Eusebius, in the 4th cent., describes it as Se^oa-T^f, tjiv vvv noKixvriv TTJs noAaiffTtfTj? {Onotn. 292). A bishop of Samaria attended the Council of Nicaea (a.d. 325), and another that of
Jerusalem (A.D. 536). A baseless tradition made It the scene of the death of John the Baptist, and a church of the 12th cent, stands over his supjtosed tomb. A small village retains the Imperial name — Selntstiyeh — and some of Herod's pillars are still standini;. Excavations carried on by Harvard University since 1908 have resulted in many remarkable discoveries.
LlTERATURB. — W. M. Thomson, The Land and the Book, 1910, p. 402 f. ; A. P. Stanley, Sinai and I'atestine, new ed., 1SS7, i>p. 240-246 ; E. Schurer, UJP, 1880-91, II. i. 123-127 ; G. A. Smith. lUiHl.l, 1 Duo, pp. 345-350; D. G. Lyon, 'Hebrew OetTaca from .Samaria,' in ilaroard Theological Hcvinw, iv. [19111 130 ff. : S. R. Driver, 'The Discoveries at Samaria,' in I'Et'St
xiiii. (1911)7911. James Strahan.
SAMOS (Sd/ioj).— Samos is one of the fairest and most fertile islands of the M'^ea,n, 27 miles long from E. to W. and 14 miles at its greatest breadth, separated from the mainland by the straitof M ycale (the Little Bogliaz), seven stadia in width, in which the Greek fleet gained a great victory over the Persians in 479 B.C. The island attained its highest prosperity in the days of Polycrates, and held for a time the naval supremacy of the yEgean. It was the birthplace of Pythagoras, and a Samian mariner, ' not without divine direction ' (Herod, iv. 152), was the first to sail beyond the Pillars of Her- cules. Its chief city, also called Samos, was a libera civitas in St. Pauls time. Situated in the S. E. of the island, it had the largest temple Hei'odotus ever saw (iii. 60), and disputed with Smyrna and Ephesus the title ' first city of Ionia.' There were many Jews in the island (1 Mac 15^), which was visited by Herod in A.D. 14 (Jos. Ant. xvi. ii. 2).
In a voyage down the .'Egean the ship in which St. Paul was sailing left Chios on a Wednesday morning, ' struck across to Samos ' — here probably the island is meant — and rounded either the west or the east extremity. The RV rendering, ' touched at Samos,' conveys the idea of a stoppage, which is not implied in the Greek {irape^aXofier eis ^dfiov, Ac 20"'). Probably the attempt was made to get as far as Miletus the same day, but when Trogyllium, a promontory 5 miles E. of the city of Samos, was reached, the jEgean N. wind ajipa- rently died away, as it generally does in the late afternoon throughout the summer montlis, and the passage had to be completed next day with the aid of the fresh breeze that springs up in the early morning. The clause in the Bezan text regarding Trogyllium, which is found in the AV but relegated to the margin of the RV, was in all probability omitted by the scribes of the great uncials under the mistaken notion that a night had been spent at the city of Samos, and that a second anchorage only 5 miles farther east was out of the question.
LiTERATORE. — Strabo, XIV. i. 12-18 ; H. F. Tozer, The Islands of the Jigean, 1890; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the jtoman Citizen, 1895, p. 293 f.
James Strahan.
SAMOTHRACE {^Za.^l.oepaK■n, the 'Thracian Samos,' in Momer 1iij.oi Qp-qiKl-q ; still called Samothraki).^ Samothrace is an island about 30 miles S. of tlie coast of Thrace, 8 miles in length and 6 miles in breadth, rising to a height of 5240 ft. above the sea. Next to Pharos, it is the most conspicuous natural feature in the northern .(Egean. According to Homer, Poseidon took his stand on its summit to survey ' all Ida, the city of Priam, and the s1u|js of the Greeks' (//. xiii. 12f.). Samos is probably a Semitic (Phoenician) word, from the root shamnh, ' to be high ' (see W. Leaf, Iliad, 1902, ii. 4). The island, which always enjoyed autonomy on account of its sacred traditions, was celebrated for the mysterious worship of the Cabeiri (Herod, ii. 51), which was still in full vogue when St. Paul passed and repassed the island.
The Apostle and his companions, sailing from Troas, ' made a straight course,' running before the wind {eiJ6vdpoiiria-afi(v, Ac 16"), to Samothrace, where they cast anchor, and next day reached
SAMSON
SANCTIFICATION
449
Neapolis. In less favourable conditions, when tockinj; was required, the passage in tin- oiijiosite direction took live days (Ae 20"). Saniotliraee was quite liarbourless — riiny, in enumerating the i^iljjean islands, calls it imporhtu.'iissima omnium (Iiy iv. 23) — but it had several ;;oud anchora;;es.
See, further, II. K. Tozer, The Islii7r(l.i of the .Kiinin, IS'.HI, pp. 310-354. JAMES StraiiaN.
SANSON {-afi^uv). — Samson was the popular hero of the tribe of Dan who bet;an to <lelivei- Israel from the Philistines, the iS'a/.irite whose secret of stren^ith laj" in his hair, the l)linded giant who (irayed for power to avenge hini.self and his country in the hour of his death (Jg 13-ltS). He tinds a place in the great Roll of Faith contained in He 11. Much has been written in recent years regarding the legendary elements of the story of Samson and the possibility of its being a solar myth, but such ideas were naturally far from the mind of the anonymous writer of the Kpistle to the Hebrews.