059. XXXIX. Samson’s Birth And Marriage
§XXXIX. SAMSON’S BIRTH AND MARRIAGE Judges 13, Judges 15:1-19, Judges 16:7-31
1. The announcement of Samson’s birth. Now there was a certain man of Zorah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and had not borne children. And the Messenger of Jehovah appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, thou hast been barren and not borne children, Now therefore, take heed, I pray, and drink no wine or intoxicating drink, and do not eat anything unclean; for thou art already with child, and wilt bear a son. And no razor shall be used upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from his birth to the day of his death.
2. Birth and childhood. And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him. And the spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahaneh-Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
3. His desire to wed a woman of Timnah. Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw in Timnah a woman of the daughters of the Philistines. When he came up, he told his father and mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah a daughter of the Philistines; now therefore get her for me for a wife. Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your kinsmen, or among all my people, that you must go and take a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines? But Samson said to his father, Get her for me; for she pleases me. His father and mother, however, did not know that it was of Jehovah; for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.
4. His second visit to Timnah. Then Samson went down to Timnah. And just as he came to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of Jehovah rushed upon him, and he tore the beast asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hands. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson. And when he returned after a while to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. And he scraped it out into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate, but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.
5. His riddle at his wedding feast. And Samson went down to the woman, and gave a feast there (for so bridegrooms used to do). And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they took thirty companions and they were with him. And Samson said to them, Let me now propose to you a riddle; if you can give me the correct answer within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty fine linen wrappers and thirty festal garments; but if you cannot give me the answer, then you shall give me thirty fine linen wrappers and thirty festal garments. And they said to him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it. And he said to them, Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet. But for six days they could not solve the riddle.
6. Intrigues to find the answer. Then on the seventh day they said to Samson’s wife, Beguile your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Did you invite us to impoverish us? And Samson’s wife wept continually before him, and said, You do not love me, you only hate me; you have given a riddle to my fellow-countrymen and have not told it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told it to my father or my mother, and shall I tell you? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted. And it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her, because she importuned him; and she told the riddle to her fellow-countrymen. Then the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If with my heifer you did not plow, You had not solved my riddle now.
7. His payment of the forfeit. Then the spirit of Jehovah rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed thirty of their men, and took their spoil and gave the festal garments to those who had expounded the riddle. But he was very angry, and went up to his father’s house. And Samson’s bride was given to his companion, who had been his friend.
8. His destruction of the Philistine’s grain-fields. Now it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson went to visit his wife with a kid; and he said, Let me go into the inner apartment to my wife. But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, I thought that you must surely hate her, so I gave her to your friend. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Take her then, instead. But Samson said to him, This time I shall not be to blame, if I do the Philistines an injury. So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch between every pair of tails. And when he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, with the olive yards besides.
9. His vengeance for the death of his wife. Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his friend. And the Philistines went up, and burnt her and her father with fire. Then Samson said to them, If this is the way you do, I swear that I will not stop until I have had my revenge. So he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the Cliff of Etam.
10. His delivery to the Philistines. Then the Philistines went up and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves abroad in Lehi. And the Judahites said, Why have you come up against us? And they said, We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us. Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the Cliff of Etam, and said to Samson, Do you not know that the Philistines are our rulers? What then is this that you have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. And they said to him, We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that you will not fall upon me yourselves. And they said to him, No; we will simply bind you securely, and deliver you into their hand; but we will not kill you. And they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the Cliff.
11. His escape and slaughter of the Philistines. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then the spirit of Jehovah rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has been burned in the fire, and his bonds melted from off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and reached out his hand and, grasping it, he killed a thousand men with it. Then Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass have I piled them, mass upon mass, A thousand men have I slain with the jawbone of an ass. And when he had finished saying this, he threw away the jawbone from his hand; therefore that place was called Ramath-lehi [Throwing of the jawbone].
12. Origin of the famous spring at Lehi. And he was very thirsty and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance through thy servant, and now I shall die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised? Then God cleft the Mortar which is in Lehi, and water flowed from it; and when he drank, his spirits rose and he revived; therefore its name was called En-hakkore [Spring of the caller], which is in Lehi to this day.
13. Samson’s escape from Gaza. Now Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. When the Gazites were told that Samson was there, they set spies to lie in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, When morning dawns, then we will kill him. And Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose, and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is before Hebron.
14. Delilah’s attempts to be tray Samson bowstrings. Then afterward he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the tyrants of the Philistines came to her and said to her, Beguile him and see why his strength is so great, and how we may overcome him, that we may bind him to torment him, and we will each one of us give you eleven hundred shekels of silver. So Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray, why your strength is so great, and how you might be bound to torment you. And Samson said to her, If they should bind me with seven green bowstrings, which were never dried, then I would become weak, and be like any other man. Then the tyrants of the Philistines brought her seven green bowstrings, which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had men waiting in concealment in the inner apartment. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he snapped the bowstrings as a string of tow is snapped when it comes near the fire. So the source of his strength was not known.
15. By the new ropes. Then Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now tell me, I pray, with what you can be bound. And he said to her, If they should bind me securely with new ropes, which had never been used, then I should become weak, and be like any other man. So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And the men were waiting in concealment in the inner apartment. But he snapped them from off his arms like thread.
