Judges 15: Samson Defeats the Philistines
Judges 16: Samson and Delilah / Samson's Death
Today's reading is a continuation of the Samson story line. Read Part I here. Samson is a strong nazirite who can speak in riddles and poetry and has a huge temper problem. But it is his temper that defines his Chuck Norris-like awesomeness, as he slays hundreds of men with the slightest provocation.
But Samson is only a vehicle for God's actions against the Philistines. Samson is able to engineer situations in which the Philistines wrong him, and then fights them as the spirit of the Lord is upon him.
Samson Defeats the Philistines: Judges 15
At the time of the wheat harvest Samson returns to Timnah in order to see his wife. The woman's father refuses on the grounds that Samson had seemed to reject her. Instead the man offers her sister instead, which to an ancient audience would not seem as strange as it might today.
But all this is simply more pretext to wreak havoc on the Philistines. Samson catches 300 foxes and ties them all tail to tail, with a lit torch in each pair of tails. He then lets them run wild in the grain, vineyards, and olive groves of the Philistines.
As evidenced in yesterday's reading, Samson is very good at having the Philistines get each other killed. This continues today, as the Philistines burn Samson's wife and her father for their relation with Samson.That doesn't make Samson any happier, and he strikes down all the men in vengeance and goes to stay in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
After the Philistines make a raid on Lehi searching for Samson, 3,000 men of Judah come to Samson at Etam and tell him not to bother the ruling Philistines. (3,000 men are sent to bind one - a testament to Samson's might.) Samson replies simply that he is repaying them for what they did to him. Nevertheless, the men of Judah bind Samson and give him to the Philistines.
When the Philistines rush at Samson, a new chapter of awesomeness begins as the spirit of the Lord comes upon him. The ropes holding Samson melt away, and then slays 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey.
After that Samson is very thirsty and calls to the Lord. God splits open a hollow place and water bursts forth. Samson drinks and continues to be awesome. He judges Israel 20 years.
Samson and Delilah: Judges 16.1-22
A feat of wit and strength: Samson goes down to Gaza and sleeps with a prostitute. When the Gazites hear of it, they wait at the city gate all night until the morning, when they plan to kill him. However, Samson rises at midnight, pulls up the city gate, and carries them 35 miles to the top of the hill in front of Hebron. This story serves as a prelude to the machinations of the Philistines ahead.
Samson falls in love with a Philistine woman named Delilah. When the lords of the Philistines hear this, they offer her 1,100 pieces of silver each if she can discover why his strength is so great.
When she asks how he might be bound, Samson responds that he can be bound with seven fresh bowstrings. Delilah binds him, and as the Philistines wait nearby, say to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But Samson breaks free.
The scene repeats two more times, the bowstrings replaced by new ropes and then by having seven locks of Samson's hair woven into a loom (which at least gives away a piece of the puzzle). But neither of these is successful, and Delilah continues to nag her husband. Finally Samson informs her that he is a nazirite, and that his strength will leave him if his head is shaved.
This time Delilah waits until Samson is asleep, has a man shave seven locks from his hair, and wakes him with the familiar cry, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But with his hair gone, the Lord has abandoned Samson. The Philisitnes seize him and gouge his eyes out. They imprison him in Gaza, where he grinds at a mill.
Soon, though, the hair begins to grow back.
Samson's Death: Judges 16.23-31
The Philistines gather a sacrifice for their god Dagon because they have finally captured Samson - and Samson is the source of entertainment at the affair. He performs between two pillars of a house full of men and women, with 3,000 on the roof alone. The blind Samson asks the attendant if he could lean against the pillars, as a way to judge their strength. Then he asks the Lord for the strength to pay back the Philistines - though he recognizes he too will die. In one last feat of strength, Samson strains against the pillars, causing the house to collapse and killing all who are inside it. "So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life."
Samson's family come to bury the hero, who through his own personal dealings with the Philistines was able to kill many of them for God and for Israel.
Showing posts with label Samson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samson. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Judges 13-14: Samson (Part I)
Judges 13: Samson's Birth
Judges 14: Samson's Marriage
Today we begin the first part of a two-part story about Samson, that guy with the hair. Samson is a pretty well-known biblical character, but the popular image of a character might be more informed by contemporary culture than by the bible. Samson is strong, yes, but he also has a temper and problems with women (meaning he isn't interested in Israelite females. And did you know he could speak in poetry and make riddles? If not, come find out.
Samson's Birth: Judges 13
Again the Israelites fall into their old ways (the first step the unfaithfulness cycle) and the Lord gives them into the hand of the Philistins for forty years - which actually may be a lot longer because 40 is a symbolic number meaning a long amount of time.
Samson's birth, like a number of other births in the bible, comes as a collaboration between the God and humans (see, for example, Isaac and Jacob, and later on Jesus). In these stories the Lord comes down to the mother or father and promises a son.
