Riddles A riddle is a 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 allegorical language that requ ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

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

proverbs A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...

In the Bible

Riddles are not common in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, nor in Midrashic literature, though other tests of verbal wit are. The most prominent riddle in the Bible is Samson's riddle:

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

outwitted the

Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...

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). However, some passages in the Book of Proverbs in which sets of three or four objects are mentioned (e.g. 30:15 ''et seq.'') were likely originally in the form of riddles, while Ezekiel 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, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost a ...

2:6-20.

In post-Biblical and rabbinic literature

Sirach The Book of Sirach () or Ecclesiasticus (; abbreviated Ecclus.) is a Jewish work, originally in Hebrew, of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BC, written by the Judahite scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his fa ...

mentions riddles as a popular dinner pastime. The

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

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'' 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 ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...

tests Solomon with riddles, but without giving any hint as to what they were. On this basis, riddles were ascribed to the Queen in later writings. 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. 9-17 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 (midrash of desire / business) is a Hebrew text of 1430 about a wisdom contest between King Solomon and The Queen of Sheba. It is noted as part of a long literary tradition about these figures, and for its inclusion of a number of ...

'' (1430 CE), for example:Jacob Lassner, ''Demonizing the Queen of Sheba: Boundaries of Gender and Culture in Postbiblical Judaism and Medieval Islam''. University of Chicago Press, 1993, pp. 9-17 *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'' (''"Second Targum"'') is an Aramaic translation (''targum'') and elaboration of the Book of Esther, that embellishes the Biblical account with considerable new apocryphal material, not on the face of it directly related to the ...

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

In the Middle Ages

Under the influence of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / 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'', which is derived from ...

in medieval

al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

, there was a flourishing of literary Hebrew riddles in verse during the Middle Ages. Dunash ben Labrat (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 (born 993), the sixth section of whose philosophical verse collection ''Ben Mishlei'' (literally 'son of

Proverbs A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...

', 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 Rabbi Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as Ha-Sallaḥ ("writer of penitential prayers") ( ar, أَبُو هَارُون مُوسَى بِن يَعْقُوب اِبْن عَزْرَا, ''Abu Harun Musa bin Ya'qub ibn 'Azra'', he, מֹשֶׁה ב ...

(born c. 1055×60),

Judah Halevi Judah Halevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; he, יהודה הלוי and Judah ben Shmuel Halevi ; ar, يهوذا اللاوي ''Yahuḏa al-Lāwī''; 1075 – 1141) was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, ...

(born c. 1075), Abraham ibn Ezra (born 1089×92) and

Yehuda Alharizi Yehuda Alharizi, also Judah ben Solomon Harizi or al-Harizi ( he, יהודה בן שלמה אלחריזי, ''Yehudah ben Shelomo al-Harizi'', ar, يحيا بن سليمان بن شاؤل أبو زكريا الحريزي اليهودي من أه� ...

(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 – ca. 1335 in Fermo, Italy) was a Jewish poet and author who lived in present-day Italy and composed works in Hebrew and Italian. Imman ...

wrote riddles, as did Israel Onceneyra.

Post-medieval

In Hebrew-speaking Spain and Italy during around 1650-1850, a baroque 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 or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often us ...

' (''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 ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...

, there is also the Echad Mi Yodea, characterised by

Joseph Jacobs Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Jacobs ...

as 'a curious riddle'.

References