Dribbble
Facebook
Flickr
Pinterest
RSS Feed
Twitter
You’d think that with a name like Judges, this book would be about really smart people that helped settle disagreements. Sorta like the Jewish People’s Court. For sure it wouldn’t be as bloody as Joshua, right? Wrong. Ancient Israel had a slightly different (and much more violent) definition of the word “Judge.”
Take Samson for example, probably the most popular “Judge.” Growing up, I always remembered hearing stories about how heroic Samson was, and how God gave him extraordinary physical strength. As I read it over now, I’m struck by his stupidity. He was basically a dumb thug and would tear you limb from limb if you ever said that to his face. If I was around back then, I’d probably call him an “imbecile” or some other word with more than two syllables, because he’d be too stupid to know what it meant.
Samson would kill anything at the drop of a hat, but he really had it out for the Philistines and wiped out large groups of them on several occasions. The Bible says that one time Samson killed 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Yikes!
However, Samson had a weakness for the ladies which led to his eventual imprisonment. He ends up marrying a Philistine woman named Delilah and she up coerces him into telling her the secret of his strength (never cutting his hair).
Samson does and says some crazy stuff. Here’s a few of my favorites:
- At one point he says this to his parents: “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.” Then wash my car and make me a sandwich! (OK, I made up that last part.)
- Before Delilah, Samson gets married to a different Philistine woman and at the wedding feast he tells a riddle to 30 dudes. They figure out the answer by cheating (they get Samson’s wife to find out the answer and tell them). He responds as anyone would… goes to the next town, kills 30 completely different dudes, takes their clothes and gives them to the 30 dudes who cheated to get the answer to the riddle. Then he gives his wife away to some other dude and leaves town. C’mon, I think we’ve all been there, right?
- He goes back to that town to see his wife (yes, this is the same wife that he gave away) and finds out that she’s with someone else (probably because he just gave her away). Again, as most people would do in a situation like that, Samson gets 300 foxes, ties them in pairs, fastens torches to their tails and lets them run loose in their fields, essentially burning down the entire food supply of the Philistines.
- Like I mentioned, Samson marries another Philistine woman named Delilah. The Philistines get her to ask him the secret of his strength. She literally asks Samson “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” For most people, that question in and of itself would be a red flag. Not for Samson. At first Samson makes stuff up. He tells Delilah he could be subdued by being tied down with seven bowstrings. The Philistines try that and Samson busts them up. He says he could be subdued by being tied down with new ropes. The Philistines try that and Samson busts them up. He says he could be subdued by having his hair braided. The Philistines try that and Samson busts them up. Not seeing any pattern at all, Samson finally tells Delilah that he can be subdued by having his hair cut. You can imagine Samson’s surprise when the Philistines cut his hair and proceeded to take him prisoner.
All throughout this, God kept working with Samson – and that is amazing to me. If God had that much patience with Samson and all his poor choices, I have to think he has enough patience for me and mine.
Joshua and Judges have been so violent, I’ll be happy if Ruth kills less than 100 people. See you next week…
Tags: Bible, Delilah, Historical books, Judges, Philistines, Word
Posted on Friday, March 5.
Related Posts
Gosh, has it really been that long since you took that picture? I was so much more tan then…
Yeah…. Not sure if you noticed, but I Photoshopped out that “Born to Knit” tattoo you have :)
I can relate to what you’re saying about how reading this story back then it seemed entirely different to how we read it now. Samson was a bit of a dumb jock, wadn’t he?
We have a lot of Samsons running around today. Strong physically, but weak mentally and spiritually. Some may say that the Bible is trying to put the blame for Samson’s downfall on Delilah, but the true culprit was sin and lack of wisdom. Wisdom was right at there for Samson to grasp, all he had to do was listen and follow after God in all his ways. Is the majority of us doing that or are we being Samsonitic in our ways?
@Godserv: Exactly. We all have our “Samsonitic” tendencies.
Powerful artwork, really shows the power of Samson, looking at the image I have no doubt in my mind that he could tear me apart with his bare hands..this is one of your best images. I always loved the part about him using the Jawbone of an Ass…funniest part in the Bible :) Samson’s story really reflect how much God loves us, even when we foolishly disobey Him, he still have so much patience with us, I have seen that in my own life, sometimes I wonder why, why He loves me so much?
Thanks, Loswl. It’s weird, I remember reading these Bible stories when I was younger and he was a hero. But I read them now and I see that he is just another flawed human being, just like me.
I’m glad you notice Samson isn’t quite the hero everyone makes him out to be. It is highly ironic that he had immense physical strength, but spiritually, mentally, and morally he had the strength of a total child.
Well said, Gary.
This is cool very MMA
Thanks, Kevin!
[...] are great too. I enjoy his sense of humour as he gives his summaries. My Favourites have to be Judges, 1 Samuel and [...]
Very good observation, Jim. I always thought Samson wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer :-) Just by the fact that he told Delilah his secret after she asked him about it many times. Love the tattoos you put on his chest. Depict this character exactly.
Thanks, Inka! It wasn’t until I reread the Samson story for this project that I realized how thuggish he was.
Jim,
Inka turned me on to your work. I’m lovin’ it. More than McDonalds. Not only is your design work exquisite, but your writing is stupendous as well. Plus it’s all pretty good. Keep it up!
Thanks, Geoff (and Inka for passing it along)! I’m gonna assume you REALLY like McDonalds :)
I appreciate the comment about the writing. I feel less confident in my writing than design, so it’s good to hear comments like yours.
I read Judges recently, and the thing that struck me most about Samson’s, um, intellectual deficiency was that even after his wife repeatedly did whatever he said made him weak and shouted ‘The Philistines are upon you!’, he STAYS MARRIED TO HER. The woman who is clearly trying to have him killed. And as you say, he then actually tells her the secret of his strength, and seems surprised when he ends up imprisoned and blinded.
[...] Eu lembro de ficar frustrado ao ler essa passagem quando era mais novo. Eu sempre lia como “Eis um monte de gente com superfé. Eles são demais. Muito melhores do que você jamais será, então nem pense sobre isso. Pense pequeno. Você pode, pode, ser capaz de receber o privilégio de lavar as capas deles no céu.” Mas o negócio é esse, se eu realmente olhar pra esses “heróis da fé”. Eu descubro que eles nem sempre agiam como super-heróis. Noé ficou bêbado e pelado e depois desmaiou. Abraão mentiu e disse que sua esposa era na verdade sua irmã e deixou que ela fosse levada pra casa do Faraó (provavelmente um harém!). Davi matou um cara pra poder ficar com sua mulher. E Sansão? Nós já cobrimos o fato dele ter sido um completo idiota. [...]