“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.
Parallel translations
- WEB Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. 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 clothing;
- KJV And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:
- NKJV Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.
- NASB Then Samson said to them, “Let me now propose a riddle for you; if you actually tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and solve it, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty outfits of clothes.
- NLT Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Samson proposes a riddle, wagering thirty fine garments if they can solve it within seven days. He sets a bold challenge before his companions.
Overview
Samson's riddle and high-stakes wager fit the playful customs of such feasts. Yet the contest will become the spark for serious conflict with the Philistines. The arrangement shows how God will use even Samson's games to set His deliverance in motion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 1 Kgs 10:1Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.
- Gen 45:22He gave new garments to each of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.
- Ezek 17:2“Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel
- 2 Kgs 5:5“Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.
- Prov 1:6by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
- 2 Kgs 5:22“Everything is all right,” Gehazi replied. “My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”
- Jas 5:2Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.
- 1 Cor 13:12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
- Matt 6:19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
- Matt 13:34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.
- John 16:29His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech.
- Ezek 20:49Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”
- Ps 49:4I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:
- 2 Chr 7:8So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.
- Gen 29:27–28Finish this week’s celebration, and we will give you the younger one in return for another seven years of work.”
- Luke 14:7When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable:
- Matt 13:13This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Matt 27:28They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
- Mark 14:51–52One young man who had been following Jesus was wearing a linen cloth around his body. They caught hold of him,
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 14:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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