Chapter 8.
CONCERNING THE FORTITUDE OF SAMSON, AND WHAT MISCHIEFS HE
BROUGHT UPON THE PHILISTINES.FJAJ 5.85
1. AFTER Abdon was dead, the Philistines overcame the Israelites, and
received tribute of them for forty years; from which distress they were
delivered after this manner: -FJAJ 5.86
2. There was one Manoah, a person of such great virtue, that he had
few men his equals, and without dispute the principal person of his country.
He had a wife celebrated for her beauty, and excelling her contemporaries.
He had no children; and, being uneasy at his want of posterity, he entreated
God to give them seed of their own bodies to succeed them; and with that
intent he came constantly into the suburbs (18)
I can discover no reason why Manoah and his wife came so constantly into
these suburbs to pray for children, but because there was a synagogue or
place of devotion in those suburbs.
together with his wife; which suburbs were in the Great Plain
Now he was
fond of his wife to a degree of madness, and on that account was unmeasurably
jealous of her
Now, when his wife was once alone, an apparition was seen
by her: it was an angel of God, and resembled a young man beautiful and
tall, and brought her the good news that she should have a son, born by
God's providence, that should be a goodly child, of great strength; by
whom, when he was grown up to man's estate, the Philistines should be afflicted.
He exhorted her also not to poll his hair, and that he should avoid all
other kinds of drink, (for so had God commanded,) and be entirely contented
with water
So the angel, when he had delivered that message, went his
way, his coming having been by the will of God.FJAJ 5.87
3. Now the wife informed her husband when he came home of what the angel
had said, who showed so great an admiration of the beauty and tallness
of the young man that had appeared to her, that her husband was astonished,
and out of himself for jealousy, and such suspicions as are excited by
that passion: but she was desirous of having her husband's unreasonable
sorrow taken away; accordingly she entreated God to send the angel again,
that he might be seen by her husband
So the angel came again by the favor
of God, while they were in the suburbs, and appeared to her when she was
alone without her husband
She desired the angel to stay so long till she
might bring her husband; and that request being granted, she goes to call
Manoah
When he saw the angel he was not yet free from suspicion, and he
desired him to inform him of all that he had told his wife; but when he
said it was sufficient that she alone knew what he had said, he then requested
of him to tell who he was, that when the child was born they might return
him thanks, and give him a present
He replied that he did not want any
present, for that he did not bring them the good news of the birth of a
son out of the want of any thing
And when Manoah had entreated him to
stay, and partake of his hospitality, he did not give his consent
However
he was persuaded, at the earnest request of Manoah to stay so long as while
he brought him one mark of his hospitality; so he slew a kid of the goats,
and bid his wife boil it
When all was ready, the angel enjoined him to
set the loaves and the flesh, but without the vessels, upon the rock; which
when they had done, he touched the flesh with the rod which he had in his
hand, which, upon the breaking out of a flame, was consumed, together with
the loaves; and the angel ascended openly, in their sight, up to heaven,
by means of the smoke, as by a vehicle
Now Manoah was afraid that some
danger would come to them from this sight of God; but his wife bade him
be of good courage, for that God appeared to them for their benefit.FJAJ 5.88
4. So the woman proved with child, and was careful to observe the injunctions
that were given her; and they called the child, when he was born, Samson,
which name signifies one that is strong.So the child grew apace;
and it appeared evidently that he would be a prophet, (19)
Here, by a prophet, Josephus seems only to mean one that was born by a
particular providence, lived after the manner of a Nazarite devoted to
God, and was to have an extraordinary commission and strength from God
for the judging and avenging his people Israel, without any proper prophetic
revelations at all.
both by the moderation of his diet, and the permission of his hair to grow.FJAJ 5.89
5. Now when he once came with his parents to Timhath, a city of the
Philistines, when there was a great festival, he fell in love with a maid
of that country, and he desired of his parents that they would procure
him the damsel for his wife: but they refused so to do, because she was
not of the stock of Israel; yet because this marriage was of God, who intended
to convert it to the benefit of the Hebrews, he over-persuaded them to
procure her to be espoused to him
And as he was continually coming to
her parents, he met a lion, and though he was naked, he received his onset,
and strangled him with his hands, and cast the wild beast into a woody
piece of ground on the inside of the road.FJAJ 5.90
6. And when he was going another time to the damsel, he lit upon a swarm
of bees making their combs in the breast of that lion; and taking three
honey-combs away, he gave them, together with the rest of his presents,
to the damsel
Now the people of Timhath, out of a dread of the young man's
strength, gave him during the time of the wedding-feast (for he then feasted
them all) thirty of the most stout of their youth, in pretense to be his
companions, but in reality to be a guard upon him, that he might not attempt
to give them any disturbance
Now as they were drinking merrily and playing,
Samson said, as was usual at such times, Come, if I propose you a riddle,
and you can expound it in these seven days' thee, I will give you every
one a linen shirt and a garment, as the reward of your wisdom." So
they being very ambitious to obtain the glory of wisdom, together with
the gains, desired him to propose his riddle
He, "That a devourer
produced sweet food out of itself, though itself were very disagreeable."