Samson's father's name is Manoah, but his wife (though she gives birth to Samson) remains unnamed. The angel of the Lord visits this apparently barren woman to inform her that she will bear a son, a boy to be a nazirite from birth. A nazirite (meaning "one consecrated") is a person who devotes him or herself to God through certain practices (cf. Numbers 6.1-21). This state of dedication is generally temporary and broken when one of the practices is not observed. This boy is to be a nazirite from birth, and so his mother is not to drink wine or eat unclean foods while she is pregnant. After birth, the boy is to abstain from these things as well and his head will never be shaved. The purpose of all this, says the angel of the Lord, is that the woman's son will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
The woman tells her husband Manoah of the visitation, and he prays to the Lord to send the angel again so that he may see him and learn more about what to do concerning the boy. God listens and sends an angel to the woman as she sits in a field. She runs to get her husband, who - thinking the angel is only a man - questions the angel about the boy's purpose. The angel gives an indirect answer, stating that the woman should observe the words already spoken to her.
Manoah offers to prepare a kid for who he thinks is a man, but the angel refuses, saying the man should give a burnt offering instead. Still thinking the angel is a man, Manoah asks his name so that he may honor him when the son is born. This is a big faux pas on Manoah's part. Knowing a name allows one to honor a person, but it also gives power over that person. This is why Jacob asks the name of the being he wrestles with - to have the name of the person gives power. For this reason God always remains aloof about his name, speaking in riddles like "I am what I am." Indeed, Jews do not pronounce the tetragrammaton YHWH to this day. So of course the angel of the Lord responds, "Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful."
Manoah still does not seem to understand as he prepares the sacrifice. But when the angel of the Lord ascends with the flame, Manoah and his wife fall to their faces. Manoah panics in the traditional way people panic when they encounter God in person: "We shall surely die." His wife, however, reassures him that God would not have accepted the sacrifice or announced the coming of the child if he had meant to kill them.
The woman bears a son, whom she names Samson. As he grows, the spirit of the Lord begins to stir in him.
Samson's Birth: Judges 14
The cardinal rule of God's renewed covenant with the Israelites is that they are not to worship other gods. And the easiest way to fall into this pattern is to intermarry. To put is succinclty: Exogamy leads to apostasy.
Nevertheless, Samson, the man to begin the deliverance of Israel, has a soft spot for Philistine women. His parents try to dissuade him (and actually in this culture it is they that will arrange the marriage) but are unsuccessful. The biblical author creates some dramatic irony here, informing the reader that Samson's taste in women is the doing of the Lord, who is seeking a pretext to act against the Philistines, who have dominion over Israel.
Samnson goes down with his mother and father to Timnah, where the Philistine woman lives. Along the way a young lion roars at him and the spirit of the Lord comes upon him and he tears the creature apart. He does not inform his parents of this.
A while later Samson returns to marry the woman. On the way, he sees a swarm of bees in the lion carcass, and they have produced honey. He scoops out some honey and eats it as he walks, giving some to his mother and father as well. He does not tell them where he got the honey from.
Why doesn't Samson tell his parents about killing the lion or about where he got the honey? Well, we're being set up for a story...
At the marriage feast Samson is given 30 Philistine companions, who - rather than acting as an entourage - might be there to keep the Philistines safe from him. Samson challenges them to a riddle contest. If they can decipher his riddle within seven days, he will give them 30 linen garments and 30 festal garments. If he stumps them, he will receive 30 linen garments and 30 festal garments. The riddle:
On the fourth day the men threaten to burn the houses of Samson's wife and her father if she does not coax the answer from her husband. Samson's wife accuses her husband of not loving her, but that does not work; he has not told even his father or mother. She weeps and nags him seven days, and on the final day he tells her.
The 30 men return to Samson with the answer - in the form of a new riddle:
The spirit of the Lord again rushes on Samson, but he does not kill the 30 companions. Rather, he goes down to Ashkelon and kills 30 men there, taking their spoil to pay back his companions. The joke's on the Philistines. They might have gotten what they wanted, but now the Lord has pretext to act against them, and the 30 Philistine residents of Ashkelon have been killed.
The wife? She is given to Samson's best man.
Judges 14: Samson's Marriage
Today we begin the first part of a two-part story about Samson, that guy with the hair. Samson is a pretty well-known biblical character, but the popular image of a character might be more informed by contemporary culture than by the bible. Samson is strong, yes, but he also has a temper and problems with women (meaning he isn't interested in Israelite females. And did you know he could speak in poetry and make riddles? If not, come find out.
Samson's Birth: Judges 13
Again the Israelites fall into their old ways (the first step the unfaithfulness cycle) and the Lord gives them into the hand of the Philistins for forty years - which actually may be a lot longer because 40 is a symbolic number meaning a long amount of time.
