No King in Israel (37)

Truth is objective and its importance paramount. Technical precision is one aspect of truth and its importance situational. On several occasions the Lord Jesus was technically precise in quoting the Old Testament. On many others it would not be outrageous to say that he wildly paraphrased.

The standard for quoting a conversation as evidence in a court proceeding is not the same as the standard for reporting dialogue that took place during historical events for which the author could not possibly have been personally present. The former ought to be as close to word-to-word as possible. The latter permits or even necessitates some stylistic license, and everyone but a pedant makes allowance for it. Expecting an author to recount a conversation that took place a hundred years ago with the technical precision of a legal transcript is manifestly unreasonable; a paraphrase or summary in his own words is frequently more than adequate.

Well-constructed prose often makes for a better story anyway.

Technical Precision vs. General Accuracy

Yes, in cases like today’s story of Samson and Delilah, the Holy Spirit of God could certainly supply something more technically precise if he desired it. My sense of it as a long-time writer, editor and reader is that he generally did not. The genre is what it is, and it’s very human. In the absence of corrective input from the Spirit of God, a strong sense of obligation to capital-T truth and the potential for devastating comeback from their critics, all the secular historians did the same … usually worse. Revered as Thucydides may be for accuracy, the historian is candid that when in doubt about the facts, he just made them up. Then he mocked his contemporary Herodotus for taking similar liberties.

As you read the story of Delilah’s betrayal of Samson, keep this in mind. Believers in the inspiration of scripture may agree with me that the dialogue between them reads as neither transcription nor outright fabrication. It’s too mannered, repetitious and story-like for court reporting or natural dialogue, but rings way too true to human experience for mere fiction. Considering the number of removes through which it has been transmitted to us, it’s entirely what we should expect.

If you wonder about that, you may find this post about myth in the scriptures useful.

II. Twelve Judges in Chronological Order (continued)

12. Samson (continued)

Judges 16:1-3 — From Gaza to Hebron

“Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. The Gazites were told, ‘Samson has come here.’ And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, ‘Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.’ But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.”

The Prostitute

We have discussed Samson’s moral issues a few times already. Despite being a Nazirite from the womb, let’s just say he played fast and loose with his personal conduct. In visiting a prostitute, let alone a Philistine prostitute, he was unnecessarily putting himself at risk, violating the spirit of the Law of Moses and sinning against his own body.

One may argue that it’s hardly reasonable to judge the man against Christian standards of behavior. We have numerous advantages he did not. “He who is without sin,” as they say. All the same, actions have consequences. Samson’s penchant for choosing his women for all the wrong reasons was about to rebound on him in a big way.

Gaza to Hebron

The city of Gaza was about as far southwest as you’d be inclined to travel in Philistine territory. Hebron is in the West Bank. The distance between the two is about 37 miles as the crow flies, and considerably more when traveling at ground level. It’s safe to say Gaza did not get their doors back, and nobody forgot this particular episode, especially the Philistines. Of all Samson’s feats of strength, this is one of the most impressive once you do the math.

Judges 16:4-6 — She Tied Him to a Kitchen Chair

“After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.’ So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.’ ”

The Lords of the Philistines

Joshua and Judges both indicate there were five of these “lords”, one for each major Philistine center: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. If 5,500 pieces of silver seems a lot, bear in mind that twenty years had passed during which Samson probably plagued Israel’s oppressors at every turn. As mentioned last week, Samson inevitably engaged in numerous exploits not recorded in Judges, and the ones that are involve large numbers of dead Philistines and tremendous crop and property damage. Delilah stood to get rich off this deal, but the lords of the Philistines were desperately trying to preserve their mastery of Israel. Some commentators calculate their bribe to Delilah at 140 pounds of silver, or roughly US$100,000 at today’s values, in exchange for a piece of information that was worth every shekel to the Philistines.

Dumb and Dumber

It’s evident throughout this recorded exchange between Samson and Delilah that Samson must have known exactly what she was after from the very beginning. That, or Samson was as thick as two planks. I mean, she came right out and asked how he could be subdued, then put whatever he told her to the test three different times. If he didn’t know his girlfriend was loyalty-challenged at first, then he surely figured it out quickly. And did nothing about it.

The New Testament writers frequently remind believers to flee temptation rather than play around with it. Samson’s story is a great cautionary tale in that respect.

Judges 16:7-9 — The First Lie

“Samson said to her, ‘If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.”

As mentioned in our intro today, the repetitive format to the narrative of these four attempts to drain Samson’s strength seems less than perfectly natural. On the other hand, it reads well and is memorable. Oral histories were often phrased to maximize easy recall.

Judges 16:10-12 — The Second Lie

“Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.’ And he said to her, ‘If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.”

Perhaps there is some spiritual significance to the wet bowstrings, new ropes and the use of the loom. If so, it escapes me. Samson may just have been making it all up as he went along.

Judges 16:13-14 — The Third Lie

“Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.’ And he said to her, ‘If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.”

Did Samson kill the Philistines lying in ambush in the inner room each time, or did Delilah warn them to let her test her handiwork first, and thus spare their lives? The writer of Judges does not say. Considering the total slain earlier and later, the number of doomed Philistines who could fit in the inner chamber of the average house would amount to little more than a rounding error in any case.

Judges 16:15-17 — All His Heart

“And she said to him, ‘How can you say, “I love you,” when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.’ And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to her, ‘A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ ”

Only a woman. I can’t imagine any other scenario in which a man would be more likely to do something so ill-considered and potentially self destructive. Well, it started with Adam, didn’t it.

Judges 16:18-22 — Ah, That Last Line …

“When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, ‘Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.”

Somehow, Delilah corrected intuited the fourth time was the charm, and she got her blood money from the lords of the Philistines. Samson paid a terrible price for his foolishness, and the Philistines believed they had finally bested their old enemy.

Still, I just love that last line, which perfectly sets up next week’s final Samson post.