34 Bible Verses about Riddles

And Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah, and suddenly a young lion [came] roaring to meet him. And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one might tear apart a male kid goat ({he was bare-handed}). But he did not tell his father and mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked to the woman, and {she pleased Samson}.read more.
And he returned after awhile {to marry her}, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there [was] a swarm of wild honey bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands, and he went on, eating [it] as he went. And he went to his father and mother and gave [some] to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the body of the lion. His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared there a feast, as young men were accustomed to doing this. When they saw him, they took thirty companions, and they were with him. And Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find [it out], I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments. But if you are unable to explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments." So they said to him, "Tell your riddle; let us hear it." He said to them, "From the eater came out food, From [the] strong came out sweet." But they were unable to explain the riddle for three days.

When it was the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband and tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us to rob us?" And Samson's wife wept before him, and she said, "You must hate me; you do not love me. You told the riddle to {my people}, but you have not explained [it] to me." He said to her, "I have not explained [it] to my father and mother. [Why] should I explain it to you?" She wept before him the seven days of their feast; and it happened, because she nagged him, on the seventh day he explained [it] to her, and she told the riddle to {her people}.read more.
The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went [down], "What [is] sweeter than honey? What [is] stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle." And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men from them, and he took their belongings, and he gave festal garments to the ones that explained the riddle. {He was angry}, and he went up to his father's house. And Samson's wife was [given] to his companion who [was] his best man.

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] to his brothers. And {they hated him even more}. And he said to them, "Listen now to this dream that I dreamed. Now behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field and, behold, my sheaf stood up and it remained standing. Then behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."read more.
Then his brothers said to him, "Will you really rule over us?" And {they hated him even more} on account of his dream and because of his words. Then he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers. And he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream again, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

And the two of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who [were] confined in the prison, dreamed a dream, each his own dream, with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning he looked at them, and behold, they were troubled. And he asked the court officials of Pharaoh that [were] with him in the custody of his master's house, "Why [are] your faces sad today?"read more.
And they said to him, "We [each] dreamed a dream, but there is no one to interpret it." And Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell [them] to me."

And it happened [that] after {two full years} Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. And behold, seven cows, {well built and fat}, were coming up from the Nile, and they grazed among the reeds. And behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, {ugly and gaunt}, and they stood beside those cows on the bank of the Nile.read more.
And the {ugly and gaunt} cows ate the seven {well built and fat} cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time, and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were coming out of one stalk. And behold, seven thin ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. And the thin ears of grain swallowed up the seven plump and full ears of grain. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, [it was] a dream. And it happened [that] in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all of the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh told his dream to them. But {they had no interpretation} for Pharaoh.

Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. So the king said to call the magicians and the conjurers and the sorcerers and the {astrologers} to tell to the king his dreams. And they came in and they stood {before} the king. And the king said to them, "{I have had a dream} and my spirit is anxious to know the dream."

Three of these are [too] wonderful for me, and four, I do not understand them: the way of the eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.

"Son of man, tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{The great eagle with great wings and long feathers} [and] {full of variegated plumage} came to Lebanon and he took the treetop of the cedar. He plucked the top of its new plant shoot, and he brought it to the land of Canaan [and] put it in a city of merchants,read more.
and he took from the seed of the land and placed it in {fertile soil} on many waters; [like] a willow he planted it. And it sprouted, and {it became a vine spreading out}, low of height, turning its branches to him, and its roots were under it, and {it became a vine}, and it made branches, and it sent out foliage. " '"And there was another great eagle, great of wings and [with] abundant plumage, and look! This vine stretched out its roots toward him and extended its branches to him to water it from the garden bed {where it was planted}. It was planted in good field by many waters to produce branches and to bear fruit to become {a beautiful vine}." '

{Immediately} {human fingers} appeared and they wrote {opposite} the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching the palm of the hand that was writing. Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and {his hip joints gave way} and {his knees knocked together}. The king cried {aloud} to bring [in] the conjurers, the {astrologers} and the diviners; the king {spoke} and said to [the] wise men of Babylon, "Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed [in] purple and [will have] necklace of gold [hung] around his neck and he will rule [as] third [in authority] in the kingdom."read more.
Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make known its explanation. Then the king, Belshazzar, became greatly terrified, and {his facial features} changed upon him, and his lords were perplexed.

"I have said these [things] to you in figurative sayings. An hour is coming when I will speak to you in figurative sayings no longer, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.

Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!"

