Editing Samson (section)

==Interpretations==
===Rabbinic literature===
{{main article|Samson in rabbinic literature}}
[[File:Lovis Corinth - Der geblendete Simson - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|''The Blinded Samson'' (1912) by [[Lovis Corinth]]]]
[[Rabbinic literature]] identifies Samson with [[Bedan]],<ref name="ppp"/> a Judge mentioned by [[Samuel]] in his farewell address ({{bibleverse |1 Samuel|12:11|HE}}) among the Judges who delivered Israel from their enemies.<ref name="bedan"/> However, the name "Bedan" is not found in the Book of Judges.<ref name= "bedan">{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Bedan&qs_version=9|title=BibleGateway – Keyword Search: Bedan|website=www.biblegateway.com}}</ref> The name "Samson" is derived from the Hebrew word ''[[shamash|šemeš]]'', which means "sun",<ref name="ppp"/><ref name= VanderToorn /><ref name="Mobley2006" /> so that Samson bore the name of God, who is called "a sun and shield" in {{Bibleverse |Psalms|84:12|HE}};<ref name="ppp"/> and as God protected Israel, so did Samson watch over it in his generation, judging the people even as did God.<ref name="ppp"/> Samson's strength was divinely derived (Talmud, Tractate Sotah 10a).<ref name= "ppp"/><ref>''[[Midrash Genesis Rabbah]]'' xcviii. 18</ref>

Jewish legend records that Samson's shoulders were sixty cubits broad.<ref name="ppp"/> Many Talmudic commentaries, however, explain that this is not to be taken literally, for a person that size could not live normally in society;  rather, it means that he had the ability to carry a burden 60 cubits wide (approximately 30 meters) on his shoulders.<ref>Ben Yehoyada and Maharal, in commentary to Talmud, tractate "sotah" 10a</ref> He was lame in both feet<ref>Talmud tractate ''Sotah'' 10a: "And [[Johanan bar Nappaha|Rabbi Yoḥanan]] says: [[Balaam]] was lame in one of his legs, as it is stated with regard to him: 'And he went, limping [''shefi'']'. Samson was lame in both of his two legs, as it is stated "a horned snake [''shefifon''] in the path' (Genesis 49:17)"</ref> but, when the spirit of God came upon him, he could step with one stride from [[Zorah]] to [[Eshtaol]], while the hairs of his head arose and clashed against one another so that they could be heard for a like distance.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name = Midrash>''Midrash [[Leviticus Rabbah]]'' viii. 2</ref> Samson was said to be so strong that he could uplift two mountains and rub them together like two [[wikt:clod|clod]]s of earth,<ref name = Midrash /><ref>''Sotah'' 9b.</ref> yet his superhuman strength, like [[Goliath]]'s, brought woe upon its possessor.<ref name="ppp"/><ref>''Midrash [[Eccl. Rabbah]]'' i., end</ref>

In licentiousness, he is compared with [[Amnon]] and [[Zimri (prince)|Zimri]], both of whom were punished for their sins.<ref name="ppp"/><ref>''[[Leviticus Rabbah]]''. xxiii. 9</ref> Samson's eyes were put out because he had "followed them" too often.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name="Sotah l.c">''Sotah'' l.c.</ref> (As his eyes led him astray by lust, this was the reason he was blinded.)<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/48960031.html| title = The Eleventh Plague footnote 12 "...'I am the Lord' implies: I am He who inflicted punishment upon Samson, Amnon, and Zimri, and who will inflict punishment upon any one who will act in accordance with their practices..."| date = 24 June 2009}}</ref> It is said that, in the twenty years during which Samson judged Israel, he never required the least service from an Israelite,<ref>''Midrash [[Numbers Rabbah]]'' ix. 25</ref> and he piously refrained from taking the name of God in vain.<ref name="ppp"/> Therefore, as soon as he told Delilah that he was a Nazarite of God, she immediately knew that he had spoken the truth.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name="Sotah l.c"/> When he pulled down the temple of Dagon and killed himself and the Philistines, the structure fell backward so that he was not crushed, his family being thus enabled to find his body and to bury it in the tomb of his father.<ref name="ppp"/><ref>''Midrash [[Genesis Rabbah]]'' l.c. § 19</ref>

In the Talmudic period, some seem to have denied that Samson was a historical figure, regarding him instead as a purely mythological personage. This was viewed as heretical by the rabbis of the Talmud, and they attempted to refute this. They named [[Hazzelelponi]] as his mother in [[Numbers Rabbah]] [[Naso (parsha)|Naso]] 10 and in [[Bava Batra]] 91a and stated that he had a sister named "Nishyan" or "Nashyan".<ref name="ppp"/>

