The two lines of their riddle, containing poetic parallelism, echo the two lines of Samson’s riddle in Judges 14:14. Also, the echo is heard in the focus on the two key words: honey,
which is sweetness par excellence, and lion,
strength par excellence.1
18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?”And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.”