{"id":56207,"date":"2019-05-26T23:24:05","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T20:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=56207"},"modified":"2022-12-18T09:21:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T07:21:40","slug":"samson-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/samson-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Samson \u2013 Then And Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[444,373,878],"acf":{"old_id":"56207","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"227","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"From the Tanach, through Milton, Handel, and Cecil B. DeMille","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our chapter concludes the Biblical narrative of Samson (Judges, Chapters 13-16). \u00a0Samson (<em>Shimshon<\/em> &#8212; \u201cman of the sun\u201d &#8212; <em>shemesh<\/em>) was the last of the Israelite \u201cJudges\u201d. Samson was a Nazarite from birth, whose head was not to be touched by a razor, who was destined to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). Samson\u2019s superhuman strength is demonstrated by his overcoming a lion with his bare hands (Judges 14:5-6), breaking the bonds of two new ropes used to bind him and killing 1000 Philistines with the \u201cfresh jawbone of a donkey\u201d (Judges 15:13-17). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Samson\u2019s final demise comes when he goes down to Gaza to visit a prostitute. The Philistines hear of this and lay in wait to kill him. But, Samson rises in the middle of the night and tears out the enormous city gate of Gaza, which he carries off on his shoulders \u201cto the top of the hill that faces Hebron\u201d (Judges 16:1-3). The Philistines then employ a kind of modern-day Mata Hari, named Delilah, to discover the secret of Samson\u2019s strength. In the end, Samson gives in to Delilah\u2019s nagging and tells her that the true secret of his strength is his unshorn Nazarite hair. This leads to his downfall and imprisonment by the Philistines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Talmud (Sotah 9b-10b) elaborates on Samson\u2019s enormous size and strength. The width between his shoulders is said to be 60 cubits (about 75 feet)! He is said to have uprooted the two great mountains of Zorah and Eshtaol and ground them against one another. The Rabbinic Sages extol not only Samson\u2019s physical strength, but also his sexual prowess, saying that \u201chis seed was like a fast-flowing stream\u201d. On the basis of the biblical verse (Judges 16:21) telling that the Philistines made Samson \u201cgrind grain in prison (\u201cgrind\u201d, Hebrew \u201c<em>tochen<\/em>\u201d being a biblical euphemism for sexual intercourse), it is said that the Philistines brought their wives to Samson in prison, for \u201cconnubial visits\u201d, so that they might bear children as strong as him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The legend of Samson continues to provide material for literary, musical and cinematic creation. In 1671, the English poet, John Milton included \u201cSamson Agonistes\u201d in his <em>Paradise Regain\u2019d<\/em>. Inspired by this text, George Frideric Handel composed his 1735 opera \u201cSamson\u201d, followed by Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 1877 opera \u201cSamson and Delilah\u201d. \u00a0The year 1949 saw the release of the film \u201cSamson and Delilah\u201d, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the title roles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The former Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, ironically referred to Samson as \u201c<em>Shimshon der Nebechdiker<\/em>,\u201d (Yiddish for \u201cSamson the weakling\u201d), paradoxically expressing our continuing fear of annihilation, despite the growing military strength of the State of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>image:\u00a0Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as\u00a0<em>Samson and Delilah\u00a0<\/em>(1949) \/ wikipedia<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":56209,"id":56209,"title":"jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah","filename":"jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/samson-then-and-now\/jud16-victor_mature_and_hedy_lamarr_as_samson_and_delilah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud16-victor_mature_and_hedy_lamarr_as_samson_and_delilah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":56207,"date":"2019-05-26 20:23:19","modified":"2019-05-26 20:23:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":462,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","medium_large-width":462,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","large-width":462,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","1536x1536-width":462,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","2048x2048-width":462,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","post_full_size-width":462,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah-324x420.jpg","home_baner-width":324,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Samson \u2013 Then And Now","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"From the Tanach, through Milton, Handel, and Cecil B. 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