Why is Samson in the Bible? Possible Parables, Perhaps?

[newton3005]

First off, let’s get some housekeeping out of the way:

A parable is defined in Lexico.com as “A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson...” The Bible contains Lord Jesus’ parables, though the term can also apply to stories told by others. For canonists, though, it may be that parables are only found in the Bible. If you believe that, then let me speak in terms of ‘lessons’ instead of ‘parables.’

Secondly, translations are not always neat. For example, Samson in Hebrew, the language in which Samson is mentioned before English, is שִׁמְשׁוֹן which phonetically, read backwards as Hebrew is read, is “Sheemsheen” if I’m not mistaken. It’s close to the English name, but not exactly.

Lastly, although the story of Samson is in the Old Testament, within the Book of Judges, the Old Testament is found in virtually every Christian Bible. I surmise if the Old Testament is to be ignored, it wouldn’t be in a Christian Bible. So, things in the Old Testament may have at least some degree of importance. And let’s not forget that 2 Timothy 3:16 says that ALL scripture is breathed out by God for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.

What lessons can be drawn from Samson? Can ‘Trust no one nearest to you’ be one lesson? Can ‘Don’t get a haircut’ be another? How about ‘Don’t let your guard down in the presence of someone nearest to you’? and, absolutely, ‘Don’t sleep in the presence of someone nearest to you’? I guess the phrase ‘In God we trust’ is on the face of U.S. currency for a reason, i.e. ‘Trust nobody but God.’

Samson can also be a metaphor for a country, but first onto the story...

The crux of Samson’s story is told in Judges 14-16. During Samson’s time, Israel was ruled by the Philistines as the price paid for following other gods. Naturally there was animosity at least, between Israel and the Philistines.

In Judges 14, Samson goes to a town of the Philistines and come across a woman that he wants to marry. (Could this be the forerunner of “Romeo and Juliet” or “West Side Story” in a sense?) His parents warn him not to take the woman as his wife, but Samson, who from depictions of him from sources outside the Bible, do not portray him as being smart, did have an ulterior motive. His motive was to seek “an opportunity against the Philistines” with the Lord’s help, as described in Verse 4. What better way to do so than to be with intimate with one of their own, perhaps?


So, a connection is made, and the Bible tells us that he went to the town of the woman and “prepared a feast” for the people there, explained in Verse 10. I presume this is something akin to a wedding. Before that happens, though, Samson meets up with a lion and the Lord gave him strength to kill it. A short time later he eats the honey from the lion’s carcass that was made by bees who settled therein. Realizing, I guess that he will need “30 linens of garments and 30 changes of clothes” as described in Verse 12, in Verse 13 he poses a riddle to the men as part of a wager: If they can’t answer it they will give him the 30 linens and 30 clothes, but if they can answer it he will give those things to them.. This is the riddle:


“Out of the eater came something to eat.

Out of the strong came something sweet.”


This sounds like the answer, no?

For seven days his new wife, in all her beauty and appeal, implores Samson in Verses 15-17 to tell him the answer to the riddle. Finally he relents and the answer he gives is the following in Verse 18:

“What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?”


(Could this be the forerunner of a TV quiz show in which the answer is given first, followed by the question? ‘Jeopardy!’ anyone?)


Samson’s new wife, in all her beauty, appeal, and loyalty (Not!), tells the answer to the men who promptly tell Samson. Faced with having to provide them the garments and clothes instead of the other way around, Samson, living up to his word, does what any man would do in his position...as described in Verse 19 he goes to another town of the Philistines and strikes down thirty man, taking their garments and other things, and giving those to the men who answered the riddle.


In verse 20 he returns home to find his Best Man with his new wife, in all her beauty, appeal, and adultery. It’s too bad that Romans 8:28 doesn’t come along until thousands of years later, since a man in Samson’s position would find his love of God stressed almost to the breaking point! But after that, Samson dumps her and finds someone else.


Enter Delilah, another woman of the Philistines with beauty and appeal, in Judges 16:4. This is after Samson killed 1,000 Philistines, by the way, with the help of the Spirit of the Lord. Samson falls for her, and in Verse 5, while Samson was away, I guess, some Philistines ask her to find out the secret of his strength. After asking him for days, he finally tells her and she tells the men that the answer is in his hair, courtesy of God. (Samson had told her that if his hair is shaved his strength will be gone.) You would think that Samson learned his lesson the first time he confided in a woman. Either he’s not as smart as we thought he was, or you can chalk it up to Romans 8:28


Samson is made weak when his hair is cut while he sleeps (No hair, no God to help him), and he’s taken prisoner by the Philistines in Verse 21. While a prisoner, his hair grows back. He is brought into a Philistine Temple, where all the top honchos and thousands of other people were there, to entertain them.


Having been blinded, Samson in Verse 28-29 prays to God that he may have the strength to bring down the pillars he was leaning against which supported the temple. Lord Jesus did say that even if you have faith a small as a mustard seed you can move mountains. In Samson’s case, his faith enabled him to bring down the temple, killing everyone in it. Unfortunately, he passes also. In a sense, Samson laid down his life for his friends, his friends being the people of Israel.


Also, in a sense, is a country not like the lessons in the story of Samson, which include being careful with who you associate with, who you confide in, and to beware of those who may do harm to you?


The story of Samson, then, is not just one about a strong man; there can be more to it thqn meets the eye.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

There are lots of lessons that can be gleaned from Samson.....

