RIDDLE (Trim), literally, something intricatf. or complicated ;' arinyina. Gesenius derives the Hebrew word from the Arabic to bend off, or tie in knots ;' and the immediate etymology usually assigned to the Greek word is alvIcro-opm, to hint obscurely.' The Hebrew word (Judg. xiv. 12-19) properly means a riddle or enigma ;' Sept. irp6f3Xnua; Vulg. problema and propositio ; where Samson proposes to the thirty young l'hilis tines who attended his nuptials an enigma, derived from the circumstance of his having lately found a swarm of bees and honey in the skeleton of the lion which he had killed some months before when he had come to espouse his wife [BEE]. This riddle or enigma, though unfair in regard to those who accepted the pledge to unravel it, because they were ignorant of the particular fact by the knowledge of which alone it could be explained by them, nevertheless answers to the approved defini tion of an enigma, as consisting of an artful and abstruse proposition, put in obscure, ambiguous, and even contrary terms, in order to exercise the ingenuity of others in finding out its meaning. The pleasure of the propounder is derived from perplexing his hearers ; and theirs from overcoming the difficulty, which is usually renewed by their proposing another enigma.
This kind of amusement seems to have been resorted to, especially at entertainments, in all ages, among different nations ; and has even been treated as an art, and reduced to rules. The chief writers on this curious subject are Nic. Reusner ("Enigma tosraph.) and F. Menestrier.
The principal rules laid. down for the construc tion of an enigma are the following : that it must be obscure, and the more obscure the better, pro vided that the description of the thing, however covered and abstract, and in whatever remote or , uncommon terms, be really correct ; and it is essential that the thing thus described be well known. Sometimes, and especially in a witty enigma, the amusement consists in describing a thing by a set of truisms, which tell their own meaning, but which confound the hearer, through his expectation of some deep and difficult meaning. The greater enigma is to be rendered more intri cate and knotty by a multitude of words ; the lesser may consist of only one or two remote words or allusions.
The speech of Lamech to his wives Adah and Zillah (Gen. iv. 23, 24) is, possibly, an enig matic mode of communicating some painful in telligence. It is recorded (r Kings x. 1) that the queen of Sheba came to prove Solomon (m-yriz ; Sept. ep alvi-yn.ao-i; Vulg. in renigmatibus). Jose
phus relates that Hiram, king of Tyre, tried the skill of Solomon in the same way ; and quotes Dius to attest that Solomon scnt riddles to Hiram, and that the Tyrian king forfeited much money to Solomon from his inability to answer them, but re deemed it upon a man of Tyre named Abdemon being found able to solve them (Antiq. viii. 5. 3). The description of the Messiah tinder the name of the Branch, 'TA when considered in regard to the occasion and context, may be considered as a spe chnen of the lesser enigma (see Lowth upon the passage). The number of the beast' (Rev. xiii. 18) may be also considered as an enigma. The other instances in which the Hebrew word is used all exhibit more or less of the enigmatic character. They are as follows, with the Sept. and Vulg. readings :—Num. xii. 8, where it means an oracle or vision,' SE' airrywircov, non per eemgmata et fignras (Moses) dam/aunt via'et ; Ps. xlix. 5, • a song,' x-p6,6Xnp.a, propositio ; lxxViii. 2, dark sayings,' 7rpopi\Auara, propositianes; Prov. i. 6, intricate proverbs,' ably/Jaya, anigmata ; Ezek. xvii. 2, a paiable,' So.)-np,a, Aq.; arvrypa, evngma; Dan. viii. 23, artifices ;' 7rpoI3M,uara, propasi tiones, anigmata ; Hab. ii. 6, a song,' /rpop \Thua, lomtela cenigmatnm. In the Apocrypha we find (Ecclus. xlvii. 15) rapago \ aim-y/147(ov, anis, mata ; in the N. T. (1 Cor. xiii. 12) /.1., ably/Am-1, in amlgmate, which Bretschneider points out as a quotation of Num. xii. 8, and where alvl-wart is opposed to .7-6 Mos, the clear reality.' The word enigma, taken in the extensive meaning of its root, abnis, certainly applies to an immense portion of the sacred writings —viz., as a narrative or tale having an application to present circumstances ; Odyss. xiv. 5o8, a fable bearing moral instruction ; Hes. Open 2o2, which nearly approaches to the nature of a parable [PARABLE] ; a pointed sen tence, saying, or proverb (Theocritus, xiv. 43) [PRovERBs ; PROPHECY]. According to Lennep, the word arrewa, taken substantively, means any thing obscure.' As specimens of the enigmatical style in the O. T., Winer points out Prov. xxx. 12-19 ; IS. xXi. 12. In the N. T. we may adduce our Lord's discourse with Nicodemus (John iii. 3), and with the Jews (vi. 51, etc.), where the enig matical style is adopted for the purpose of engaging attention, in an unrivalled manner (Winer, Bibl. ,Te .B.; Stuck, Ant/2% Conviv.,iii. 17).—J. F. D.