[12] And Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you.
The Hebrew word translated “riddle” has a broad meaning.
But this is the best example in the Bible of “a question or statement intentionally phrased to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning.” (Oxford English Dictionary)
We use riddles as a game or pastime.
In its classic form in literature, however, it is often a contest with death on the line. (See examples at bottom.)
And that is how it turns out here, both for Samson’s bride and then for the Philistines Samson kills to settle the debt.
The riddle:
“Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet.”
The solution:
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
But what if it’s a meta-riddle?
What is stronger than death? What eats more than death?
How can death itself die? How can death itself become food? How can death itself bring life?
How can a corpse purify?
How can death taste sweet? What is sweeter than new life, than birth?
Taste and see.
