Jan Pieter Bommel
This thesis, with the title Samson in duplicate, an inquity into the history of the origin of Judges 13 – 16, proposes a possible answer to the questions of how and when the Samson cycle was formed.
In the Introduction a survey of the Samson cycle is given, followed by the research questions, a review of this study and some highlights on the reception of Judges 13 – 16 in the course of history.
Chapter 1 contains in section 1 the translation of Judges 13 – 16, followed by a syntactic-stylistically analysis in section 2 and concludes in section 3 with an inquiry into the question if the deeds of Samson demonstrate him to be a Nazarite.
In Chapters 2 and 3 the context and the setting of the Samson cycle is discussed. Chapter 2, section 1, provides an ample review of the comprehensive debate among scholars on the Deuteronomistic History. The chapter continues in section 2.1.18 with a survey of the opinions of various scholars on the points of view of Deuteronomist(s) regarding the monarchy. The monarchy, important in the eyes of the Deuteronomists, is not present in the Samson story. Furthermore views of scholars on history writing are mentioned. I do not consider the Deuteronomist a history writer. In my opinion he was a theologian who applied historical facts for his own theological purposes, as for example in his report on the tumbling down of the walls of Jericho and in his report of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites (sections 2.1.19.2 and 2.1.19.3).
Chapter 2, section 2, renders the opinions of many learned scholars on the book of Judges. In section 2.2.8.1 the historical shift from polytheism to monotheism is investiGathed in order to discover at what point during this historical development the Samson story might have been formed. In section 2.2.8.2. literary data of the Samson cycle are compared with literary data in the remainder of the book of Judges.
In Chapter 3 the geographical setting of the Samson cycle is presented, illustrated by various maps. The significance of the cities Gath and Ekron in the bible is mentioned and the question is asked why these cities are not present in the Samson story. Chapter 4 expresses the exegesis of various scholars on the Samson story. The opinions of C.A. Simpson and J.A. Wharton are successively analysed and criticized. Then a survey is given of the ideas of a number of scholars with regard to the possibility of interpolations in Judges, chapter 14. Following this the exegeses of H. Gese, M. Witte and L.C. Jonker are reviewed. After these historical-critical exegeses the chapter continues with synchronical exegeses of J. Blenkinsopp, J.L. Crenshaw, E.L. Greenstein and some feminist exegetes. Furthermore the synchronical exegeses of B.G. Webb, A.G. van Daalen, J.Ch. Exum and J. Kim are reviewed. Section 4.3. deals with the opinions of various scholars on the riddles in chapter 14 of the book of Judges. Chapter 4 closes with a critical review and an enumeration of items for further research. My conclusion from the chapters 2 and 3 is that the Samson cycle does not fit into the literary or historical context nor in the geographical setting. Therefore I consider it highly unlikely that the Samson stories originated around a man who lived in the Iron Age I (1200-1000 BC).
In Chapter 5.1, my exegesis of the Samson story, a hypothesis is worded and then the text of Judges 13-16 is divided based on the syntactic-stylistically analysis in chapter 1, section 2 and the various parts (some combined to larger units) are discussed. Some of my conclusions are:
- Judges 13, 1 does not constitute part of the deuteronomistic usage.
- The motive of barrenness of Manoah’s wife, introduced in Judges 13,2, is not integrated in the composition of the Samson story.
- Judges 13, 3-5 is not the “Gathtung” of a birth-announcement.
- The wedding party in Judges, chapter 14, is characterized by the riddles and the ending of the marriage leads to Samson’s deeds in chapter 15. These deeds are based on retaliation of injustice.
- Judges 15, 16-17 can be compared to the song of Lamech in Genesis 4 and is quite different from Judges 15, 18-19, where Samson utters a prayer and is presented as a servant of the Lord.
- Judges 15, 20 cannot be related to the minor Judges or to the liberators among the Judges.
- Judges 16, 23-30 is the first episode in the Samson story that fits into the framework of the holy war of YHWH against the enemies of his people.
- Judges 16, 31 is a redactional statement to ascertain that Samson is just a man, not a demigod.
In section 5.1.6. a summary of the analysis is presented followed by an outlook to the remainder of this thesis. Section 5.2 contains a search for striking data in various historical periods. The first stages of the history of Philistines in Canaan are considered. The origin of the Philistines cannot be established with any degree of certainty. It is doubtful whether they all came from the Aegean area. The pottery, ascribed to the Philistines, shows similarities to the pottery from the Late Bronze Age in Canaan and cannot be traced back further than Cyprus. So it cannot be ascertained that folktales of Samson are influenced by stories from the Aegean area. The next period under consideration is that of the Persian rulers. Possible influences of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are viewed. The period of the Hellenistic domination however is in my opinion the most likely period during which the folktales and the biblical story of Samson were formed.
Chapter 6 deals with some linguistical and hermeneutical questions such as the absence of the influence of late Hebrew in the Samson story and the reason why the Samson cycle is inserted in the book of Judges.
Scholars from the Hellenistic age, devoted to YHWH, transformed the figure of the folkhero Samson to a Judge and a Nazarite, a servant of the Lord YHWH. - In Judges 16, 1-3 the Spirit of YHWH is strikingly absent. Section 6.2 presents the conclusions to the investigation in this thesis:
- Secular folktales featuring a hero Samson were told to express hatred against the Phlistines. - These Philistines were not Israel’s enemy from the Iron Age I, but referred to the Hellenised cities at the coast of the Mediterenean sea.
- The texts Judges 13, 1; 15, 20 and 16, 31 are in my opinion not written by Deuteronomist(s), but by the writer of the biblical Samson story.
- Attached are an appendix - containing pictures as illustrations to the text - and a bibliography.
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