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16 Samson’s wife came to him crying and she said, “You hate me. You don’t really love me. You posed a riddle to my people, and you did not explain it to me.” He told her, “I have not even explained it to my father or my mother; why should I explain it to you?”

17 She cried before him for the entire seven days of the celebration. On the seventh day he finally told her, for she had worn him out, and she explained the riddle to her people. 18 On the seventh day, before sunset, the men from the city said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “You would not have figured out my riddle if you had not plowed with my heifer.”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 14:18 The riddle refers to the incident related in verses 8-9.

16 Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me.(A) You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” 17 She cried the whole seven days(B) of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?
    What is stronger than a lion?”(C)

Samson said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
    you would not have solved my riddle.”

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