (Pr 30:21-23).

The fourth pairs littleness with wisdom — ants, conies, locusts, lizards:

"There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, Yet they provide their food in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands; The lizard, you can catch it with [your] hands, Yet she is in kings' palaces." (Pr 30:24-28).

The closing group names the things that are stately in march:

"There are three things which are stately in their march, Yes, four which are stately in going: The lion, which is mightiest among beasts, And does not turn away for any; The greyhound; the he-goat also; And the king against whom there is no rising up." (Pr 30:29-31).

Ezekiel's Riddle to the House of Israel

Ezekiel is commanded to deliver an oracle to Israel using the riddle form deliberately. The verse names the form before the content begins:

"Son of Man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;" (Eze 17:2).

The form-naming pairs riddle with parable and signals that what follows (the eagle-and-vine allegory) is to be heard as encoded speech.

Sirach on Pursuing Riddles

Sirach treats riddles as a positive object of study. The sayings of the wise repay the listener who works at their riddles, and the reward is competence in the kind of speech a court demands:

"Do not forsake the talk of the wise; But even try to figure out their riddles. Because from this you will receive instruction To stand before princes." (Sir 8:8).

The riddle here is a school-form — a problem in wisdom-speech that the patient hearer is expected to solve.