And hee said vnto them, Out of the eater came foorth meate, aud out of the strong came foorth sweetnesse. And they could not in three dayes expound the riddle. Judges 14:14 (KJV)
The passage belongs to the narrative of Samson, one of Israel’s judges raised up by God to deliver the people from Philistine oppression. At his wedding feast Samson posed a riddle to the Philistine guests, promising thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing if they could solve it within seven days.
The riddle he gave was: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.” The wording refers back to an earlier incident in Samson’s life (Judges 14:5‑6) when he killed a young lion with his bare hands and later discovered a honey‑filled comb in the carcass. The “eater” is the lion, a fierce and strong creature, and the “sweetness” is the honey that emerged from its dead body.
The symbolism therefore points to God’s ability to bring blessing out of a seemingly hopeless situation. The lion represents a formidable adversary, while the honey illustrates the unexpected provision that God can produce from that adversity. This metaphor underscores the divine power at work in Samson’s life and foreshadows the victories he would achieve over the Philistines.
The Philistine guests, however, were unable to solve the riddle on their own within the allotted time. Their failure is recorded as “they could not in three days expound the riddle,” and they eventually resorted to intimidation and threats against Samson’s wife in order to force him to reveal the answer. Their reliance on coercion rather than insight highlights their lack of true understanding of the event that inspired the riddle.
The episode illustrates a broader lesson for believers: challenges may conceal hidden blessings, and God can transform hardship into sweetness. Yet, without seeking God’s wisdom, people may miss the deeper meaning and resort to forceful measures, only to obtain a superficial answer. Samson’s riddle thus serves both as a testimony to God’s providence and a warning against superficial attempts to solve God‑given mysteries.