And when they were not able, in three days' time, to find out the meaning
of the riddle, they desired the damsel to discover it by the means of her
husband, and tell it them; and they threatened to burn her if she did not
tell it them
So when the damsel entreated Samson to tell it her, he at
first refused to do it; but when she lay hard at him, and fell into tears,
and made his refusal to tell it a sign of his unkindness to her, he informed
her of his slaughter of a lion, and how he found bees in his breast, and
carried away three honey-combs, and brought them to her
Thus he, suspecting
nothing of deceit, informed her of all, and she revealed it to those that
desired to know it
Then on the seventh day, whereon they were to expound
the riddle proposed to them, they met together before sun-setting, and
said, "Nothing is more disagreeable than a lion to those that light
on it, and nothing is sweeter than honey to those that make use of it."
To which Samson made this rejoinder: "Nothing is more deceitful than
a woman for such was the person that discovered my interpretation to you."
Accordingly he gave them the presents he had promised them, making such
Askelonites as met him upon the road his prey, who were themselves Philistines
also
But he divorced this his wife; and the girl despised his anger, and
was married to his companion, who made the former match between them.FJAJ 5.91
7. At this injurious treatment Samson was so provoked, that he resolved
to punish all the Philistines, as well as her: so it being then summer-time,
and the fruits of the land being almost ripe enough for reaping, he caught
three hundred foxes, and joining lighted torches to their tails, he
sent them into the fields of the Philistines, by which means the fruits
of the fields perished
Now when the Philistines knew that this was Samson's
doing, and knew also for what cause he did it, they sent their rulers to
Timhath, and burnt his former wife, and her relations, who had been the
occasion of their misfortunes.FJAJ 5.92
8. Now when Samson had slain many of the Philistines in the plain country,
he dwelt at Etam, which is a strong rock of the tribe of Judah; for the
Philistines at that time made an expedition against that tribe: but the
people of Judah said that they did not act justly with them, in inflicting
punishments upon them while they paid their tribute, and this only on account
of Samson's offenses
They answered, that in case they would not be blamed
themselves, they must deliver up Samson, and put him into their power.
So they being desirous not to be blamed themselves, came to the rock with
three thousand armed men, and complained to Samson of the bold insults
he had made upon the Philistines, who were men able to bring calamity upon
the whole nation of the Hebrews; and they told him they were come to take
him, and to deliver him up to them, and put him into their power; so they
desired him to bear this willingly
Accordingly, when he had received assurance
from them upon oath, that they would do him no other harm than only to
deliver him into his enemies' hands, he came down from the rock, and put
himself into the power of his countrymen
Then did they bind him with two
cords, and lead him on, in order to deliver him to the Philistines; and
when they came to a certain place, which is now called the Jaw-bone,
on account of the great action there performed by Samson, though of
old it had no particular name at all, the Philistines, who had pitched
their camp not far off, came to meet them with joy and shouting, as having
done a great thing, and gained what they desired; but Samson broke his
bonds asunder, and catching up the jaw-bone of an ass that lay down at
his feet, fell upon his enemies, and smiting them with his jaw-bone, slew
a thousand of them, and put the rest to flight and into great disorder.FJAJ 5.93
9. Upon this slaughter Samson was too proud of what he had performed,
and said that this did not come to pass by the assistance of God, but that
his success was to be ascribed to his own courage; and vaunted himself,
that it was out of a dread of him that some of his enemies fell and the
rest ran away upon his use of the jaw-bone; but when a great thirst came
upon him, he considered that human courage is nothing, and bare his testimony
that all is to be ascribed to God, and besought him that he would not be
angry at any thing he had said, nor give him up into the hands of his enemies,
but afford him help under his affliction, and deliver him from the misfortune
he was under
Accordingly God was moved with his entreaties, and raised
him up a plentiful fountain of sweet water at a certain rock whence it
was that Samson called the place the Jaw-bone, (20)
This fountain, called Lehi, or the Jaw-bone, is still in being, as travelers
assure us, and was known by this very name in the days of Josephus, and
has been known by the same name in all those past ages. See Antiq. B. VII.