===Christian interpretations===
[[File:Samson hos filistrene.jpg|thumb|''Samson in the Treadmill'' (1863) by [[Carl Bloch]]]]
Samson's story has also garnered commentary from a [[Christianity|Christian]] perspective; the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] praises him for his faith.<ref>{{Bibleref|Hebrews|11:32–11:34|NIV}}</ref> [[Ambrose]], following the portrayal of [[Josephus]] and [[Pseudo-Philo]],<ref name= "Newsome">{{cite book|editor1-last= Newsome|editor1-first=Carol Ann|editor2-last= Ringe|editor2-first= Sharon H. |editor3-last=Lapsley|editor3-first= Jacqueline E.|title=Women's Bible Commentary |date=2012|orig-year=1992|publisher= Westminster John Knox Press|location=Louisville, Kentucky|isbn= 978-0664237073|page=139|edition= 3rd |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9uUMZ_g2_NoC&pg=PA139}}</ref> represents Delilah as a Philistine prostitute,<ref name= "Newsome" /> and declares that "men should avoid marriage with those outside the faith, lest, instead of love of one's spouse, there be treachery."<ref name= "Newsome" /> [[Caesarius of Arles]] interpreted Samson's death as prefiguring the [[crucifixion of Jesus]],<ref name= "Newsome"/> remarking: "Notice here an image of the cross. Samson extends his hands spread out to the two columns as to the two beams of the cross."<ref name= "Newsome"/> He also equates Delilah with [[Satan]],<ref name="Newsome"/> who [[Temptation of Christ|tempted Christ]].<ref name="Newsome"/>

Following this trend, more recent Christian commentators have viewed Samson as a [[typology (theology)|type]] of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]], based on similarities between Samson's story and the [[life of Jesus in the New Testament]].<ref name=wp>{{cite book | last=Thomson | first=Edward | title=Prophecy, Types, And Miracles, The Great Bulwarks of Christianity: Or A Critical Examination And Demonstration of Some of The Evidences By Which The Christian Faith Is Supported | publisher=Hatchard & Son | date=1838 | pages=299–300 | isbn=978-0244031282 }}</ref> Samson's and Jesus' births were both foretold by angels,<ref name=wp/> who predicted that they would save their people.<ref name=wp/> Samson was born to a barren woman,<ref name=wp/> and Jesus was [[Virgin birth of Jesus|born of a virgin]].<ref name=wp/> Samson defeated a lion; Jesus defeated Satan, whom the [[First Epistle of Peter]] describes as a "roaring lion looking for someone to devour".<ref>{{cite book |last= Beasley |first= Robert C. |title= 101 Portraits of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures |publisher= Signalman |date= 2008 |isbn= 978-0244031282 }}</ref> Samson's betrayal by Delilah has also been compared to Jesus' betrayal by [[Judas Iscariot]]; both Delilah and Judas were paid in pieces of silver for their respective deeds.<ref>{{cite book| last= Lynn G |first= S |title= A Study of the Good the Bad and the Desperate Women in the Bible|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wHHTljp7u4sC&pg=PA46|date=2008|page=46 |publisher= Xulon Press |isbn= 978-1606473917 }}</ref> [[E. Cobham Brewer|Ebenezer Cobham Brewer]] notes in his ''A Guide to Scripture History: The Old Testament'' that Samson was "blinded, insulted [and] enslaved" prior to his death, and that Jesus was "blindfolded, insulted, and treated as a slave" prior to his crucifixion.<ref name=Brewer>{{cite web | last=Brewer|first= Ebenezer Cobham|title=A Guide to Scripture History. The Old Testament |year= 1858|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=E5oCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA190 |publisher=Trinity Hall, Cambridge | page=190}}</ref> Brewer also compares Samson's death among "the wicked" with Christ being crucified between two thieves.<ref name=Brewer/>

=== Islamic literature ===

The [[Quran]] and authentic [[Sunnah#Sunnah_and_hadith|hadith]] never mentions Samson by name and characteristics specifically. However, there is several non-canonical works of Quran exegesis and scholastic traditions among Islamic literatures that mention Samson, which mentioned as Samson ({{langx|ar|شمشون|Shamshû̅n}}) in Islamic literatures, particularly In the study of [[Tafsir]].<ref name="Samson;Islamweb">{{cite web |title=Samson and Delilah not mentioned in Quran and Sunnah |url=https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/347941/samson-and-delilah-not-mentioned-in-quran-and-sunnah |website=islamweb.net |year=2017 |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=En}}</ref><ref name="Samson;konsultasisyariah">{{cite web |author1=Ammi Nur Baits |title=Benarkah Samson itu Nabi? |year=2015 |url=https://konsultasisyariah.com/26025-benarkah-samson-itu-nabi.html |website=konsultasisyariah.com |publisher=Yufid Network |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=Id}}</ref>

