Riddles A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

are referred to as חידות ''ḥidot'' (singular חִידָה ''ḥidah''). They have at times been a major and distinctive part of literature in Hebrew and closely related languages. At times they have a complex relationship with

proverb A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...

In the Bible

Riddles are not common in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, though other tests of verbal wit are. The most prominent riddle in the Bible is

Samson's riddle 250px, '' The Wedding Feast of Samson'', Rembrandt, 1638 Samson's riddle is found in the biblical Book of Judges, where it is incorporated into a larger narrative about Samson, the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites. The riddle, with w ...

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

outwitted the

Philistines Philistines (; LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philistines origi ...

by posing a riddle about the lion and the beehive until they learned the answer from his Philistine bride, costing Samson 30 suits of clothes (Judges 14:5-18). In the

Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs (, ; , ; , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)/the Christian Old Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into ...

, it mentions "the words of the wise and their riddles." In Proverbs 30:15, in which sets of three or four objects are mentioned were likely originally in the form of riddles. In

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

17:1-10 is also a riddle of sortsJoseph Jacobs,
Riddle
, in ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'', ed. by Isidore Singer (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1901-1907) as well as in

Habakkuk Habakkuk or Habacuc is the main figure described in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is traditionally regarded as a prophet active around 612 BCE. Almost all information about Habakkuk is dr ...

2:6-20.

In post-Biblical and rabbinic literature

Riddles are not common in Midrashic literature, but some are found. For example, the ''

Lamentations Rabbah The Midrash on Lamentations () is a midrashic commentary to the Book of Lamentations. It is one of the oldest works of midrash, along with Genesis Rabbah and the '' Pesikta de-Rav Kahana''. Names The midrash is quoted, perhaps for the first ti ...

'', composed around the middle of the first millennium CE, expounds the first verse of the

Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations (, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible, it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ("Five Scroll ...

by telling eleven stories in which Jerusalemites outwit Athenians. Most of these are in some sense riddlic;Galit Hasan-Rokem, ''Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature'', trans. by Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000) irst publ. ''Riqmat hayim: ha-yetsira ha-ammamit be-sifrut hazal'' (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1996) . the one most straightforwardly containing a riddle features schoolboys asking "what is this thing: nine go out and eight are complete, and twenty-four serve, and two pour, and one drinks". These numbers turn out to refer respectively to nine months of pregnancy, eight days between birth and circumcision, twenty-four months of breastfeeding, two breasts, and one baby.

Sirach The Book of Sirach (), also known as The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus son of Eleazar, or Ecclesiasticus (), is a Jewish literary work originally written in Biblical Hebrew. The longest extant wisdom book from antiqui ...

mentions riddles as a popular dinner pastime. The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

contains several riddles, such as this one from the end of

Kinnim Kinnim (Hebrew: ) is a tractate in the order of Kodshim in the Mishna. The name, meaning "nests", refers to the tractate's subject matter of errors in bird-offerings. It is the last tractate in the order, because of its shortness (3 chapters) and ...

: 'What animal has one voice living and seven voices dead?' ('The ibis, from whose carcass seven different musical instruments are made'). The Aramaic ''

Story of Ahikar The ''Story of Aḥiqar'', also known as the ''Words of Aḥiqar'', is a story first attested to in Imperial Aramaic from the fifth century BCE on papyri from Elephantine, Egypt, that circulated widely in the Middle and the Near East.Christa M� ...

'' contains a long section of proverbial wisdom that in some versions also contains riddles.

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

The Bible describes how the

Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This a ...

tests

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

with riddles, but without giving any hint as to what they were. On this basis, riddles were ascribed to the Queen in later writings (see: Colloquy of the Queen of Sheba). Four riddles are ascribed to her in the tenth- or eleventh-century ''

Midrash Proverbs Midrash Proverbs (Hebrew: מדרש משלי, Midrash Mishlei) is the aggadic midrash to the Book of Proverbs. Names It is first mentioned under the title "Midrash Mishlei" by R. Hananeel b. Ḥushiel. Nathan of Rome called it "Aggadat Mishlei". ...

