Judges 14:18:10Judg.14.18.W10TAB
מַה־מָּת֣וֹק
mamatok
“what is sweeter”
- Transliteration
- ma-ma-TOK
- Extended
- mah-mah-TOK
- IPA
- /ma.mːaːˈtoːq/
Meaning by language
- English
- what is sweeter
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| He | h as in house; silent at word end | |
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Tav | t as in top | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Holem | long 'oh' as in go | |
| Qof | q — deep k, uvular |
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The word
Word in context
- word
ma-ma-TOK
- phraseyour reading level
ma-ma-TOK mid-da-VASH
- clause
va-yo-me-RU LO an-she ha-IR ba-YOM ha-she-vi-I be-TE-rem ya-VO ha-khar-SA ma-ma-TOK mid-da-VASH u-ME AZ me-a-RI
- sentence
va-yo-me-RU LO an-she ha-IR ba-YOM ha-she-vi-I be-TE-rem ya-VO ha-khar-SA ma-ma-TOK mid-da-VASH u-ME AZ me-a-RI va-yo-MER la-HEM lu-le kha-ra-she-TEM be-eg-la-TI LO me-tsa-TEM khi-da-TI
Exegesis
The comparative questions mah-matok middəvaš umeh az mēʾari {מַה־מָּת֣וֹק מִדְּבַ֔שׁ וּמֶ֥ה עַ֖ז מֵאֲרִ֑י | mah-matok middəḇaš umeh ʿaz mēʾari} ‘parallel comparison’ use the interrogative mah (“what”) and coordinate with waw to heighten the rhetorical challenge.
Root and etymology
מ־ת־ק
“sweet”
In context — Judges 14:18
Then the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before sunset, “What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion?” Samson answered them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer , you would not have found my riddle .”
About this coordinate
Judges 14:18:10 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 10 of Judges 14:18, so the Hebrew word מַה־מָּת֣וֹק (mamatok) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Judg.14.18.W10, which extends further down to each syllable (Judg.14.18.W10.S1) and character.