The story of Samson and Delilah is described in the Book of Judges of Israel. Samson's birth was foretold by an angel. He was born from a barren woman. His father was Manoah from the family of Dan. According to the Angel, the baby will be a “Nazarite of God” and will “save Israel from the hand of the Philistines” (Book of Judges of Israel, chapter 13). Soon an Angel appeared to Manoah and said that when the baby grows up, he must beware of everything that the vine produces and not eat anything unclean, then he will be able to resist the Philistines.
A little history. The Philistines were not a big nation in those days, but they were strategic thinkers. Capitalizing on the weaknesses of the Israelites, who at that time were poorly organized, the Philistines penetrated into the territories of Israel, parasitizing on the weaker tribes, until the day came when they completely surrounded and enslaved all the tribes of Israel.
When the boy was born, he was named Samson (Shimshon). Having matured, Samson saw a woman from the daughters of the Philistines, who at that time ruled over Israel, and began to ask his father to take this woman as his wife.
Samson went with his father and mother to Timnatha, where a woman lived. Soon they saw a young lion coming towards them. Samson defeated the lion with his bare hands. Here Samson’s enormous physical strength, which he subsequently often used, was revealed for the first time. Samson met his chosen one, and he began to like her even more.
A few days later, Samson again went to his chosen one along the same road and saw that a swarm of bees had appeared in the lion’s corpse. Samson took honey from the corpse and ate it himself, and treated it to his parents.
Soon a wedding was held, at which Samson asked a riddle to the Philistines present:
From the eater came the poisonous, and from the strong came the sweet. ( Book of Judges of Israel, chapter 14 )
As you probably already guessed, this riddle was about a lion and honey. The Philistines could not solve the riddle and sent their wife to Samson to find out the answer. For seven days she cried and asked Samson to solve the riddle, until he finally gave up. Samson's wife told the answer to the sons of her people.
Samson became angry and punished 30 Philistines with death. Thus began the confrontation between Samson and the Philistines, which is described in detail in chapter 15 of the Book of Judges. Samson was a judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.
It is important to understand what " judge of Israel " means. The Age of the Judges was a troubled time after the death of Joshua, characterized by tribal hostilities. The judges are authority figures among the Israelis, active representatives of the national consciousness who resisted the assimilation of the Israelis into local tribes. Judges commanded the people's militia and also performed legal functions. The power of judges was based either on high authority or on force.
Let's return to the legend of Samson and Delilah. Delilah lived in the Sorek Valley. Samson fell in love with her. The Philistines, having learned about Samson's feelings, decided to bribe Delilah so that she would find out the secret of Samson's enormous physical strength. Modern scholars have calculated that Delilah received 5,500 shekels of silver (62,700 grams) for her betrayal.
Samson revealed to Delilah the secret of his strength, and it was in Samson’s hair.
...if you shave me, my strength will depart from me; I will become weak and be like other people. (Book of Judges of Israel, chapter 16)
Delilah cut the hair of the sleeping Samson and handed him over to the Philistines, who bound him with copper chains, blinded him, and took him to Gaza to a house of prisoners. Soon many Philistines gathered here to sacrifice Samson to their god Dagon. Meanwhile, the hair on Samson's head began to grow back, and he moved the two supporting pillars that supported the entire house and brought the house down on the Philistines, thereby killing more Philistines than in his 20 years as a judge. Samson was also buried under the rubble. They buried him next to his father.
Who was Samson?
Born according to the promise of an angel of the Lord from a barren woman, Samson possessed extraordinary physical strength. The boy was to abstain from everything that the vine produced and not to eat anything unclean. He grew up in obedience to his parents until the time came to take a wife.
She turned out to be a woman from the enemy tribe of the Philistines, which in itself could not arouse the approval of Samson’s father and mother: she would later betray him by marrying a second time and would be burned in her own home by her own fellow tribesmen. Lustful passion will soon destroy Samson.