[[:ar:ابن أبي حاتم|Ibn Abi Hatim]], a Hadith scholar and son of [[Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Idris al-Razi]],<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = BRILL| isbn = 978-90-04-11805-8| last = Dickinson| first = Eerik| title = The development of early Sunnite hadīth criticism: the Taqdima of Ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī (240/854-327/938)| year = 2001}}</ref> mentioned Samson in his exegesis by quoting the opinion of [[Mujahid ibn Jabr]] where he described Samson as "an Israelite who wore armor and struggling in the way of God for 1,000 months".<ref name="Samson;Islamweb" />

[[Al-Tabari]] and [[Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi]] incorporated the biblical figure of Samson into the Quranic prophetic world.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/muslim-samson-medieval-modern-and-scholarly-interpretations/B85B244274623E4D1A1C6D9C965D1740 | doi=10.1017/S0041977X08000529 | title=The Muslim Samson: Medieval, modern and scholarly interpretations | date=2008 | last1=Rippin | first1=Andrew | journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | volume=71 | issue=2 | pages=239–253 }}</ref> Al-Tabari in particular has given details in [[History of the Prophets and Kings]] by incorporating biblical narratives with the authority of [[Israʼiliyyat]] tradition from [[Wahb ibn Munabbih]], that his mother gave birth to him after she made a ''Nazar'' (vow) to God. Samson lived nearby a [[Polytheism|Pagan]] society, where he actively raided their settlement alone, armed with a camel's jawbone and always obtained spoils of war from his successful raids. This tradition of Tabari was traced from one of his teacher, Muhammad ibn Hamid ar-Razi. This tradition by Muhammad ibn Hamid also recorded by [[Al-Dhahabi]] through the records from [[Abu Dawud al-Sijistani]], [[Al-Tirmidhi]], [[Ibn Majah]], Tabari, and [[al-Baghawi]]. However, al-Dhahabi also reported that the tradition from Muhammad Ibn Hamid were deemed inauthentic or flawed narrator by Hadith experts such as Ya'qub ibn Syaibah and [[Muhammad al-Bukhari]]. Furthermore, [[Ibn Ishaq]] also criticize the transmitter whose Muhammad ibn Hamid received from, which was Salamah ibn al-Fadl. Ibn Ishaq deemed him as unreliable narrator who were notorious for narrating traditions without stating his sources.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apakah Kisah Samson Kisah Benar atau Dusta? |trans-title=Is the Story of Samson a True Story or a Lie? |year=2023 |url=https://kisahmuslim.com/7291-apakah-kisah-samson-kisah-benar-atau-dusta.html |website=kisahmuslim.com |access-date=27 August 2024 |language=Id}} translation from: {{cite web |author1=Muhammad Al-Munajjid |author1-link=Muhammad Al-Munajjid |title=هل قصة شمسون صحيحة؟ |trans-title=Is the story of Shamson true? |url=https://islamqa.info/ar/answers/424337/ |website=[[Islamqa.info]] |year=2023 |access-date=27 August 2024 |language=Ar}} Quote from: {{cite book |author1=al-Tabari |author1-link=al-Tabari |title=تاريخ الطبري = تاريخ الرسل والملوك |trans-title=History of al-Tabari = History of the Messengers and Kings part 2 |year=1965 |publisher=دار التراث |location=[[Beirut]], Lebanon |page=22 |url=https://ketabonline.com/ar/books/6877 |access-date=27 August 2024 |language=Ar |quote=Quoting [[:ar:عريب بن سعيد القرطبي|ʻArīb ibn Saʻd al-Qurtubi]]}}</ref>

Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi featured al-Tabari's narration in his tafsir with more extensive details, where the [[Nisba (onomastics)]] of Samson was "Shamsun ibn Masuh". Furthermore, Abu Ishaq added the raids of Samson against the paganic kingdom were happened for the span of 1,000 month and killed "thousands of infidels", where it became a proverb in the saying “better than a thousand months" for the ''Laylat al-Qadr'' ([[Night of Power]]) which believed by Muslims as a moment of night where every good deeds and faith observance multiplied for more than 1,000 months.<ref name="Walid Fikr; Samson" />

