E rising indeed that at such a marriage the festivities described 1 ch. IS should be the same as at the marriages which constitute the man the possessor (Vt'3) of the woman ; but it may well be that difTerent points of view have here become confused.
viii. Mythological Traces, — Samson's extra- ordinary strength, which he displays in a number of feats, led even in olden times to a comparison of him witli Hercules, and recently such comparisons have gone the length of vain attempts to count up exactly twelve exploits A Samson. After it came
sa:*iuel
SAMUEL
381
to be reco^ized or believed that the Hercules legend is a solar mj-th, many in our own centurj' pioceeded to take the story of Samson also as a sun-myth, and to interpret it so in detail. The derivation of the name prep from tbc' tells indeed rather against than in favour of this view, for it is not the way with a nature-myth to borrow or even to derive the name of its hero from the cosmical object which it describes. The derivation from Bcth-shemcsh is a much more natural one. But such mythical explanations are not capable of being refuted in detail, because the elements with which they operate are so .simple that any one so disposed may lind them in any history, and for the most part in opposite ways. At all events, the strength of Samson requires no such explanation ; on the contrarj', it is explicable, as we saw, by con- siderations drawn, on the one hand, from the history of civilization, and on the other from religion. And it is equally certain that none of the narrators of the story is conscious that he is handing on a myth ; the features of the contem- porary history and civilization are very clearly marked. This does not prevent the supposition that mj'thical traits may have found their way into these popular narratives. Undoubtedly a topo- logical [(iunlvel, Genesis, p. xv, incorrectly gives this the name 'geological'] motive for a legend appears at work in 15", where the name ' Height of the .Jawbone ' is to be expl.ained. It is quite re- markable, too, that the fire-brand foxes (15'') recur in Ovid {Fasti, iv. 67911'.) in the Roman cultus, and are explained (ii. 701 ff.) by the act of a mis- chievous boy which exactly resembles the act of Sanuson. But, in t/iis instance at all events, we have not to do with a solar myth ; the reader may be reminded how in Poitou ' the spirit of the corn appears to be conceived in the shape of a fox ' iKrazer, I.e. ii. 283; cf. the whole chapter entitled 'The corn-spirit'). The attempt to give a con- tinuoui mythological interpretation of the story of Samson is tlierefore to be abandoned, althougli there are various points in it besides the above which may profitably be examined from this point of view.
LiTRR^Ti-RK.— The Comm. on Jnilgpn, esp. those of Moore, in Intrrnnl. Cril. O'ln. ISn.l ; nudde in hnrzer lldcom. 1897; Nowa<-k in Itdkmntn. 190(1; and the authoriLius cited iti these. The older iileratiire will be found LQ Winer's cxi-ellent art. ■ Simaoii ' in his AH .03, 1848. K. BUDDE.
SAMUEL (SxiDy, 2:ajuom}X).— The meaning 'name of (;i)d,' which is now generally accepted, is the only one that can be upheld on philological rounds. The author of the early history of Samuel ouviously connects the name with tlie circumstances of Siimuel's birth as if SmDE'='7ND Sini? (1^ 'and she called his name Samuel, snijing. Because I have asked him of the Lord'); hut it is impossible to regard this explanation as giving the actual deriva- tion of the name. As is not infrequently the case in the OT, ' the \vriter merely expresses an asson- ance, nat an etymology, i.e. the name '^nidc recalled to his mind the word ''ikp n.tkcd, though in no sense derived from it' (Driver, Text of Sam. p. 13 f.). The derivation 'heard of God ' (Su jjiDif*) 18 also et3'mologically imiirobable.*
The history of Samuel as set forth in the first Bjok that hears his name contains so many dis-
• In a recent article on 'The Name of .Samuel and the Stem 7KP' {.IRL, vol. xix. pt. 1.), M. Jaetrow, jr., mairiUiins that the init element (i"17) of the compound nwne Shihnu'H (should be rendcrwl 'ofTsprinif ' rather than 'name,' on the analojjy of the Afwyr. ghumu, which occunt frequently in the former senile in prnnor names (.Vi-^u-ft/iurn-ulrin, flr^-gAum -t/^ir, etc.) : ho explains ^'annc**/ therefore a8=' Bon of Go<l,' and compares the correlative Abiel. There Is, however, no evidence lo show that the Hell. EC* ever bore thia meanlntf : the pasaanew cited by Jastrow in favour of It readily admit of the usual Hih^niflcation.
crepancies not only as regards the history of the period, but also as regards Samuel's character and position, that it is impossible to assign it to a single author. These inconsistencies can be ex- plained only on the theory that we have two accounts of the history of Samuel, which have been combined by a later editor (see following article). In order, therefore, to obtain a clear con- ception of the life and work of Samuel, it is neces- sary to treat the two sources separately.
In the earlier of the two documents from which the Books of Samuel are mainly compiled, Samuel tlrst appears in connexion with the election of Saul as itintf at Gilf,'al tiin".). He is there described as ' a man of God ' (D*-), or, more accurately, as a seer (.1X1 as opposed to N'^J &prophet. 99), living in the Land of Zuph (probably in the hill-country of Ephraim). The narrative opens somewhat abruptly wilti the story of Saul's search for the asses of his father. After three days' search Saul is on the point of returning homewards, when he is urged by his servant to con- sult the man of God living in that clistrict (it is not until v.'o that we learn his name). Saul's objection, that the seer will certainly expect a present, is met by the servant producing the fourth part of a shekel. They accordingly enter the city and inquire for the seer, whom they meet on his way to the high place. The meeting, however, was no accidental one, for Samuel had been divinely prepared on the nrevious day for the coming of the Benjamite stranger, and had been instructed to anoint him to be prince over Israel; for, said Jehovuli, *he shall save my people out of the hands of the Philistines.' Samuel accordingly invites Saul to the sacrificial meal, at which a place had been reserved for him, and on the tollowiiig morn- ing ]>rivately anointa him, and informs him at the sauie time of his Divine mission to delic'er Israel from its opi)ressor8. He adds, further, three signs by which Saul may prove the truth of his words, and bids him do as occasion ser^'es him when these have been fulfilled. The signs are fulfilled, and shortly after Saul's return to his father's house the occasion foretold by Samuel presents itself in connexion with the siege of Jabesh- gilead by Nahash the Anmionite. Saul's prompt and successful action in relieving the besieged city arouses the enthusiasm of his countrymen, who crown him king at Gilgal.