V. Historical Importance.— According to tha sclieme of the Book of Judges as its i)rogranime is set down by the Deuteronomic redactor in Jg 2"*-, Samson was 'raised up' by Jahweh to be 'judge' over all the children of Israel, in order to deliver them from the rule of the Philistines, to which Jahweh had given them over on account of their unfaithfulness (cf. 13'). We saw that in the case of Samsun there can be no mention of such deliver- ance, and just as little of an activity on behalf of, or any judgeship over, the whole of Israel. What we are told of him, at all events, claims nothing more than quite a local importance. We need not wonder, then, that li" left out eh. 16 (see above), but only that he allowed Samson to pass as a 'judge' at all. But this may be explained as due to the example set in the pre-Deuteronomie Book of Judges, the work of R''^ (cf. Budde, Kurzcr Ildcom. xll'., XV f.). The rank of a divinely -sent judge could not be henceforward taken from Samson. His credentials rest especially on ch. 13, the Divine
Eroniise and wonderful accoiiiiilishiiient of his irth. We shall have to regard tlie whole of this chapter as a later addition to the particular Samson narratives which were gathered from the mouth of the people and lie before us in chs. 14-16. As a literary composition, however, that chapter need not be more recent tlian these others. It is worthy of note that even it stUl conliues the historical importance of Samson within very narrow limits. All that is said of him in v.° is that ' he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.'
vi. Significance fob the History of Re- ligion.— The glaring contradiction between the Divine call of Samson and his far from exemplary manner of life caused much racking of the brains and much ollence to the older theologians. A correct judgment of his personality is possible only when, on the one hand, we leave out of view the Christian standard of morality, and when, on the other, we take into account that Samson was originally not a religious but a popular hero. Still there remains even in the oldest strata of the narratives one religious trait, and it is this which has made it possible to represent him as under theocratic enlightenment. Any endowment be- yond the ordinary human standard, or any con- duct quite opposed to wliat is otherwise recognized as the character of a person, is explained in anti- quity, and so also in the OT, as due to a super- human being, a spirit, having taken up its abode in the person. On this account all who are mentally deranged are supposed to be the dwellinj;- place of a spirit, by whom they are possessed. In this waj[ also the superhuman strength of Sam.soii is explained ; and as the Philistines, the enemies of Israel, sutler through his deeds, the spirit whidi works through him is the spirit of Jahweh, the God of Israel. The last verse of ch. 13 notes the lirst occasion upon which the spirit of Jahweh moves him, without telling us how this working showed itself. In 14"- '" lo'* ' the spirit of Jahweh came upon him ' to enable him to perform the greatest feats of strength. It is noteworthy, how- ever, that this expression is wanting in H". This appears to point to a dillerent way of viewing the matter, and, as this same way entirely domi- nates ch. 16, it may be regarded as the more original. According to Samson's own statement in 16", which is conlirmcd by vv.**- ^, his strength is not a new thing every time, imiiarted at the moment of need through his being lijled with the Divine spirit, but is a constant possession, connected with the hair of his head, on which no razor comes, because from bis mother's womb he has been a consecrated one of Grod, a Nazirita C'lJ).
380
SxUlSOJJ
SAJklSON
The Nazirate ifl a relifrious institution of undoubtedly the hiphest anticiuity ; it is n:iinf(l as early as Am 2'if , along with prophecy, aa one of the speciaJ blcssinLTs which Jahweh haa bestowed upon His people. At the same lime it persisted in Israel down to the days wtieu Israel's religion had undergone a great spiritualizing, for not only do we find it in Nu 6 in the legislation of the post-exilic period as a firmly e^itablished 8acre<l usage, but we meet with its practice in Jerusalem al the temple even in the lime of the Aposlle Paul (Ac 21*^' ). but in the OT Samson is the only N'azirite we encounter; for the consecration of Samuel is of quite a different character, and l he words ' and tliere shall no razor come upon his head * in I S l^* certainly' do not belong to the original text. From the story of Samson, now, we can gather that the essence of the Nazirite vow consisted simply m allowing the hair to grow. At the expirj* of the period fixed for the vow the hair was shorn by the
Eriest and cast into thp sacriticial flame (Nu C><', Ac 2124^.* ven Samson's lifelong Nazirate (Jg la^-'O can scarcely be understood as implying tliat he is to carrj- his hair with him down to the grave, but rather that he has it shorn from time to time, and each time consecrates the shorn hair to Jahweh. But, aa the Nazirite bears the God-consecrated offering upon his head, he naturally requires to keep his body, which ministera nourishment also to the hair, pure from everj-thing that is repugnant to the Deity. The regulations on this sub- ject will undergo change and enlargement with the times; the prohibition of wine (including, no doubt, all intoxicat- ing liquors) belongs certainly to the oldest state of things, and is witnessed to already in Am 212. An intoxicated man is possessed by another spirit which disputes God's authority. Samson, indeed, does not impress us as one who practised self-restraint in any direction ; his taking food from the carcase of the lion (Jg Us"".) ig directly opposed to the enactments of Nu 66S-, for the term 'dead body' there certainly includes a potiori the carcases of animals. But from these contradictions between the Samson story and the Nazirate law we can only conclude that the story does not proceed throughout on the presupposition of his being under a Nazirite vow. The contra- dictions must have been early observed, and this explains why what was wanting in the case of Samson himself, namely abstinence from wine and from unclean food, is compensated for in 13"* i* by attributing this abstinence to his mother for the period of her pregnancy.