[[Ibn Kathir]] has recorded in his [[Tafsir Ibn Kathir]] that the interpretation of the Qur'an episode [[Al-Qadr (surah)|Al-Qadr]] verses 3-4 was about the lifetime of Samson, who goes to [[Jihad]] (religious war) for the span of 1,000 month (83 years).<ref name="Walid Fikr; Samson">{{cite web |author1=Walid Fikr |title=شمشون الجبار: ثلاث روايات لبطل واحد |trans-title=Samson the Mighty: Three Stories of One Hero |year=2018 |url=https://manshoor.com/society/samson-story-judaism-christianity-islam/ |website=manshoor.com |access-date=27 August 2024 |language=Ar}}</ref> [[Badr al-Din al-Ayni]] mentioned in his work of [[Sahih al-Bukhari#Classical commentaries|Umdat al-Qari]] Hadiths of [[Sahih al-Bukhari]] exegesis, about the similar episode of the religious war done by Samson in 1,000 month. Meanwhile, [[Tafsir al-Tha'labi]] work by [[Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Thalabi]] also recorded this narration about Samson episode in Al-Qadr chapter interpretation.<ref name="Samson;Islamweb" /> Aahmad al-Thalabi also interpreted that Samson was considered as one of [[Prophets and messengers in Islam]] and bestowed honorific [[Islamic_honorifics#Prophets_and_messengers|Peace Be Upon Him]] for Samson. Tha'labi traced his interpretation to [[Wahb ibn Munabbih]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Tafsir al-Tha'labi: Al-Kashf wa al-Bayan 'an Tafsir al-Qur'an |volume=1 |series=جامع الكتب الإسلامية |publisher=دار التفسير |pages=111, 256 |url=https://shamela.ws/book/23578 |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=Ar}}</ref>

===Scholarly===
====Comparison with other religious and mythological  figures====
Some modern academics have interpreted Samson as a solar deity, as a [[demi-god]] (such as [[Hercules]] or [[Enkidu]], among others) somehow enfolded into Jewish religious lore, or as an [[archetype |archetypical]] [[folk hero]].<ref>Mobley (2006), p. 5.</ref>

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some [[Comparative mythology|comparative mythologists]] interpreted Samson as a [[Euhemerism|euhemerized]] [[solar deity]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Jastrow|first=Morris|author-link=Morris Jastrow, Jr|title=The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria|url=https://archive.org/details/TheReligionOfBabyloniaAndAssyria_410|location=Boston|publisher=Ginn & Company|date=1898}}</ref><ref name=Burney1918>{{cite book|author-link=Charles Fox Burney|first=Charles Fox |last=Burney|title=The Book of Judges, with Introduction and Notes|location=London|publisher= Rivingtons|date= 1918|url=}}</ref><ref name=Graves1955>{{cite book|author-link=Robert Graves|last=Graves|first= Robert|date=1955|title=The Greek Myths|title-link=The Greek Myths|chapter=Herakles}}</ref><ref name= Mobley2006>{{cite book|last1=Mobley|first1=Gregory|title=Samson and the Liminal Hero in the Ancient Near East|date=2006|publisher=T & T Clark|location=New York and London|isbn=978-0567028426|pages=5–12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqyoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 }}</ref> arguing that Samson's name is derived from  Hebrew ''šemeš'', meaning "Sun",<ref name="Mobley2006"/><ref name=VanderToorn/> and that his long hair might represent the Sun's rays.<ref name="Mobley2006"/> These solar theorists also pointed out that the legend of Samson is set within the general vicinity of [[Beth Shemesh]], a village whose name means "Temple of the Sun".<ref name= Mobley2006/> They argued that the name ''Delilah'' may have been a wordplay with the Hebrew word for night, ''[[Leila (name)|layla]]'', which "consumes" the day.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|editor1-last=Freedman|editor1-first=David Noel|editor1-link=David Noel Freedman|date=2000|title=Eerdmans Dictionary of The Bible|page=[https://archive.org/details/eerdmansdictiona0000unse/page/336 336 (entry for 'Delilah')]|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.|isbn=0802824005|url=https://archive.org/details/eerdmansdictiona0000unse/page/336}}</ref> Although this hypothesis is still sometimes promoted in scholarly circles,<ref name= Mobley2006/> it has generally fallen out of favor due to the superficiality of supporting evidence.<ref name= Mobley2006/>

[[File:Sansón matando al león - Pedro Pablo Rubens.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|''Samson Slaying the Lion'' (1628) by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]]]

