62 JEREMY SCHIPPER that Samson has trouble sleeping as a by-product of his extraordinary strength. At the conclusion of Samson’s birth story, the narrator states, “The spirit of YHWH began to trouble him (wm[pl) in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol” (13,25) 6. Every other occurrence of μ[p as a passive verbal construction “refers to the restless mental state of one who cannot sleep ” (Gen 41,8; Ps 77,5; Dan 2,1.3) 7. For example, the Psalmist uses a passive verbal form of μ[p when complaining to the Lord of insomnia in Ps 77,5 (v. 4 in English). “You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled [ytm[pn] that I cannot speak”. As seen in the example of Ps 77,5, this agitated or troubled state is not a desirable condition 8. Although the spirit of the Lord provides Samson with amazing strength (14,6.19; 15,14), this spirit may also disturb his sleep. The images of sleep in the Samson and Delilah episode (16,14, cf. LXX; 19-20) return to this theme. Although they do not carry the same meaning as the infinitive construct in 13,25, the repeated occurrences of various forms of the root μ[p during the two scenes in which Samson express a disregard of, if not desire to break, his nazirite vow. See J. BLEN- KINSOPP, “Structure and Style in Judges 13–16”, JBL 82 (1963) 65-76; BOLING, Judges, 250; J. CRENSHAW, Samson. A Secret Betrayed, A Vow Ignored (Atlanta, GA 1978) 130-135. Others, however, note that Judges 14–15 never mentions the nazirite vow explicitly, and that much of the material in these chapters does not contain even implicit violations of the vow. Moreover, even the references to the nazirite vow in 13,5, 7 and 16,17 mention only the prohibition on haircuts and do not include the prohibition on touching corpses or drinking. See O. EISSFELDT, Die Quellen des Richterbuches, in synop- tischer Anordnung ins Deutsche übersetzt, samt einer in Einleitung und Noten gegebenen Begründung (Leipzig 1925) 82; J.C. EXUM, “The Theological Dimension of the Samson Saga”, VT 33 (1983) 31-33; H. GUNKEL, Reden und Aufsätze (Göttingen 1913) 48. By contrast, as we will find below, the themes of divinely provoked restlessness and sleep begin in 13,25 and factor into every episode leading up to Samson’s haircut except for the burning of the Philistine fields during the wheat harvest (15,1-7). For this translation, see G. MOBLEY, Samson and the Liminal Hero in 6 the Ancient Near East (LHBOTS 453; New York 2006) 67. MOBLEY, Samson, 66, compares Samson’s “agitated” state to other “wild warriors [who] are restless and stirred up” in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Erra, and the books of Samuel. MOBLEY, Samson, 68. 7 MOBLEY, Samson, 68, 69, concludes, “Given the other contexts in which 8 the verb [μ[p] occurs, it is also possible that the association with sleeplessness is relevant here as well. With YHWH’S spirit beating in him, Samson is constantly restless and stirred up. Samson’s strength thus is directly related to an inner restlessness brought on by the spirit of YHWH which began to impel him in his youth (13:25)”.