שופטים, פרק י״ד, פסוק י״ב

In the midst of his wedding celebration, Samson is in high spirits, even though his vows prevent him from drinking wine, and he decides to challenge his Philistine companions [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. He presents them with a riddle, an obscure puzzle designed to be difficult to unravel [מצודת ציון]. He gives his guests a clear deadline, allowing them the seven days of the feast to provide the solution [מצודת דוד].

Samson's challenge contains a dual demand: he asks the men both to state the answer and to find it. This phrasing raises a question, especially since the riddle is based on a completely private event that the guests could not possibly know about. One approach explains that the requirement to find the answer refers to a mental process. The men were expected to arrive at the absolute truth through independent thought and intellect, without resorting to deceit [מצודת דוד, חומת אנך].

Conversely, another perspective argues that solving this specific puzzle through logic alone was completely impossible. Therefore, the instruction to find the answer was actually a practical hint. Samson was challenging them to physically search the city and its surrounding areas, where they could literally discover the lion's carcass and the honey [מלבי״ם].

To raise the stakes, Samson promises that if they succeed, he will personally finance a reward for each of his thirty companions [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The prize consists of linen items and changes of clothing. The linen pieces were either sheets used for sleeping at night and wrapping oneself during the day [רד״ק], or simply a general term for a specific type of garment [מצודת ציון]. The additional sets of clothing are described as such simply because it is normal human practice to change outfits from time to time [מצודת ציון].