Samson's birth, like a number of other births in the bible, comes as a collaboration between the God and humans (see, for example, Isaac and Jacob, and later on Jesus). In these stories the Lord comes down to the mother or father and promises a son.
Samson's father's name is Manoah, but his wife (though she gives birth to Samson) remains unnamed. The angel of the Lord visits this apparently barren woman to inform her that she will bear a son, a boy to be a nazirite from birth. A nazirite (meaning "one consecrated") is a person who devotes him or herself to God through certain practices (cf. Numbers 6.1-21). This state of dedication is generally temporary and broken when one of the practices is not observed. This boy is to be a nazirite from birth, and so his mother is not to drink wine or eat unclean foods while she is pregnant. After birth, the boy is to abstain from these things as well and his head will never be shaved. The purpose of all this, says the angel of the Lord, is that the woman's son will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
The woman tells her husband Manoah of the visitation, and he prays to the Lord to send the angel again so that he may see him and learn more about what to do concerning the boy. God listens and sends an angel to the woman as she sits in a field. She runs to get her husband, who - thinking the angel is only a man - questions the angel about the boy's purpose. The angel gives an indirect answer, stating that the woman should observe the words already spoken to her.
Manoah offers to prepare a kid for who he thinks is a man, but the angel refuses, saying the man should give a burnt offering instead. Still thinking the angel is a man, Manoah asks his name so that he may honor him when the son is born. This is a big faux pas on Manoah's part. Knowing a name allows one to honor a person, but it also gives power over that person. This is why Jacob asks the name of the being he wrestles with - to have the name of the person gives power. For this reason God always remains aloof about his name, speaking in riddles like "I am what I am." Indeed, Jews do not pronounce the tetragrammaton YHWH to this day. So of course the angel of the Lord responds, "Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful."
Manoah still does not seem to understand as he prepares the sacrifice. But when the angel of the Lord ascends with the flame, Manoah and his wife fall to their faces. Manoah panics in the traditional way people panic when they encounter God in person: "We shall surely die." His wife, however, reassures him that God would not have accepted the sacrifice or announced the coming of the child if he had meant to kill them.
The woman bears a son, whom she names Samson. As he grows, the spirit of the Lord begins to stir in him.
Samson's Birth: Judges 14
The cardinal rule of God's renewed covenant with the Israelites is that they are not to worship other gods. And the easiest way to fall into this pattern is to intermarry. To put is succinclty: Exogamy leads to apostasy.
Nevertheless, Samson, the man to begin the deliverance of Israel, has a soft spot for Philistine women. His parents try to dissuade him (and actually in this culture it is they that will arrange the marriage) but are unsuccessful. The biblical author creates some dramatic irony here, informing the reader that Samson's taste in women is the doing of the Lord, who is seeking a pretext to act against the Philistines, who have dominion over Israel.
Samnson goes down with his mother and father to Timnah, where the Philistine woman lives. Along the way a young lion roars at him and the spirit of the Lord comes upon him and he tears the creature apart. He does not inform his parents of this.
A while later Samson returns to marry the woman. On the way, he sees a swarm of bees in the lion carcass, and they have produced honey. He scoops out some honey and eats it as he walks, giving some to his mother and father as well. He does not tell them where he got the honey from.
Why doesn't Samson tell his parents about killing the lion or about where he got the honey? Well, we're being set up for a story...
At the marriage feast Samson is given 30 Philistine companions, who - rather than acting as an entourage - might be there to keep the Philistines safe from him. Samson challenges them to a riddle contest. If they can decipher his riddle within seven days, he will give them 30 linen garments and 30 festal garments. If he stumps them, he will receive 30 linen garments and 30 festal garments. The riddle:
Out of the eater came something to eat.What could it be? For three days the men cannot figure it out.
Out of the strong came something sweet.
On the fourth day the men threaten to burn the houses of Samson's wife and her father if she does not coax the answer from her husband. Samson's wife accuses her husband of not loving her, but that does not work; he has not told even his father or mother. She weeps and nags him seven days, and on the final day he tells her.
The 30 men return to Samson with the answer - in the form of a new riddle:
What is sweeter than honey?The answer to this one is not given (though HarperCollins think it might be "love"). Samson responds in bawdy poetry, which actually resembles riddle form with its use of metaphor:
What is stronger than a lion?
If you had not plowed with my heifer,Store that one away to whip out next time you're in a similar situation. Your opposition will be dumbfounded and your significant other greatly insulted.
you would not have found out my riddle.
The spirit of the Lord again rushes on Samson, but he does not kill the 30 companions. Rather, he goes down to Ashkelon and kills 30 men there, taking their spoil to pay back his companions. The joke's on the Philistines. They might have gotten what they wanted, but now the Lord has pretext to act against them, and the 30 Philistine residents of Ashkelon have been killed.
The wife? She is given to Samson's best man.
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