ch. 12. sect. 4.
and so it is called to this day.FJAJ 5.94
10. After this fight Samson held the Philistines in contempt, and came
to Gaza, and took up his lodgings in a certain inn
When the rulers of
Gaza were informed of his coming thither, they seized upon the gates, and
placed men in ambush about them, that he might not escape without being
perceived; but Samson, who was acquainted with their contrivances against
him, arose about midnight, and ran by force upon the gates, with their
posts and beams, and the rest of their wooden furniture, and carried them
away on his shoulders, and bare them to the mountain that is over Hebron,
and there laid them down.FJAJ 5.95
11. However, he at length (21)
See this justly observed in the Apostolical Constitutions, B. VII. ch.
37., that Samson's prayer was heard, but that it was before this his transgression.
transgressed the laws of his country, and altered his own regular way of
living, and imitated the strange customs of foreigners, which thing was
the beginning of his miseries; for he fell in love with a woman that was
a harlot among the Philistines: her name was Delilah, and he lived with
her
So those that administered the public affairs of the Philistines came
to her, and, with promises, induced her to get out of Samson what was the
cause of that his strength, by which he became unconquerable to his enemies.
Accordingly, when they were drinking, and had the like conversation together,
she pretended to admire the actions he had done, and contrived to get out
of him by subtlety, by what means he so much excelled others in strength.
Samson, in order to delude Delilah, for he had not yet lost his senses,
replied, that if he were bound with seven such green withs of a vine as
might still be wreathed, he should be weaker than any other man
The woman
said no more then, but told this to the rulers of the Philistines, and
hid certain of the soldiers in ambush within the house; and when he was
disordered in drink and asleep, she bound him as fast as possible with
the withs; and then upon her awakening him, she told him some of the people
were upon him; but he broke the withs, and endeavored to defend himself,
as though some of the people were upon him
Now this woman, in the constant
conversation Samson had with her, pretended that she took it very ill that
he had such little confidence in her affections to him, that he would not
tell her what she desired, as if she would not conceal what she knew it
was for his interest to have concealed
However, he deluded her again,
and told her, that if they bound him with seven cords, he should lose his
strength
And when, upon doing this, she gained nothing, he told her the
third thee, that his hair should be woven into a web; but when, upon doing
this, the truth was not yet discovered, at length Samson, upon Delilah's
prayer, (for he was doomed to fall into some affliction,) was desirous
to please her, and told her that God took care of him, and that he was
born by his providence, and that "thence it is that I suffer my hair
to grow, God having charged me never to poll my head, and thence my strength
is according to the increase and continuance of my hair." When she
had learned thus much, and had deprived him of his hair, she delivered
him up to his enemies, when he was not strong enough to defend himself
from their attempts upon him; so they put out his eyes, and bound him,
and had him led about among them.FJAJ 5.96
12. But in process of time Samson's hair grew again
And there was a
public festival among the Philistines, when the rulers, and those of the
most eminent character, were feasting together; (now the room wherein they
were had its roof supported by two pillars ;) so they sent for Samson,
and he was brought to their feast, that they might insult him in their
cups
Hereupon he, thinking it one of the greatest misfortunes, if he should
not be able to revenge himself when he was thus insulted, persuaded the
boy that led him by the hand, that he was weary and wanted to rest himself,
and desired he would bring him near the pillars; and as soon as he came
to them, he rushed with force against them, and overthrew the house, by
overthrowing its pillars, with three thousand men in it, who were all slain,
and Samson with them
And such was the end of this man, when he had ruled
over the Israelites twenty years
And indeed this man deserves to be admired
for his courage and strength, and magnanimity at his death, and that his
wrath against his enemies went so far as to die himself with them
But
as for his being ensnared by a woman, that is to be ascribed to human nature,
which is too weak to resist the temptations to that sin; but we ought to
bear him witness, that in all other respects he was one of extraordinary
virtue
But his kindred took away his body, and buried it in Sarasat his
own country, with the rest of his family.FJAJ 5.97