'',Jacob Lassner, ''Demonizing the Queen of Sheba: Boundaries of Gender and Culture in Postbiblical Judaism and Medieval Islam''. University of Chicago Press, 1993, pp. 9-17Christine Goldberg, ''Turandot's Sisters: A Study of the Folktale AT 851'', Garland Folklore Library, 7 (New York: Garland, 1993), p. 24. including the following: 'She said to him: "Seven exit and nine enter, two pour and one drinks". He said to her: "Surely, seven days of menstruation exit and nine months of pregnancy enter, two breasts pour and the baby drinks".’ These plus another fourteen or fifteen tests of wisdom, some of which are riddles, appear in the ''

Midrash ha-Ḥefez ''Midrash ha-Ḥefez'' (lit. "Midrash of desire"), or "Commentary of the Book of the Law", is a Hebrew midrash written by the physician and Rabbi, Yihye ibn Suleiman al-Dhamari, otherwise known as Zechariah ben Solomon ha-Rofé, which he began to ...

'' (1430 CE), for example: *There is an enclosure with ten doors: when one is open nine are shut; when nine are open, one is shut. — The womb, the bodily orifices, and the umbilical cord. *Living, moves not, yet when its head is cut off it moves. — A ship in the sea (made from a tree). *What was that which is produced from the ground, yet produces it, while its food is the fruit of the ground? — A wick. The early medieval Aramaic ''

Targum Sheni The ''Targum Sheni'', also known as the ''Second Targum of Esther'', is an Aramaic translation (''targum'') and elaboration of the Book of Esther. Notably, the biblical account is embellished with a considerable amount of new apocryphal material ...

'' also contains three riddles posed by the Queen to Solomon.

In medieval verse

Under the influence of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

in medieval

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

, there was a flourishing of literary Hebrew riddles in verse during the Middle Ages.

Dunash ben Labrat Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat (920/925 – after 985) (; ) was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. He is known for his philological commentary, ''Teshuvot Dunash'', and for his liturgical ...

(920-990), credited with transposing Arabic metres into Hebrew, composed a number of riddles, firmly rooted, like folk-riddles, in describing everyday, physical objects. His '' diwan'' includes a twenty-line poem comprising ten riddles, one of which runs: Subsequent exponents included

Samuel ibn Naghrillah Shmuel ibn Naghrillah (; ), mainly known as Shmuel HaNagid () and Isma'il ibn Naghrilla (993–1056), was a Jewish statesman, military commander, scholar, linguist and poet in medieval al-Andalus. He served as grand vizier of the Taifa of Granada ...

(born 993), the sixth section of whose philosophical verse collection ''Ben Mishlei'' (literally 'son of

Proverbs A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial ...

', but more idiomatically 'after Proverbs') presents a series of philosophically inclined riddles. The subjects of his riddles generally remained concrete — examples include the moon, pen and ink, a boat or fountain — but he began to introduce riddles on abstract themes such as God, wisdom, joy, and folly, with a didactic purpose.Aurora Salvatierra,
La "Granada" más hermosa: una adivinanza de Yĕhudah Ha-Levi
', ''Biblio'', 47 (1998), 19-36.

:And he said to me: Is there life in death, without a heart? :I answered: foolishness. :And he continued: Is there death in life, with the body intact? :I answered: poverty.

Frequently, the word representing the solution was integrated into the end-rhyme of the poem, making the solution to the riddle the completion of a verse. Samuel was followed by

Moses ibn Ezra Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as Ha-Sallaḥ ("writer of penitential prayers") (, ) was an Andalusi Jewish rabbi, philosopher, linguist, and poet. He was born in Granada about 1055–1060, and died after 1138. Ibn Ezra is considered to hav ...

(born c. 1055×60),

Judah Halevi Judah haLevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; ; ; c. 1075 – 1141) was a Sephardic Jewish poet, physician and philosopher. Halevi is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets and is celebrated for his secular and religious poems, many of whic ...

(born c. 1075),

Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...

(born 1089×92) and

Yehuda Alharizi Yehuda Alharizi, also Judah ben Solomon Harizi or al-Harizi (, ), was a rabbi, translator, poet, and traveler active in al-Andalus (mid-12th century Toledo, Spain? – 1225 in Aleppo, Ayyubid Syria). He was supported by wealthy patrons, to who ...

