Judges 14:18:11Judg.14.18.W11TAB

מִדְּבַ֔שׁ

middavash

than honey

Transliteration
mid-da-VASH
Extended
mihd-dah-VASH
IPA
/mid.daˈvaʃ/

Meaning by language

English
than honey

Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it

Result
מִד + דְּ + בַ֔שׁ
mid + da + vash
middavash

Alphabet Analysis

Memm as in mother
Hireq'ee' as in machine
Daletd as in door
Shevavocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable
Betb with dagesh; v without dagesh
Patachshort 'ah' as in father
Shinshin with right dot; sin with left dot

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Vowels (Niqqud)

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The word

Word in context

  1. word

    mid-da-VASH

  2. phraseyour reading level

    ma-ma-TOK mid-da-VASH

  3. 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

  4. 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

d-b-shdalet–bet–shin

honey

In contextJudges 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 14:18:11 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 11 of Judges 14:18, so the Hebrew word מִדְּבַ֔שׁ (middavash) 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.W11, which extends further down to each syllable (Judg.14.18.W11.S1) and character.