16. By weaving his locks in a loom. And Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto you have deceived me, and told me lies; tell me with what you can be bound. And he said to her, If you should weave the seven braids of my head with the web, and fasten it with the pin, I would become weak and be like any other man. So while he was asleep, she took the seven braids of his hair and wove it with the web, and fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are upon you Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and pulled up the beam and the web.
17. His disclosure of his secret. Then she said to him, How can you say, I love you, when you do not confide in me? you have deceived me these three times, and have not told me the secret of your great strength. And it came to pass when she importuned him daily, and urged him, that he was vexed to death. And he confided in her, and said to her, A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I should be shaved, then my strength would go from me, and I would become weak, and be like any other man.
18. His capture and fate. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, ehe sent and called for the tyrants of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart. Then the tyrants of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. And she put him to sleep upon her knees. Then she called for a man, and had him shave off the seven braids on his head; and she began to torment him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and thought, I will go out, as I have time and time again, and shake myself free; for he did not know that Jehovah had departed from him. Then the Philistines laid hold of him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he was set to grinding in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.
19. The Philistines’ feast of triumph. And the tyrants of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our power. And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Under our sway our god has brought low Our foe,—
He who wrought our country’s woe, He who slew many of us at a blow.
20. Samson’s death. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. So they called Samson from the prison; and he made sport before them. And they placed him between the pillars.
Then Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, Put me where I may feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the tyrants of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, who were looking on while Samson made sport. And Samson called on Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may avenge myself on the Philistines for one of my two eyes. Then Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, one with his right hand, and the other with his left, and leaned upon them. And Samson said, Let me myself die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might. And the house fell upon the tyrants, and upon all the people who were in it. So those whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his life.
21. His burial. Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying-place of Manoah his father.
I. The Popular Character of the Samson Stories. It is evident that the Samson stories were preserved in the book of Judges, not so much for their religious value as because of their popularity. They were doubtless retold from generation to generation, especially at the marriage feasts and festivals in ancient Israel. They contain the few examples found in the Old Testment of popular Hebrew poetry. Strangely enough it has not only the characteristic Hebrew rhythm of idea and measured beat, but also the rhyme so common in modern poetry. These primitive stories give a rare insight into the life and point of view of the common people during this period of settlement.
II. The Character of Samson. Samson has sometimes been held up as a worthy character. This tendency, however, is dangerous. He must, of course, be measured by the standards of his age, but even so he is far from noble. The keen admiration which the early Hebrews felt for physical strength and wit, undoubtedly explained the popularity of these stories. His contests with the Philistines, however, were but private feuds, and his great strength was never put forth for deliverance of his people. His achievements do not win for him a place even beside such a rude warrior as Jephthah. While his fellow-tribesmen admired his prowess, even they did not hesitate to deliver him to their foes in order to avoid a Philistine attack. Samson is a signal example of a man who possessed great gifts, but who failed to consecrate them to a noble cause.
III. The Nazirite Vow. According to the narrative, Samson’s strength was due to the fact that he was a Nazirite. The word in its derivation appears to mean separate, set apart, and therefore consecrated to the Deity. The obligations assumed by the Nazirite also indicate that he was especially consecrated to Jehovah. Devotees are found in connection with most ancient religions. The Nazirite vow, however, appears to have been peculiar to that nomadic religion which the Hebrews brought from the desert. Wine was the product of the vine culture, which was characteristic of agricultural Canaan. Abstinence from wine, therefore, represented devotion to Jehovah and a refusal to have any part in the products of the corrupt Canaanite civilization. This element in the vow may also have been intended to save the devotee of Jehovah from the intoxicating power of the wine. The same vow of consecration kept him from eating or touching anything that was ceremonially unclean. As the devotee of Jehovah, his person was also sacred; therefore no razor was allowed to touch his hair. According to the narrative, Samson’s strength was given him by Jehovah; hence when his hair, which symbolized his consecration to Jehovah, was cut, his strength suddenly departed. When the hair grew again it returned.
IV. Conditions at the End of the Period of Settlement. The stories regarding Samson clearly belong to the latter part of the period of settlement. Already the Philistines, whose victories are recorded in the first part of I Samuel, were beginning to invade central Canaan, and to bring the neighboring Hebrew clans into subjection. There is no evidence of any united action among the Hebrews in resisting the advance of these powerful foes. The relations between the two nations, however, were such that Samson without hesitation contracts a marriage with a Philistine woman. It was that peculiar type of marriage, common in this early age, in which the wife remained with her own clan. The stories also reveal the strength and superior civilization of the Philistines. They furnish, therefore, a natural introduction to the subsequent events which led to the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy.
V. Moral and Religious Standards. The narrative of Samson’s deeds completes the picture of the moral and religious conditions of this early age. Although a devotee of Jehovah and a popular hero, Samson is lacking in the fundamental principles of morality. He is governed by his passions and selfish inclinations. His spirit of revenge makes him regardless of the rights and possessions of others. Having resorted to deception, he becomes the victim of deception. Although he attains to a certain majesty in the last scene of his life, he dies a victim of his own spirit of revenge. Samson and his contemporaries evidently believed that it was more important that he should preserve his hair intact and abstain from wine and unclean food, than that he should control his passions and observe the simple laws of justice and mercy and service. In contrast, leaders like Deborah and Barak reveal by their deeds the dawning of that nobler ideal which was destined to find full expression in the messages of the later prophets. The stories of the book of Judges vividly portray the early character of that race which, under the divine training, in time became a prophet nation with a universal spiritual message.