Hakim-hakim 14:18

Bahasa Indonesia Sehari-hari

Lalu pada hari yang ketujuh itu, sebelum matahari terbenam, berkatalah orang-orang kota itu kepadanya: "Apakah yang lebih manis dari pada madu? Apakah yang lebih kuat dari pada singa?" Sahutnya kepada mereka: "Kalau kamu tidak membajak dengan lembu betinaku, pasti kamu tidak menebak teka-tekiku."

Parallel Translations

Alkitab Terjemahan Baru
Lalu pada hari yang ketujuh itu, sebelum matahari terbenam, berkatalah orang-orang kota itu kepadanya: "Apakah yang lebih manis dari pada madu? Apakah yang lebih kuat dari pada singa?" Sahutnya kepada mereka: "Kalau kamu tidak membajak dengan lembu betinaku, pasti kamu tidak menebak teka-tekiku."

Alkitab Terjemahan Lama
Maka pada hari yang ketujuh itu, sebelum waktu matahari masuk, kata orang isi negeri itu kepadanya: Apakah yang lebih manis dari pada air madu, dan apakah yang lebih kuat dari pada singa? Maka kata Simson kepada mereka itu: Jikalau kiranya tiada kamu sudah menenggala dengan lembuku, niscaya tiada juga kamu mendapat arti penerkaku.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ And so his father went downe vnto the woman, and Samson made there a feast: for so vsed the younge men to do. ¹¹ And whe they sawe him, they brought thirtie companions to be with him. ¹² And Samson sayd vnto them, I will nowe put foorth a riddle vnto you: & yf you can declare it me within seuen dayes of the feast, and finde it out, I will geue you thirtie sheetes, & thirtie chaunge of garmentes: ¹³ But and if you can not declare it me, then shal ye geue me thirtie sheetes and thirtie chaunge of garmentes. And they aunswered him: Put foorth thy riddle, that we may heare it. ¹⁴ And he sayd vnto them: Out of the eater came meate, and out of the strong came sweetnesse. And they coulde not in three dayes expounde the riddle. ¹⁵ And whe the seuenth day was come, they sayd vnto Samsons wyfe: Flatter thyne husband that he may declare vs the riddle, lest we burne thee and thy fathers house with fire: Haue ye called vs hyther, to make vs beggers? is it not so? ¹⁶ And Samsons wyfe wept before him and sayd, Surely thou hatest me and louest me not: for thou hast put foorth a riddle vnto the children of my folke, and hast not tolde it me. And he sayde vnto her: Beholde, I haue not tolde it my father and my mother, and shall I tell it thee? ¹⁷ And Samsons wyfe wept before him seuen dayes, whyle the feast lasted: And the seuenth day he told her, because she lay so sore vpo him. And she tolde the riddle to the children of her folke. ¹⁸ And the men of the citie sayd vnto him the seuenth day, before the sunne went downe: What is sweeter then hony? and what is stronger then a Lion? Then sayd he vnto them: Yf ye had not plowed with my heyffer, ye had not founde out my riddle. ¹⁹ And the spirite of the Lord came vpon him, and he went downe to Askalon, and slue thirtie men of them, and spoyled them, & gaue chaunge of garmentes vnto them which expounded the riddle: And he was wroth, and went vp to his fathers house.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 1:23 - stronger Psalms 81:16 - honey Proverbs 30:30 - General Ezekiel 1:10 - the face of a lion

Cross-References

Genesis 14:10
And the vale of Siddim was full of slyme pyttes: and the kynges of Sodome and Gomorrhe fledde, and fell there, and they that remayned, fledde to the mountayne.

Genesis 14:22
And Abram aunswered the kyng of Sodome: I haue lyft vp my hande vnto the Lord the hye God, possessour of heauen and earth,

Ruth 3:10
He sayde: Blessed be thou in the Lord my daughter, for thou hast shewed more goodnesse in the latter ende, then at the beginning, inasmuche as thou folowedst not young men, whether they were poore or riche.

2 Samuel 2:5
And Dauid sent messengers vnto the men of Iabes Gilead, and sayde vnto them: Blessed are ye vnto the lord, that ye haue shewed suche kindnesse vnto your lord Saul, and haue buried him.

Psalms 7:17
I wyll prayse God accordyng to his ryghteousnesse: & I wyll sing psalmes vnto the name of the most high God.

Psalms 50:14
Offer vnto God prayse: and pay thy vowes vnto the most hyghest.

Psalms 57:2
I wyll call vnto the most high Lorde: euen vnto the Lord that wil perfourme the cause which I haue in hande.

Psalms 76:2
At Shalem is his tabernacle: and his dwellyng in Sion.

Micah 6:6
Wherewith shall I come before the Lorde, and bowe my selfe to the hye God? Shall I come before him with burnt offeringes, and with calues of a yere olde?

Acts 7:48
Howebeit, he that is hyest of al, dwelleth not in teples made with handes, as sayth the prophete:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 n, 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 o 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 p; 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 q; but the first sense is best, for it is not said, "ploughed my heifer", but with her.

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

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They try to give the answer in a way to make it appear that they had guessed it. Samson saw at once that she had betrayed him. He lets them know in a speech, which was of the nature of a riddle, that he had discovered the treachery.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 14:18. If ye had not ploughed with my heifer — If my wife had not been unfaithful to my bed, she would not have been unfaithful to my secret; and, you being her paramours, your interest was more precious to her than that of her husband. She has betrayed me through her attachment to you.

Calmet has properly remarked, in quoting the Septuagint, that to plough with one's heifer, or to plough in another man's ground, are delicate turns of expression used both by the Greeks and Latins, as well as the Hebrews, to point out a wife's infidelities.

Thus Theognis, Gnom. v. 581: -

Εχθαιρω δε γυναικα περιδρομον, ανδρα τε μαργον.

Ὁς την αλλονριην βουλετ' αρουραν αρουν.

"I detest a woman who gads about, and also a libidinous man, who wishes to plough in another man's ground."

Fundum alienium arat, incultum familiarem deserit.

PLAUTUS.

"He ploughs another's farm, and leaves his own heritage uncultivated."

Milo domi non est, perepre at Milone profecto

Arva vacant, uxor non minus inde parit.

MARTIAL.

"Milo is not at home, and Milo being from home, his field lies uncultivated; his wife, nevertheless, continues to breed, and brings forth children."

There is the same metaphor in the following lines of Virgil: -

Hoc faciunt, nimo ne luxu obtusior usus,

Sit genitali arvo, sulcosque oblimet inertes.

Geor. l. iii., v. 135.

In this sense Samson's words were understood by the Septuagint, by the Syriac, and by Rabbi Levi. See BOCHART, Hierozoic. p. 1., lib. ii., cap. 41., col. 406.

The metaphor was a common one, and we need seek for no other interpretation of the words of Samson.