An interpretation far more popular among current scholars holds that Samson is a Hebrew variant of the same international Near Eastern [[folk hero]] which inspired the earlier Mesopotamian [[Enkidu]] and the later Greek Heracles (and, by extension, his Roman [[Hercules]] adaptation).<ref name=Wajdenbaum>{{cite book|last=Wajdenbaum|first=P.|date=2014|title=Argonauts of the Desert: Structural Analysis of the Hebrew Bible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kiPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA223 |location= New York and London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1845539245|pages=223–227}}</ref><ref name= Mobley2006/><ref name=VanderToorn/> Heracles and Samson both slew a lion bare-handed (the former killed the [[Nemean lion]]).<ref name= Mobley2006/><ref name=VanderToorn/> Likewise, they were both believed to have once been extremely thirsty and drunk water which poured out from a rock,<ref name= Wajdenbaum/> and to have torn down the gates of a city.<ref name= Wajdenbaum/> They were both betrayed by a woman (Heracles by [[Deianira]], Samson by Delilah),<ref name= Mobley2006/> who led them to their respective dooms.<ref name= Mobley2006/> Both heroes, champions of their respective peoples, die by their own hands:<ref name= Mobley2006/> Heracles ends his life on a [[pyre]]; whereas Samson makes the Philistine temple collapse upon himself and his enemies.<ref name= Mobley2006/> In this interpretation, the annunciation of Samson's birth to his mother is a [[Religious censorship |censored]] account of [[Miraculous births|divine conception]].<ref name= Wajdenbaum/>

[[File:4859viki Fontanna Walka i Zwycięstwo. Foto Barbara Maliszewska.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A monument of Samson in [[Wrocław]], Poland]]

Samson also strongly resembles [[Shamgar]],<ref name= Mobley2006/> another hero mentioned in the Book of Judges,<ref name= Mobley2006/> who, in {{bibleverse|Judges|3:31|HE}}, is described as having slain 600 Philistines with an [[ox-goad]].<ref name= Mobley2006/>

====Traditional views====
These views are disputed by traditional and conservative biblical scholars who consider Samson to be a literal historical figure and thus reject any connections to mythological heroes.<ref name= Mobley2006/> The concept of Samson as a "solar hero" has been described as "an artificial ingenuity".<ref>{{cite book|last=Cooke|first=George Albert|date=1913|title=The Book of Judges|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofjudgesinre00cookuoft|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> Joan Comay, co-author of ''Who's Who in the Bible: The Old Testament and the Apocrypha, The New Testament'', believes that the biblical story of Samson is so specific concerning time and place that Samson was undoubtedly a real person who pitted his great strength against the oppressors of Israel.<ref name= eee>{{wwbible|Old Testament, 320}}</ref>

====Religious and moral meaning or lack of it====
In contrast, James King West considers that the hostilities between the Philistines and Hebrews appear to be of a "purely personal and local sort".<ref name= West1971>{{cite book|last=West|first=James King|date=1971|title=Introduction to the Old Testament|location= New York|publisher=MacMillan Company|page=183}}</ref> He also considers that Samson stories have, in contrast to much of Judges, an "almost total lack of a religious or moral tone".<ref name= West1971/>

Conversely, Elon Gilad of ''[[Haaretz]]'' writes "some biblical stories are flat-out [[Cautionary tale|cautions]] against [[Exogamy|marrying foreign women]], none more than the story of Samson".<ref name= Gilead>{{cite news|last=Gilad|first=Elon|title=Intermarriage and the Jews: What Would the Early Israelites Say?|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/shavuot/.premium-1.595543|access-date=30 October 2017|newspaper=[[Haaretz]]|date=4 June 2014}}</ref> Gilad notes how Samson's parents disapprove of his desire to marry a Philistine woman and how Samson's relationship with Delilah leads to his demise.<ref name=Gilead/> He contrasts this with what he sees as a more positive portrayal of intermarriage in the [[Book of Ruth]].<ref name=Gilead/>

====Suicide terrorist====
Some academic writers have interpreted Samson as a [[Suicide attack|suicide terrorist]] portrayed in a positive light by the text, and compared him to those responsible for the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wicker|first=Brian|date=2003|title=Samson Terroristes: A Theological Reflection on Suicidal Terrorism|journal=New Blackfriars|volume=84|issue=983|pages=42–60|doi=10.1111/j.1741-2005.2003.tb06486.x|jstor=43250680|issn=0028-4289}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Atiya|first=A. S.|date=1973|title=Review of Christian Egypt: Faith and Life|journal=Middle East Journal|volume=27|issue=2|pages=231–232|jstor=4325068|issn=0026-3141}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Drury |first=Shadia |date=2003 |title=Terrorism: From Samson to Atta |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41858434 |journal=Arab Studies Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=1/2 |pages=1–12 |jstor=41858434 |issn=0271-3519}}</ref>