His Strength
Samson's shoulders were sixty ells broad. He was lame in both feet (Sotah 10a), but when the spirit of God came upon him he could step with one stride from Zoreah to Eshtaol, while the hairs of his head arose and clashed against one another so that they could be heard for a like distance (Lev. R. viii. 2). He was so strong that he could uplift two mountains and rub them together like two clods of earth (ib.; Sotah 9b), yet his superhuman strength, like Goliath's, brought woe upon its possessor (Eccl. R. i., end). In licentiousness he is compared with Amnon and Zimri, both of whom were punished for their sins (Leviticus Rabba xxiii. 9). Samson's eyes were put out because he had "followed them" too often (Soṭah l.c.). When Samson was thirsty (comp. Judges xv. 18-19) God caused a well of water to spring from his teeth (Genesis Rabba l.c. § 18).
In the twenty years during which Samson judged Israel (comp. Judges xv. 20, xvi. 31) he never required the least service from an Israelite (Num. R. ix. 25), and he piously refrained from taking the name of God in vain. As soon, therefore, as he told Delilah that he was a Nazarite of God (comp. Judges xvi. 17) she immediately knew that he had spoken the truth (Sotah l.c.). When he pulled down the temple of Dagon and killed himself and the Philistines (comp. Judges l.c. verse 30) 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 (Gen. R. l.c. § 19).
Even in the Talmudic period many seem to have denied that Samson was a historic figure; he was apparently regarded as a purely mythological personage. A refutation of this heresy is attempted by the Talmud (B. B. l.c.), which gives the name of his mother, and states that he had a sister also, named "Nishyan" or "Nashyan" (variant reading, this apparently is the meaning of the passage in question, despite the somewhat unsatisfactory explanation of Rashi).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Samson". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906.
|
Read more about this topic: Samson In Rabbinic Literature
Famous quotes containing the word strength:
“Will power is only the tensile strength of one’s own disposition. One cannot increase it by a single ounce.”
—Cesare Pavese (1908–1950)
“Pater: too much graceful drapery obscures the strength of the body beneath.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)