Parallels with other heroes of antiquity
The central story of Samson has several parallels with other ancient mythological figures appearing several centuries before the writing of the Book of Judges, [3] such as the Sumerian Gilgamesh, the Canaanite El, or the Greek Hercules and Cyrene, among others. Initially, they all wore unshaven hair and fought hand-to-hand with wild animals such as lions and bulls. Hercules faces an army of Amazons alone, while Samson faces an army of Philistines; Hercules dies for love of Dejanira, Gilgamesh mourns Ishtar, and Delilah betrays Samson; Hercules moves and separates the columns that bear his name, and Samson moves the columns of the temple of Dagon; Heracles is responsible for opening the gates of Olympus, while Samson is responsible for the gates of Gaza. Even the fact that Samson tied two foxes by the tails and placed a burning torch there has its parallel in the images of Hercules and the dog Orthro, who in profile resembles two dogs and whose snake-like tail can easily be confused with lit tea. [ 4 ] [ ] [ ]The passage in which the Philistines force Samson, with his hair shaved, blind and powerless, to turn the mill wheel as a permanent punishment, is reminiscent of the punishment inflicted on Ixion in Greek mythology, forever tied to the spinning wheel, or to the allegorical images of the Greek goddess Tyche or her Roman namesake Fortuna [7] or the goddess of Chance, both blindfolded and moving wheels. In Ocasion's case, he was also shaved.
Haircut as a ritual
In Asia Minor there was a ritual called the comiria, which involved cutting the hair of the sacred king every year. The sacred king wore his hair unshaven as it represented the power or strength of the sun, which the king embodied. [ 8 ] His tribal wife cut his hair and then betrayed him. The ceremony seemed to symbolize the dispute between the solar king and his heir in favor of the priestess, who represented the Moon goddess. [9] In Greek mythology, hair cutting is represented in various myths, perhaps one of the most famous is the myth of Scylla cutting the hair of Nysus, which was his source of invulnerability.
Samson and Delilah
He possessed amazing power, the secret of which the Philistines did not know. Samson inflicted such loud defeats on them over and over again that the enemies resorted to meanness: Delilah, Samson’s beloved woman, was persuaded to reveal the secret.
P. P. Rubens. "Samson and Delilah", 1609
For her betrayal, she received almost sixty-three kilograms of pure silver. It turned out that the power lay in long hair: Samson was a Nazirite and vowed to the Lord never to cut his hair.
While sleeping in Delilah's house, his hair was secretly cut off, and Samson himself was chained and subjected to ridicule and humiliation, taken to Gaza to the house of prisoners.
Film adaptations
In 1963, the film “Hercules vs. Samson” was released in Italy, where freely interpreted biblical and Greek myths intersected. The role of Samson was played by actor Ilosh Khoshade.
Ilosh Khoshade as Samson
Samson is presented here as a rebel and leader of an anti-state movement, who is hiding from the authorities in a small Jewish village. The Greeks Hercules and Odysseus end up in this village after they and their crew are carried to the shores of Judea. The Greeks' ship has been wrecked and they want to return home.
Samson is being sought by the royal soldiers, and Hercules, hurrying with his comrades to the capital to get a ship there, is accidentally mistaken for Samson. This happens because Hercules, in front of a local merchant, kills a lion with his bare hands - Samson accomplished the same feat, and everyone knows this.
Rowan McNamara as Samson
The merchant reports “where he should”, and in the capital Hercules’ companions are taken prisoner, and the Greek hero is ordered to go and find the real Samson, since he claims that he himself is not Samson. Queen Delilah goes on a search with Hercules.
When Hercules finds Samson, a skirmish occurs between them, but in the end the equally powerful fighters strike up a friendship and decide together to overthrow the king in Judea. Delilah, having reached the capital before the heroes, “surrenders” them to the king, and an army awaits Hercules and Samson on the approaches to the capital.
In 2009, the melodrama “Samson and Delilah” was released in Australia. The film does not directly reproduce the biblical story; it is rather an allegory. About social issues that arise in Aboriginal communities in Australia.
Taylor James as Samson
The main characters - teenagers Samson and Delilah - live in poverty. After the villagers beat Delilah with sticks, they flee to the city. There, the fate of the heroes does not improve, no one pays attention to homeless teenagers, and they do not know how to make money. After difficult trials, the heroes return back to their native village. The role of Samson in this film is played by Rowan McNamara.
