Image: Samson depicted as Atlas with the earth on his shoulders. From The Siddur of Baruch Ben Shemaria (Amsterdam, 1795) Braginsky Collection
“‘Samson the hero’ is what every Jewish child, the first time he or she hears the story, learns to call him. And that, more or less, is how he has been represented over the years, in hundreds of works of art, theatre and film, in the literatures of many languages: a mythic hero and fierce warrior, the man who tore apart a lion with his bare hands, the charismatic leader of the Jews in their wars against the Philistines, and, without a doubt, one of the most tempestuous and colorful characters in the Hebrew Bible... “
David Grossman, one of Israel’s leading authors, wrote Lion's Honey some 20 years ago, trying to make sense of the myth that in some ways defines the theme of Jewish power but defies some of the stereotypes of what makes a hero. It’s a masterful small book and will join us for the next four chapters of Judges as we’ll get to know Samson, with Grossman’s notes guiding the way:
“..Beyond the wild impulsiveness, the chaos, the din of Samson, we can make out a life story that is, at bottom, the tortured journey of a single, lonely and turbulent soul who never found, anywhere, a true home in the world, whose very body was a harsh place of exile...For me, this discovery, this recognition, is the point at which the myth — for all its grand images, its larger-than-life adventures — slips silently into the day-to-day existence of each of us, into our most private moments, our buried secrets.”
Samson is the only character in the Hebrew Bible, second only to Isaac, whose miraculous birth is told in great detail, as an ‘Annunciation’ , an announcement that sets up the stage for the emergence of a much anticipated hero. The brief backstory brings us to Tzorah, up in the hills south of Jerusalem, where the Tribe of Dan is struggling under the yoke of the Philistines, and a nameless barren woman is visited by an angel who tells her she is about to have a son. There are conditions and specific instructions, some stranger than usual (never cut his hair) and the promise that he will be the people’s savior. She rushes to tell the news to her husband, Manoah, whose name means ‘one who is at rest’ - and who is a bit suspicious.
When the angel appears again she runs to get her husband and a long scene occurs between the woman, the angel, the husband, and a young son already somehow growing in her womb. There are many clues and curious details in this chapter that make this story seem a little different and much more mythical than the rest of Judges. And the biggest clue comes when the kid is born and named:
וַתֵּ֤לֶד הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ בֵּ֔ן וַתִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ שִׁמְשׁ֑וֹן וַיִּגְדַּ֣ל הַנַּ֔עַר וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ יְהֹוָֽה׃
The woman bore a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew up, and Adonai blessed him.
Samson’s name, Shimshon, recalls the common Hebrew noun used for “sun,” Shemesh. It is also the name of a sun god in several Semitic languages, such as the Akkadian sun god Shamash. (Few know that the extra candle used on the coming soon holiday of Hanukkah, to light all eight candles, is named, at least since the Roman Empire days, for this solar deity.)
Samson’s name might mean “little sun” or, if he really is meant to be represented as a demigod in this perplexing saga - “Son of the Sun.” That would make him a demigod - with the type of superpowers no biblical character has yet had or will exhibit again. This radical suggestion comes from the eminent Biblical scholar Prof. Yair Zakovitch in his 1982 groundbreaking The Life of Samson.
Grossman suggests : “There is, of course, great similarity between Samson and other ‘sun-heroes’ such as Hercules, Perseus, Prometheus and Mopsus, son of Apollo. In the Talmud, Rabbi Yohanan sought to ‘purify’ Samson of any hint of paganism: ‘Samson was called by the name of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is said, ‘For the Lord God is a sun and a shield’ (Psalms 84:12) … as God protects the entire world, so too Samson in his time protects Israel.’..
So who’s really Samson’s father? While it is assumed that it is Manoah and the angel is just the messenger -- the wording in the chapter is a bit obscure here and many have suggested otherwise. And perhaps the mystery is what this strange Samson saga is really all about.
Another Israeli scholar, Dr.Naphtali Meshel, suggests that this opening scene to the Samson stories is intended as exactly the riddle it is:
“The use of ambiguous language is particularly apt for a riddle-like story and a character particularly drawn to riddles. The playfulness of the biblical text suggests that the ambiguity is central. This tendency toward grammatical enigma in the story may serve as a hermeneutic guide, urging us to read with an eye toward the subversive and hidden meanings within the text.”
Ready for a riddle?
Judith meets Judges! How does the lesser known heroine of Hanukkah echo the bloody tales of this book? Find out at our next free and open zoom conversation on December 15th 1-2pm ET. Join Rabbi Amichai to explore further what the Book of Judges has to teach us today about leadership and loyalty, faith and fanatics, history and myth - just in time for the winter holiday season.
Bring your questions from previous chapters!
Link here:
https://labshul.org/event/929-below-the-bible-belt-monthly-wrap-up-with-rabbi-amichai-4/
Below the Bible Belt: 929 chapters, 42 months, daily reflections: Join Rabbi Amichai’s 3+ years interactive online quest to question, queer + re-read between the lines of the entire Hebrew Bible, with daily reflections, weekly videos and monthly learning sessions. January 2022-July 2025
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This story has always been intriguing for me, for a number of reasons, one being all the hope that is heaped on Samson. I was intrigued enough by the Nazarite vow to follow it while I was pregnant with my son... and I it's kind of funny learning about the "Sun/Son" meaning, because I often wrote about my "Sun." But the warning of heaping up all these expectations on a son of man to be a savior has always unsettled me. It's also of interest to me that unlike Rebecca, who is autonomous, and has a name in her story, the men in her family didn't listen to her / she never told that she knew that one of them WOULD be a hero. Whereas this nameless woman got her husband involved right away and her husband bought in to Samson being a hero right away. And so Samson was raised with all these expectations. Samson always struck me as unlikeable, a little full of himself. Hubris does him in, even though there is a slight redemption.
Looks like we’re in for an adventure! Sadly, Samson’s mother (to whom an Angel of the Lord appeared - twice!), like Jephthah’s daughter, remain nameless.