Who Do You Want To Be

The story of Samson stands out from the others in Judges as a unique tale about a man chosen by God to do great things and lead the people. The man instead does as he pleases and doesn’t often call out to God for more than getting what he wants. Exploring where Samson fits into the stories of Judges before him, I find that he doesn’t fit into them. Before Samson there was a reoccurring pattern. The people fell short as faithful worshipers of God and found themselves oppressed and suffering. When it got bad enough they finally turned to God, who gave them a champion to lead them. That person leads the people, conquered enemies, and brought them back to God. Once the leader passed away or faded into the background, things went back to the way there were before and that’s where the pattern developed. So again the people stop acting faithfully. Again God lets them be controlled by another nation. They call out to God, and God saves them. Now comes in Samson, a man blessed by God who is never spoken to by God.

Samson’s story starts not with a man, but a woman. His mother is the first to learn of Samson’s coming as an angel of the Lord tells her of his coming birth and what he will mean. The angel tells her of all the rules to follow and the details, but he never mentions something about getting her husband so he may also tell him. Only after Samson’s father, Manoah, prays for the angel’s return does the angel speak to him. Even then he gives him the barest details and in such a manner that it would seem he stops short of saying, “I already told her. Just ask her!”

“The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “The woman must abstain from all the things against which I warned her.” (Judges 13:13)

“She must observe all that I commanded her.” (Judges 13:14b)

Samson’s father is named, but not his mother and yet she serves such an essential role in his life as the base for all his future involvement with women. Though we see the exploits of Samson in detail, what motivates him most is women. The voice of God does not speak to him. No angel directs his paths. Samson is a “loose cannon” who does as he pleases. He is far from the noble hero or great military leader and most, if not all, of his actions are done by his desire. Yet, from the moment where his mother reprimands his father for being afraid of the angel of the lord to the moment where his hair is cut we see that the real power comes from the women in Samson’s life. In manhood his first action is not to rally the people, but rather to request a girl he found attractive. First his mother shows strength before his birth then, he shows weakness in manhood. Called to a greater purpose his first act is a selfish one that becomes a dangerous game and ends in death. It sounds grim, but here Samson is doing what God had blessed him to do. He attacks the enemies of the Israelites and strikes fear into them. Samson has to be tricked into doing the work he was made for, but there’s something else to note here. His wife, nameless like his mother, has to harass him for an answer to his elusive riddle:

“Out of the eater came something to eat,

Out of the strong came something sweet.” (Judges 14:14)

Samson and the lion.

(http://www.biblebios.com/judges/samson/samson.htm)

This would seem to be the first showing of Samson’s downfall through women if it were not for an often overlooked detail, his wife and her family were threatened with death. The Philistines have no issues with killing even their own countrymen for trivial matters, and Samson’s wife did the only thing she could do to save her family; she got the answer they sought and “betrayed” Samson. Except that Samson’s reaction to the betrayal led to a series of events that became exactly what he needed to be doing. In truth, his wife roused the strength that it took a lion attacking to coax out previously. In his frustration Samson deals a heavy blow to the Philistines in burning their crops and then slaughtering a thousand of them. It is at this point that Samson talks to God for the first time in his story.

God has been missing from the story of Samson, save the times where Samson’s incredible strength is brought out. The two do not talk and God does not command Samson. For some reason, in this story God is content to let Samson do as he sees fit with his blessings. When Samson finally calls out to God, all God does is give him what he asks for. Why didn’t God talk to him or intervene more directly like it has been done before? It would seem to me that the plan was not to directly push Samson, but, again, to have the women in his life lead Samson where he must go. It seems like a bit of trickery on the part of God. In order to get this chosen man to be a man, a woman must be involved. Enter in Delilah, the woman with a bad reputation for doing God’s work. Her character is often portrayed as the harlot betrayer who badgers Samson until he caves into giving up his weakness. No remorse occurs on her part and she shows her true Philistine colors. The only issue here is that at no point is she said to be a Philistine. It’s quite possible that Delilah is an Israelite herself, though we already know that race does not matter to Samson. All that matters to him at this point is that he is in love with her and, who is to say she did not love him back. It would seem like a betrayal of Samson and lacking love that she so easily accepted the offer of the Philistines, but it was Samson who chose to give his secret to the one he chose to love. He submits to a woman, loses his strength, is blinded and left to toil like woman would be left to do. This leads to one last act with the strength of God and Samson brings down the temple of dagon and all those within it.

Samson destroys the temple (http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/maerten-van-heemskerck/samson-destroying-the-temple-of-the-philistines)

So ends the story of Samson, if we wanted to stop there. What if all of Samson’s actions were a means to avoid what he was made for? What if he didn’t want to be a leader of men but just a man able to pursue life’s pleasures? What if he got to do all that and to experience the love of Delilah? The song “Samson” by Regina Spektor hints at this as well as the video interview with David Grossman.

In her song, Regina takes on the voice of Delilah, in love with Samson and singing to him as if his story had an uneventful ending.

If she had cut his hair and they lived their lives together instead of her giving him up. Samson could be a normal man and would no longer have to think of the burden of his blessing from God. It would not be an abnormal thing for Samson to do, considering his selfish nature. The song is lovely and paints a lovely image of a different story. What would the story of Samson be if it were just a love story? Perhaps it would not be deemed worth passing on through the generations. Or, we could find more value in a story that shows the strength of women  and how a man needed that strength to find his own.

Works Cited

Grossman, David. Interview by Bill Moyers. Personal interview. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/portraits_grossman.html, July 14, 2006.

Berlin, Adele, Marc Zvi Brettler, and Michael A. Fishbane. "Judges." In The Jewish study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 508-557.

Branson, Robert. "Samson." In Judges: a commentary in the Wesleyan tradition. Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2009. 126-147.

Camp, Claudia V. "Riddlers, Tricksters and Strange Women in The Samson Story." In Wise, strange, and holy the strange woman and the making of the Bible. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000. 94-143.

Chisholm, Robert B, Jr. 2009. "Identity crisis: assessing Samson's birth and career." Bibliotheca

Sacra 166, no. 662: 147-162. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed December 16, 2013).

Meeks, Wayne A. and Jouette M. Bassler. "Judges 13-16." In The HarperCollins study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1993. 368-373.

Reinhartz, A. "Samson's Mother: An Unnamed Protagonist." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 17, no. 55 (1992): 25-37.

Schipper, Jeremy. 2011. "What was Samson thinking in Judges 16,17 and 16,20?"

Biblica 92, no. 1: 60-69. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed December 16, 2013).

Smith, C. "Samson And Delilah: A Parable Of Power?" Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 22, no. 76 (1997): 45-57.

Yee, Gale A. "Feminist Criticism, Samsons Women." In Judges and method: new approaches in biblical studies. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995. 77-82.