(born 1165). Judah is noted as the most prolific Hebrew riddler of his time, with a corpus of at least sixty-seven riddles, some of which survive in his own hand, and even in draft form. These are mostly short, monorhyme compositions on concrete subjects such as everyday artefacts, animals and plants, or a name or word./N. Allony,

hirty autograph riddles by R. Yehudah ha-Lev /''Alei Sefer: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Book'', 3 (October 1976), 20-43 (repr. Allony, N., 'Šělošim hidot 'otografiot Iě-R. Yehudah ha-Levi,
Studies in medieval philology and literature: collected papers, 4: Hebrew medieval poetry, Volume 4
' (Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute, 1991), pp. 425-48). For example, he wrote:

: Evincing the infinite— :: the size of your palm— : what it holds is beyond you, :: curious, at hand.

(The answer is 'hand-mirror'.) However, his riddles also include a piece as long as 36 verses, to be solved both as 'pomegranate' and 'Granada'; the solution to some remains the subject of research. Meanwhile, Abraham is noted for maximising the use of riddles as a meditation on knowledge and the divine.Dan Pagis, 'Toward a Theory of the Literary Riddle', in ''Untying the Knot: On Riddles and Other Enigmatic Modes'', ed. by Galit Hasan-Rokem and David Shulman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 81-108.Masha Itzhaki, 'The Riddles of Abraham Ibn Ezra', in
Abraham Ibn Ezra y su tiempo: actas del Simposio Internacional: Madrid, Tudela, Toledo, 1-8 febrero 1989/Abraham Ibn Ezra and his Age: proceedings of the International Symposium: Madrid, Tudela, Toledo, 1-8 febrero 1989
', ed. by Fernando Díaz Esteban (1990), pp. 163-68, . The Andalusian tradition extended to Italy from the twelfth century, beginning with the work of Yerahmiel Bar Shlomo.

Immanuel the Roman Immanuel ben Solomon ben Jekuthiel of Rome (Immanuel of Rome, Immanuel Romano, Manoello Giudeo) (1261 in Rome – 1332 in Fermo, Italy) was a Jewish poet and writer who lived in the Papal States and composed works in Hebrew and Italian. Immanue ...

wrote riddles, as did Israel Onceneyra.

Post-medieval

In Hebrew-speaking Spain and Italy during around 1650-1850, a

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

sub-genre of the literary riddle called ''ḥiddat hatsurah vehalo‘ez'' (literally 'riddles of an emblem with foreign-language passages', known in English simply as 'emblem riddles') flourished. The genre was characterised by alluding to words in languages other than Hebrew (''lo‘ez'') in order to provide clues to the solution. For example, one riddle includes the Hebrew phrase ''Eh ko nistarti'' ('I am hidden somewhere here'). The first two of these words sound the same as the Italian/Spanish word ''eco'' ('echo'), and 'echo' (Hebrew ''hed'') is indeed the solution to the poem. Each riddle would include an '

emblem An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...

' (''tsurah'') near the opening in the form of an allusive picture, poem, or phrase, or a combination of these, after which the riddle proper would commence. Poems in this genre were occasional, composed in celebration of specific high-society events such as weddings and circumcisions. The topic of the riddle would often reflect the occasion and audience (with solutions such as 'wisdom' for a gathering of scholars, or 'love' at a wedding), and the riddle might make use of information about the people at the gathering in ways which would make little sense to a wider audience.Arthur Lesley,
The Riddles of Dan Pagis
, ''Prooftexts'', 11.1 (January 1991), 76-80. At the end of the

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

, there is also the

Echad Mi Yodea "Echad Mi Yodea" () is a traditional cumulative song sung on Passover and found in the haggadah. It enumerates common Jewish motifs and teachings. It is meant to be fun and humorous, while still imparting important lessons to the children presen ...

, characterised by

Joseph Jacobs Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian-born folklorist, literary critic and historian who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Born in Sydney to a Jewish family, his work went on to popula ...

as 'a curious riddle'.

References