At length the child came, and they called him Samson. As he grew to manhood, he found that God was giving him wonderful strength.
One day a young lion came out and roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent the lion, and killed him, just as he might have rent a kid; for he had no weapon in his hand.
When Samson next passed that way, he looked for the carcase of the lion, and there it was lying by the path, and the bees were swarming around, as they had built a honey-comb in the body of the lion.
So he ate some of the honey, and took the rest to his father and mother; but he did not tell them that he had killed the lion.
Then Samson made a great feast for seven days, for he had married a Philistine girl, to the great sorrow of his parents. And while they were feasting, he and the thirty young men who were his companions, Samson gave them a riddle to find out, promising that he would give a large prize if they could discover it; but if not, they were to give him a prize.
This was the riddle: "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness."
The young men puzzled for several days, and at last they persuaded Samson's young wife to get the secret from him. And at length she begged so hard that he told her the answer.
Then she went to her people, the Philistines, and told them.
When the seven days were up, the young men gave the answer: "What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?"
But Samson was very angry when he found that they had persuaded his wife; and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty Philistines, and brought the spoil and divided it among the young men who had answered his riddle. And then in fierce anger, he returned to his father's house.