In 2022, the American action film “Samson” will be released, a spectacular adaptation of the biblical myth, where the hero will be played by actor Taylor James.
Samson tearing the lion's mouth
Samson's life is full of unusual events: for example, on the way to the city where the bride was from, the travelers met a lion, which was torn to pieces by Samson.
Luke. "Samson and the Lion", 1696
Later, the young Jew returns to the lion's decaying corpse, where he discovers a swarm of bees; He will eat the honey himself and take it home to his father and mother.
Archeology
In August 2012, a team of archaeologists from Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of a circular stone seal approximately 15 mm (0.59 in) in diameter found on the floor of a house in Beit Shemesh, depicting a long-haired man killing a lion, consistent with the biblical account about Samson. The seal dates back to the 12th century BC. C. However, according to the newspaper Haaretz
, “Excavation leaders Professor Shlomo Bunimowitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman of Tel Aviv University say they do not suggest that the human figure on the seal is the biblical Samson. Rather, the geographic proximity to Samson's area and the time period of the seal indicate that during the hero's battle with the lion, a story was told that eventually found its way into the biblical text and seal." [ 10 ]
Blinding of Samson
He was completely blinded, moving everywhere with a guide boy. One day, the pagan Philistines, on the day of the celebration of the memory of Dagon, brought Samson to their meeting, subjecting him to special mockery.
P. P. Rubens. "The Death of Samson", 1605
By that time his hair was gradually growing back, Samson himself bitterly mourned his fornication. He asked the guide to lead him to two large columns on which the main part of the building rested, as if wanting to make sure of their strength.
Calling on God, Samson broke the chains with which he was bound and brought down the building, killing a large number of Philistines. He himself also died under the rubble. Samson was buried next to his father.
Samson is a great hero of ancient Israel. His name means "strong". Samson was born into the family of the Israeli judge Manoah and his beautiful wife. There is the following legend about the birth of a boy. One day an angel appeared to Manoah in a dream and predicted that soon his childless wife would give birth to an heir who would save the Jews from the Philistines, who had been attacking them for several decades.
In exchange for the divine miracle, Samson had to remain a Nazirite for the rest of his life, serve God, not drink alcohol, and never cut his hair. The happy father promised the angel to fulfill God's will and raised his son according to this order.
The boy grew up surprisingly brave and courageous, and unprecedented rumors began to spread throughout the land of Judea about his heroic strength. They said that once a brave young man tore apart the mouth of a living lion with his hands, and in one of the battles with the Philistines he killed about a thousand enemies. There were legends around Samson, some tried to unravel the secret of his strength, others admired the unusual young man, others offered him to reveal his secret for a large reward. But he remained adamant.
Soon the young man was appointed a judge, and a few years later he was already leading the enslaved Israeli people. Although the hero led an unrighteous life, he enjoyed great respect among the citizens. In addition, they were afraid of him and did not want to start arguments with the hot-tempered, stubborn and wayward Samson.
He often entered into battles with the Philistines and did not allow them, who arrived from the distant island of Crete and dominated his native land for forty years, to continue their invasion of the south and capture more and more Judean lands. The Philistine commanders could not cope with the Jewish hero. The fame of Samson's unprecedented physical strength spread faster and faster throughout cities and villages.
Women idolized him, he responded to their feelings and, falling in love with another beauty, he lost his head, became submissive, humble and meek. One day Samson came to the Philistine city of Gaza and met the beautiful Philistine Delilah there. She, too, was not distinguished by piety and was even known as a particularly cunning and insidious girl. However, the Jewish hero fell in love with Delilah and spent the whole evening with her.
The Philistines, having learned that their worst enemy was in the city, decided to lure Samson into a trap: close the main gates of the city and place several dozen armed guards next to them. The conspirators expected the appearance of the Jewish hero only in the morning and fell asleep peacefully, placing their weapons next to them.
However, Samson, sensing something was wrong, went to the city gates at midnight, killed all the guards, removed the gates and took them to the top of the mountain. In the morning, the Philistines, discouraged by their failure, discovered dead soldiers near the entrance to the city, and the fearless hero has since visited Gaza without hindrance.
