Why is this the answer?

The answer is nothing because this clever riddle uses a special trick with words to make you think about something that isn't really there. Let's look closely at each part of the puzzle to understand the trick. First, the riddle says this thing is "greater than God and more evil than the devil." How can that be? Well, the idea of nothing is so vast and empty that it can't be measured or controlled by anything, so in a funny way, it is bigger than everything. When something is so evil that it is worse than the devil, you could say that it has nothing good about it at all. The riddle is playing a word trick. It's asking you to think about the *word* "nothing," not an actual thing that is good or evil. Next, the riddle says, "The poor have it, the rich need it." Think about a person who is poor. They have very little money or possessions, so you could say they have nothing. The poor often have nothing to lose, which is something they definitely "have." Now for the rich people. They have so many things, so what do they "need?" Maybe they need nothing more because they already have everything! The riddle is playing a fun game with the meaning of "have nothing" and "need nothing." Finally, the riddle gives us a final, spooky clue: "and if you eat it you'll die." This is the easiest part to figure out. If you eat nothing, it means you are not putting any food into your stomach. Your body needs food to be strong and keep you alive and healthy. If you eat nothing for a very long time, you would get sick and die. The whole riddle works because "nothing" is an idea, not an object you can hold. It is a powerful concept that can be talked about in many different ways, which is why it is such a famous and brilliant riddle. It shows us that even an empty idea can be the smart answer to a big question.