Par-r-r-ty!

Meanwhile, the assimilating Yi•sᵊr•â•eil•iꞋ, Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ, despite the rising potential for corrupting his nâ•zirꞋ obligations, acculturated to the Greek tradition of the ruling Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ colonists — staging a week-long, mi•shᵊtëhꞋ bachelor party for himself in Ti•mᵊn•âhꞋ.

On the first night of the mi•shᵊtëhꞋ, 30 young men of the ruling Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ Greek colony showed up to par-r-r-ty!

The Riddle

That evening, Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ, remembering his recent find of a bee-hive with honey in the skeleton of the kᵊphir, bet each of the 30 young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ Greek men a new linen suit that he knew a riddle that they couldn't solve during the 7 days of the party.

The pride of the young men of the ruling Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ Greek colony drove every one of them to accept the bet of the Yi•sᵊr•â•eil•iꞋ. Then they asked him to tell them the riddle.

So Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ posed the following riddle to them:

“The eater that issued-forth an edible was the strong that issued-forth sweetness.”

After breaking their heads over the riddle for 3 days of the mi•shᵊtëhꞋ, the 30 Greek Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ young men still had no clue.

Not knowing the answer herself also vexed the insatiably curious DᵊlilꞋâh. Every day, relentlessly, she nagged Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ to tell her the solution to the riddle; throwing a crying tantrum when he refused.

Young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ Men Threaten And Extort DᵊlilꞋâh To Entice the Solution To The Riddle

On the 7^th – and last – day of the mi•shᵊtëhꞋ,, still, no one among the 30 young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ men had any idea how to go about solving the riddle posed by the Yi•sᵊr•â•eil•iꞋ, Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ. Thus, each of the 30 young men of the ruling Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ Greek colony were faced with the imminent, and distasteful, prospect of having to buy a new suit for the Yi•sᵊr•â•eil•iꞋ foreigner, Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ – which would instantly make Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ 30x wealthier than any of the 30 young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ men!

Now desperate, the 30 young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ men bullied and terrorized Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ's a•rūs•âhꞋ, DᵊlilꞋâh — their own fellow-Pᵊli•shᵊt•itꞋ! "Entice your Yi•sᵊr•â•eil•iꞋ a•rūsꞋ to reveal the riddle to you and tell us the solution," the 30 young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ men threatened the terrified girl, extorting her, "or we'll burn your father's house down with you and your whole family household in it! Was your invitation to this party a scam to rip us off?"

So the eishꞋët Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ came crying yet again to him. "You disrespect me! You don't love me! You riddled a riddle to my am and you won't even tell me the answer."

"Look," Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ replied sarcastically, "I haven't even told my father and mother, and you think I should tell my a•rūs•âhꞋ?!?"

All day, day after day, she repeatedly threw crying tantrums, nagging him for the entire 7 days of the mi•shᵊtëhꞋ to tell her the solution to his riddle. On the 7^th, and last, day of the mi•shᵊtëhꞋ,, he could endure it no more and Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ finally caved, confiding the solution to his riddle to her — which she immediately passed on to the young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ men of her am.

Predictably, before the sun went down on the 7^th day of the mi•shᵊtëhꞋ party, the young Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ men stood up in the shūq of their Greek city and threw candies out to the crowd as they victoriously proclaimed the solution to Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ's riddle: "What is sweeter than dᵊvâshꞋ? And what is stronger than a lion?"

"If you hadn't threatened and extorted my cow to pull that plow for you," Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ retorted, "you wouldn't have solved my riddle!"

Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ Avenges The Bullying, Extortion And Cheating Of The Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ Hellenists

Rampart of Philistine coastal city of A•shᵊqᵊl•ōnꞋ. (Mediterranean Sea in right-center background.)

Then the RūꞋakh י‑‑ה came over Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ, enabling him to walk down to the port city of AshꞋqᵊlōn, on the coast, mug 30 Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ men who were wearing linen kaftans, strip-off their kaftans and present the 30 linen suits to pay off the 30 men who had cheated him in bullying and extorting the riddle from his a•rūs•âhꞋ.

Still furious, Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ went back up into the foothills of YᵊhudꞋâh, home, to his father's house.

In a final indignity, DᵊlilꞋâh's father, claiming that Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ had abandoned her, gave the eishꞋët Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ to marry one of the Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ guys who had been socializing with Shi•mᵊsh•ōnꞋ.