Jeremy Schipper, «What Was Samson Thinking in Judges 16,17 and 16,20?», Vol. 92 (2011) 60-69
Samson’s recorded thoughts in Judg 16,20 seem to contradict the narrator’s statements in 16,17.18 that Samson «told [Delilah] his whole heart». This article will discuss this apparent contradiction by examining some of the costs and benefits of Samson’s divinely inspired strength.
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WHAT WAS SAMSON THINKING JUDGES 16,17 16,20 ?
IN AND
finally sleeps (vv. 15.18.20) recall the narrator’s comment about Samson’s
sleep-depriving restlessness mentioned in 13,25.
We should add the incredible feat of strength that Samson performs in
16,3 to the examples from the Samson and Delilah episode. In 16,2, the
Philistines “lie in wait†(bra) at the city gates of Gaza in order to kill
Samson in the morning. Yet, Samson arises at midnight rather than in the
morning and removes the doors of the city gates in the middle of the night
(16,3). Whether Samson awoke at midnight or he simply could not sleep
that night, he was not sleeping in either case. The removal of the city
doors at midnight may further connect Samson’s remarkable strength with
an inner restlessness. This sets up the connection of sleep and strength in
the Samson and Delilah episode. Samson’s extraordinary strength comes
with a significant downside. Thus, Samson may have good reason to try
to find freedom from his sleep-disturbing strength.
II. Why would Samson want to retain his strength?
Despite its downside, Samson’s strength provides him with his
primary weapon against the Philistines. They had not attacked him
directly since the spirit of the Lord “rushed upon him†and he slaughtered
1,000 of them at Lehi (15,14-15). This restless strength also aided him in
Gaza against a potential Philistine ambush (16,2-3). He does not sleep
during Delilah’s first two attempts to weaken him by binding him.
Instead, he appears concerned about a threat of Philistine capture on these
occasions. In 16,6, Delilah’s request uses imagery that involves captivity
when she asks, “Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and
how you could be bound (rsat hmbw), so that one could subdue youâ€.
Samson seems to notice this less-than-subtle reference to captivity, which
resembles closely the Philistine’s actual request of Delilah in the previous
verse (v. 5). Her request may have reminded him of the repeated use of
the word “bind†(rsa) by the men of Judah in 15,12-13, when they bound
him and delivered him to the Philistines. In response, he says to her, “If
they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried out, then I
shall become weak and be like another person†(v. 7; emphasis added). As
M. Bal observes, “The third-person pronoun indicates clearly that Samson
has understood the goal of Delilah’s question. He knows perfectly well
that she is talking not about some love game, but about his being
mastered by the other, the enemy†9. Samson may want to stay awake and
strong until he is satisfied that the Philistine threat is minimal.
M. BAL, Lethal Love. Feminist Literary Readings of Biblical Love Stories
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(Bloomington, IN 1987) 52.