For several months, the loving hero enjoyed the passion of love with Delilah and almost never left her chambers. Let us remember that Delilah was considered the most sophisticated harlot in the Philistine kingdom. Beautiful, black-eyed, with a sly, enchanting smile, Delilah so bewitched Samson that he, already weak in the female sex, completely lost his head.
The cunning Philistines took advantage of Samson's weakness of heart and persuaded Delilah, for a large fee, to learn the secret secret of the heroic strength of the invincible hero. The insidious woman agreed and that same evening, resorting to the most cunning methods, began to pry out his secret from her lover. For a long time he did not dare to reveal the secret; he told lies several times, sensing something was wrong.
At first he said that he would lose his strength if his body was tied with seven ropes. When her lover fell asleep, Delilah ordered her servants to tie him up and sent for the Philistine leaders. They broke into the harlot's house at midnight, but Samson easily broke the ropes and dealt with the enemies. The Philistines fled away in horror, and Delilah swore her innocence to her lover. A man in love believed the insidious traitor.
A few days later, the harlot again gave her lover wine to drink and cried so bitterly, cruelly reproaching Samson for his distrust and dislike for her, that the simple-minded giant gave in for the second time. He nevertheless told Delilah that his strength lies in his long, thick hair and if he cuts it, he will become helpless and weak. The shameless mistress, having given the hero sleepy wine, cut off all seven of his braids and handed Samson over to the Philistines. Having shackled the exhausted hero in chains, the enemies gouged out his eyes and put him in prison. Meanwhile, Delilah, having received an impressive sum, wallowed in luxury and enjoyed the acquired wealth. Only once did she visit her former lover in prison and with bitter speeches, sobbing on his shoulder, asked Samson to forgive her.
She said that she did this for the sake of love for him, out of fear that the hero would stop loving her and leave her, that now she wanted to ransom him from the Philistines and be with him for the rest of her life. But Samson no longer wanted to listen to the false speeches of his beloved, who had destroyed him in one night, and asked her never to come to him in prison again. Blinded and weakened, he remained in captivity for several months by the Philistines, who forced him to work at night and came up with new and new punishments. Neither Samson's friends nor relatives were able to ransom the captive from his enemies. The Philistines, celebrating the victory over the famous hero, did not want to hear about any ransom and continued to mock the defeated hero. However, they did not take into account that if Samson’s hair grew back, his irresistible powers would return to the hero with it.
Once in Gaza, where the Philistines kept the hated Israeli giant, they held a holiday in honor of some pagan god. The most notable leaders of the Philistine people gathered for a magnificent feast, where they decided to bring Samson chained in chains in order to laugh at him once again. The hero entered the temple and asked to be led to the column on which the roof of the building was supported. Samson pulled down the support in one motion, and the temple collapsed. They said that several thousand people died then. Samson also died under the ruins.
The hero was buried in his homeland, in the city of Sarias. And the legend about the strongest man, who was destroyed by blind love for a woman, has been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years.
Sculpture of Samson
In 1735, in Peterhof, in memory of the victory of Russian weapons over Sweden, a fountain was installed depicting the biblical Samson tearing the jaws of the Lion.
Everything here is significant: the Poltava victory was won on the day of memory of the Monk Samson the Host, and the coat of arms of the Swedish state was decorated with a lion. The following prominent specialists took part in its creation: Rastrelli, Zemtsov, Sualem, Voronikhin, Kozlovsky.
For various reasons, the material from which the composition was made changed. At first it was lead, then bronze, after the Great Patriotic War - bronze again, but the lost figure had to be restored using drawings and photographs.
The last restoration of the famous fountain took place in April two thousand and eleven.
Rembrandt: Samson and Delilah
Almost a century earlier, in one thousand six hundred and thirty-six, the artist from Holland Rembrandt painted a canvas that became famous throughout the world called “The Blinding of Samson by the Philistines.”
It should be noted that Rembrandt is not at all a pioneer in this subject in a broad sense. He was the first to draw attention to the tragic moment of Samson's blindness: here is the evil triumph of the enemies, and the helplessness of the main character of the picture, and the joyful betrayal of Delilah herself. This work will open the way for Rembrandt to high orders.
Currently, the canvas is exhibited at one of the university art exhibitions in the city of Frankfurt am Main.