"A little [while] and you will see me no more, and again a little [while] and you will see me. So some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he is saying to us, 'A little [while] and you will not see me, and again a little [while] and you will see me,' and 'Because I am going away to the Father'?" So they kept on saying, "What is this that he is saying, 'A little [while]'? We do not understand what he is speaking about!"read more.
Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, "Are you deliberating with one another about this--that I said, 'A little [while], and you will not see me, and again a little [while] and you will see me'?

Here is wisdom: the one who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number, and his number [is] six hundred sixty-six.

And the angel said to me, "Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished [when they] see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present. Here [is] the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains {on which the woman sits} and they are seven kings.

and he said, "Please hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; in all my house he [is] faithful. I will speak to him mouth to mouth, [in] clearness, not in riddles; and he will look at the form of Yahweh. Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?"

And not again has a prophet arisen in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face,

For now we see through a mirror {indirectly}, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know completely, just as I have also been completely known.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace meant for you sought and made careful inquiry, investigating for what [person] or which time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating [when he] testified beforehand to the sufferings with reference to Christ and the glories after these [things],

Judah, [as for] you, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand [shall be] on the neck of your enemies. The sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah [is] a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations.read more.
Binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washes his clothing in the wine and his garment in the blood of grapes.

And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.

For he went up like shoot before him, and like root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that we should see him, and no appearance that we should take pleasure in him.

My mouth will speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart [will be] understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will {propound} my riddle on a lyre.

{Solomon answered all of her questions}; there was not a thing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her.

And Solomon {answered all her questions}. Not a word was hidden from Solomon that he did not answer for her.

{because} [there] was found in him [an] excellent spirit and understanding and insight [for] interpreting dreams and explaining riddles and solving riddles; [that is], in Daniel {whom the king named} Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will tell the explanation."

Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand sayings of understanding, to gain {insightful instruction}, righteousness and justice and equity,read more.
to give shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and purpose to the young, may the wise hear and increase learning, and the one who understands gain direction, to understand a proverb and an expression, words of wisdom and their riddles.

Go to the ant, lazy! Consider its ways and be wise. It has no chief, officer, or ruler. In the summer, it prepares its food; in the harvest, it gathers its sustenance.

Like snow in the summer and like rain at the harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. Like the sparrow [is] to fluttering and like the swallow [is] to flying, so an undeserved curse does not go forth.

I will offer a parable [with] my mouth. I will pour out riddles from long ago,

And they told Jotham, and he went up and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and {he cried out loud} and said to them, "Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. "The trees went certainly, to anoint a king over themselves. And they said to the olive tree, 'Rule over us.' And the olive tree replied, 'Should I stop [producing] my oil, which by me gods and men are honored, to go sway over the trees?'read more.
Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You, come rule over us.' But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my sweetness, and my good crop, to go sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'You, come rule over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my wine that makes the gods and men happy, to go sway over the trees?' So all the trees said to the thornbush, 'You, come rule over us.' And the thornbush said to the trees, 'If in good faith you [are] anointing me as king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; if not, may fire go out from the thornbush and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'

So Yahweh sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, "Two men were in a certain city; one [was] rich and the other [was] poor. The rich [man] had very many flocks and herds, but the poor [man] had nothing except for one small ewe lamb which he had bought. He had nurtured her, and she grew up with him and with his children together. She used to eat from his morsel and drink from his cup, and she used to lie in his lap and became like a daughter for him.read more.
And a visitor came to the rich man, but he {was reluctant} to take from his flocks or from his herds to prepare a meal for the traveler when he came to him. So he took the ewe lamb of the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

Let me sing for my beloved a song of my love concerning his vineyard: {My beloved had a vineyard} on {a fertile hill}. And he dug it and cleared it of stones, and he planted it [with] choice vines, and he built a watchtower in the middle of it, and he even hewed out a wine vat in it, and he waited for [it] to yield grapes-- but it yielded wild grapes.

Thus Yahweh said to me: "Go and buy for yourself a loincloth of linen and put it on your loins, but you must not {place} it in water." So I bought the loincloth according to the word of Yahweh and I put [it] on my loins. Now the word of Yahweh came to me a second [time], {saying},read more.
"Take the loincloth that you bought, that [is] on your loins, and stand up, go [to the] Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of the rock." So I went and hid it by [the] Euphrates just as Yahweh had commanded me. {And then}, {after a long time}, then Yahweh said to me, "Stand up, go [to the] Euphrates and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there." Then I went [to the] Euphrates and I dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it, and look, the loincloth was ruined; it was not good for anything.

Jesus spoke all these [things] to the crowds in parables, and he was saying nothing to them without a parable, in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, who said, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden since the creation."