# What's the origin of this KJV Bible riddle?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-kjv-bible-riddle/238969>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 8, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-kjv-bible-riddle/238969 "2004-04-08T15:34:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![MrGrizz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@MrGrizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrGrizz)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-kjv-bible-riddle/238969/21 "2004-04-08T23:22:27Z")

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Umm…I read the riddle and the owl gave up the answer after I puzzled over it for a while. :rolleyes: The answer doesn’t fit half the criteria…and it’s all bad if you’re not a creationist.

> [@](#):
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> I once furnished light…

Umm, no.

If you ask me it’s a huge load of B.S. Can I get an amen? :o

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-kjv-bible-riddle/238969/22 "2004-04-08T23:57:19Z")

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> [@](#):
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> > [@](#):
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> > I once furnished light…
> 
> Umm, no.

Actually, yes. While the riddle is fairly silly on several levels, whale blubber was a significant source of lamp oil for many years–particularly through the nineteenth century.

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> [@](#):
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> The fact that the part about the wager could have been made up doesn’t mean that the riddle itself is recent.

True. I was not clear. The riddle could be quite old, but I distrust the reality of the framing story (which was my interpretation of the OP’s question).

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