A visual Journey into the Bible - Theartofpainting.be

The Deuteronomy Page: 34 / 334SamsonSamson grew up with his father Manoah and his mother.One day Samson went down to Timnah and saw a Philistine girl there. He wanted tomarry the girl, but all the time also he sought a quarrel with the Philistines. Samsonwent down the vineyards at Timnah and as he came there a young lion advanced onhim. The spirit of Yahweh was in Samson. Samson tore the lion to pieces with hisbare hands. Samson then continued on to Timnah to look at the girl and he becamefond of her. Somewhat later he went back to her. He found the carcass of the lion onhis way and there was a swarm of bees in the lion’s body, and honey. He gave someof the honey to his father and mother.His father then went down to ask the girl to marry his son and Samson organised afeast, as is the custom for young men. The Philistines chose thirty companions to staywith him. Samson then gave a riddle to the Philistines and made a bet for thirty piecesof fine linen and thirty festal robes. The Philistines took up the bet. Samson said thatthe riddle was, ‘Out of the eater came what is eaten, and out of the strong came whatis sweet’. After three days he Philistines appealed to Samson’s wife for the answer ofthe riddle. So Samson’s wife wept on his neck for the seven days of the feasting andshe was so persistent that Samson told he the answer. He finally inclined and gave herthe story of the lion and the bees. The woman hurried to tell her countrymen. So thePhilistines could give Samson the answer of the lion. Samson then retorted, ‘If youhad not ploughed with my heifer, you would never have solved my riddle’. ButSamson had lost the bet.Samson went then to Ashkalon, killed thirty men there, took their robes and gavethirty festal robes to the Philistines who had answered the riddle. He returned to hisfather’s house and he repudiated his Philistine wife. Her father gave her to the bestman who had witnessed the marriage.Not long after that Samson wanted to visit his wife again. But her father had given heraway and Samson refused her younger sister. He was really mad at the Philistinesthen. He went off and caught three hundred foxes, took torches, bound the foxes tailto tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. He lit the torches and let the foxesrun free in the cornfields of the Philistines. The corn, vines and olive trees of thePhilistines burned down. As revenge the Philistines burned down the house ofSamson’s former wife and of her father. This enraged Samson all the more so hecontinued to wreak havoc among the Philistines until he grew tired and went to live ina cave in the Rock of Etham.The Philistines came to the tribe of Judah and threatened to destroy it. The men ofJudah went to Samson. They did not kill him as the Philistines had asked, but boundhis hands behind his back and brought him thus as a captive to the Philistines. Whenthe Philistines came up running to Samson, Yahweh’s spirit descended on him.Samson’s rope broke suddenly? He took a jawbone and killed alone a thousandPhilistines. Samson then threw the jawbone away, asked for a drink to Yahweh andYahweh opened a hole in the ground from which gushed water. This is still today thespring of En-Ra-Kore at Lehi.Copyright: René Dewil Date: October 2001