Part 16 (2/2)

After slaying a thousand men he was ”sore athirst,” and called unto the Lord. And ”G.o.d clave a hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout, and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived.”[65:1]

”Then went Samson to Gaza and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, 'Samson is come hither.' And they compa.s.sed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying: 'In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.'

And Samson lay (with the harlot) till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that is in Hebron.”

This was Samson's _sixth_ exploit.

”And it came to pa.s.s afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Soreck, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her: 'Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him.'”

Delilah then began to entice Samson to tell her wherein his strength lay.

”She pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death. Then he told her all his heart, and said unto her: 'There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto G.o.d from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.' And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she went and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: 'Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his heart.' Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hands (for her).

”And she made him (Samson) sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the _seven_ locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.”

The Philistines then took him, put out his eyes, and put him in prison.

And being gathered together at a great sacrifice in honor of their G.o.d, Dagon, they said: ”Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.” And they called for Samson, and he made them sport.

”And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand.

Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

”Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

”And Samson called unto the Lord, and said: 'O Lord G.o.d, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O G.o.d, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.'

”And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said: 'Let me die with the Philistines.' And he bowed himself with all his might; and (having regained his strength) the house fell upon the lords, and upon the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death, were more than they which he slew in his life.”[66:1]

Thus ended the career of the ”strong man” of the Hebrews.

That this story is a copy of the legends related of Hercules, or that they have both been copied from similar legends existing among some other nations,[66:2] is too evident to be disputed. Many churchmen have noticed the similarity between the history of Samson and that of Hercules. In Chambers's Encyclopaedia, under ”Samson,” we read as follows:

”It has been matter of most contradictory speculations, how far his existence is to be taken as a reality, or, in other words, what substratum of historical truth there may be in this supposed circle of popular legends, artistically rounded off, in the four chapters of Judges which treat of him. . . .

”The miraculous deeds he performed have taxed the ingenuity of many commentators, and the text has been _twisted and turned in all directions_, to explain, _rationally_, his slaying those prodigious numbers single-handed; his carrying the gates of Gaza, in one night, a distance of about fifty miles, &c., &c.”

That this is simply a _Solar_ myth, no one will doubt, we believe, who will take the trouble to investigate it.

Prof. Goldziher, who has made ”Comparative Mythology” a special study, says of this story:

”The most complete and rounded-off _Solar myth_ extant in Hebrew, is that of s.h.i.+mshon (Samson), a cycle of mythical conceptions fully comparable with the Greek myth of Hercules.”[66:3]

We shall now endeavor to ascertain if such is the case, by comparing the exploits of Samson with those of Hercules.

The first wonderful act performed by Samson was, as we have seen, _that of slaying a lion_. This is said to have happened when he was but a youth. So likewise was it with Hercules. At the age of eighteen, he slew an enormous lion.[66:4]

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