A swarm of honey bees. The swarm that nested in the carcass of Samson’s lion gave rise to his famous riddle. In 1885, Tate and Lyle adopted ‘Out of the strong came forth sweetness,’ and a sketch of Samson’s lion surrounded by swarming honey bees, for their brand of Golden Syrup; it is still in use to this day. The story of Samson is a complex tragedy of a man of enormous strength yet fatal weaknesses, who was driven by the Spirit of God to acts which kept Israelite identity alive in a society dominated by paganism.
IT was the custom in those days for the bridegroom’s family to throw a seven-day feast. Among the guests were thirty young men of Timnath, and on the first day Samson challenged them to guess the answer to a riddle. ‘Out of the eater came forth meat,’ he intoned mysteriously, thinking of his lion, ‘and out of the strong came forth sweetness.’*
He wagered thirty suits of clothes that they would not solve it, but they wormed the answer out of Samson’s bride by threatening to burn the house down. On the last day of the feast they accosted Samson. ‘What is sweeter than honey?’ they said triumphantly. ‘And what is stronger than a lion?’ ‘You would not have unearthed my riddle,’ retorted Samson, who knew what had happened, ‘had you not ploughed with my heifer.’ But he honoured his debt. He went down to Ashkelon, a city of the Philistines,* and picked a fight with thirty men. He slew them, stripped them, and handed over thirty suits of clothes to the men of Timnath.
Based on Judges 14.
As given in the Authorised Version of 1611. ‘Meat’ is used in the archaic sense of food generally, in this case honey. The New International Version (1978) gives it as ‘Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.’
The Philistines conquered Ashkelon from the Canaanites in about 1150 BC. The city remained in their hands until 604 BC when, as had happened to Jerusalem a few years before, it was conquered by the Babylonians and destroyed, and its nobility were carried off into exile.
Précis
During his wedding feast, Samson proposed a riddle to thirty Philistine guests, hinting at his lion and the bees. He bet them thirty suits of clothes that they would not guess it, but they squeezed the answer out of his bride. Samson paid up by killing thirty men in Ashkelon, a Philistine city, and handing their clothes over. (58 / 60 words)
During his wedding feast, Samson proposed a riddle to thirty Philistine guests, hinting at his lion and the bees. He bet them thirty suits of clothes that they would not guess it, but they squeezed the answer out of his bride. Samson paid up by killing thirty men in Ashkelon, a Philistine city, and handing their clothes over.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, if, just, may, since, until, whereas, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Come. Nest. Philistine.
2 Bee. They. You.
3 Agree. Great. Wager.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
sprng (6)
aspiring. sparing. spearing. sprang. spring. sprung.
Post Box : Ask Nicholas
Grok : Ask Grok
You are welcome to share your creativity with me, or ask for help with any of the exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
See more at Post Box.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
Related Posts
Naomi lost her husband and two sons in Moab, and returned to Bethlehem with only one comfort in her bitterness, her daughter-in-law Ruth.
Picture: Kazimierz Alchimowicz (1840–1916). Source.
Posted August 6 2022
The Israelites turn to Deborah for help after twenty years under the harsh rule of King Jabin and his stern general Sisera.
Picture: © Rama, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 France.. Source.
Posted October 15 2019
.jpg){kind=link}
Picture: By Zoltan Kluger (1896–1977), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 6 2017