There are lots of people, especially in the Charismatic movement that want to have signs and wonders, and think having this will get rid of all their problems etc. But many of the "power evangelists" in recent times have had sins that brought them down, as Samson had in his life. This also shows that even when a person has great gifts etc. that does not necessarily mean there is a divine stamp of approval on their life as a whole etc.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

First off, let’s get some housekeeping out of the way:

A parable is defined in Lexico.com as “A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson...” The Bible contains Lord Jesus’ parables, though the term can also apply to stories told by others. For canonists, though, it may be that parables are only found in the Bible. If you believe that, then let me speak in terms of ‘lessons’ instead of ‘parables.’

Secondly, translations are not always neat. For example, Samson in Hebrew, the language in which Samson is mentioned before English, is שִׁמְשׁוֹן which phonetically, read backwards as Hebrew is read, is “Sheemsheen” if I’m not mistaken. It’s close to the English name, but not exactly.

Lastly, although the story of Samson is in the Old Testament, within the Book of Judges, the Old Testament is found in virtually every Christian Bible. I surmise if the Old Testament is to be ignored, it wouldn’t be in a Christian Bible. So, things in the Old Testament may have at least some degree of importance. And let’s not forget that 2 Timothy 3:16 says that ALL scripture is breathed out by God for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.

What lessons can be drawn from Samson? Can ‘Trust no one nearest to you’ be one lesson? Can ‘Don’t get a haircut’ be another? How about ‘Don’t let your guard down in the presence of someone nearest to you’? and, absolutely, ‘Don’t sleep in the presence of someone nearest to you’? I guess the phrase ‘In God we trust’ is on the face of U.S. currency for a reason, i.e. ‘Trust nobody but God.’

Samson can also be a metaphor for a country, but first onto the story...

The crux of Samson’s story is told in Judges 14-16. During Samson’s time, Israel was ruled by the Philistines as the price paid for following other gods. Naturally there was animosity at least, between Israel and the Philistines.

In Judges 14, Samson goes to a town of the Philistines and come across a woman that he wants to marry. (Could this be the forerunner of “Romeo and Juliet” or “West Side Story” in a sense?) His parents warn him not to take the woman as his wife, but Samson, who from depictions of him from sources outside the Bible, do not portray him as being smart, did have an ulterior motive. His motive was to seek “an opportunity against the Philistines” with the Lord’s help, as described in Verse 4. What better way to do so than to be with intimate with one of their own, perhaps?


So, a connection is made, and the Bible tells us that he went to the town of the woman and “prepared a feast” for the people there, explained in Verse 10. I presume this is something akin to a wedding. Before that happens, though, Samson meets up with a lion and the Lord gave him strength to kill it. A short time later he eats the honey from the lion’s carcass that was made by bees who settled therein. Realizing, I guess that he will need “30 linens of garments and 30 changes of clothes” as described in Verse 12, in Verse 13 he poses a riddle to the men as part of a wager: If they can’t answer it they will give him the 30 linens and 30 clothes, but if they can answer it he will give those things to them.. This is the riddle:


“Out of the eater came something to eat.

Out of the strong came something sweet.”


This sounds like the answer, no?

For seven days his new wife, in all her beauty and appeal, implores Samson in Verses 15-17 to tell him the answer to the riddle. Finally he relents and the answer he gives is the following in Verse 18:

“What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?”


(Could this be the forerunner of a TV quiz show in which the answer is given first, followed by the question? ‘Jeopardy!’ anyone?)


Samson’s new wife, in all her beauty, appeal, and loyalty (Not!), tells the answer to the men who promptly tell Samson. Faced with having to provide them the garments and clothes instead of the other way around, Samson, living up to his word, does what any man would do in his position...as described in Verse 19 he goes to another town of the Philistines and strikes down thirty man, taking their garments and other things, and giving those to the men who answered the riddle.


In verse 20 he returns home to find his Best Man with his new wife, in all her beauty, appeal, and adultery. It’s too bad that Romans 8:28 doesn’t come along thousands of years later, since a man in Samson’s position would find his love of God stressed almost to the breaking point! But after that, Samson dumps her and finds someone else.


Enter Delilah, another woman of the Philistines with beauty and appeal, in Judges 16:4. This is after Samson killed 1,000 Philistines, by the way, with the help of the Spirit of the Lord. Samson falls for her, and in Verse 5, while Samson was away, I guess, some Philistines ask her to find out the secret of his strength. After asking him for days, he finally tells her and she tells the men that the answer is in his hair, courtesy of God. (Samson had told her that if his hair is shaved his strength will be gone.) You would think that Samson learned his lesson the first time he confided in a woman. Either he’s not as smart as we thought he was, or you can chalk it up to Romans 8:28


Samson is made weak, and he’s taken prisoner by the Philistines in Verse 21. While a prisoner, his hair grows back but he’s brought into a Philistine Temple, where all the top honchos and thousands of other people were there, to entertain them.


Having been blinded, Samson in Verse 28-29 prays to God that he may have the strength to bring down the pillars he was leaning against which supported the temple. Lord Jesus did say that even if you have faith a small as a mustard seed you can move mountains. In Samson’s case, his faith enabled him to bring down the temple, killing everyone in it. Unfortunately, he passes also. In a sense, Samson laid down his life for his friends, his friends being the people of Israel.


Also, in a sense, is a country not like the lessons in the story of Samson, which include being careful with who you associate with, who you confide in, and to beware of those who may do harm to you?


The story of Samson, then, is not just one about a strong man; there can be more to it thqn meets the eye.

An example of Samson in popular culture was the movie Gran Torino.

I find the story of Samson (who gets an honorable mention in the faith chapter in Hebrews in the same breath as David and Samuel)

Is related to how the world can sometimes unfairly thrust people into a world of sin, this is a call to engage this world and take it down systematically, though this usually results in your death.