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See also: The Prophet Samuel 110–15 ■ David and Goliath 116–17 ■
Daniel in Babylon 164–65The Philistines
This ancient group fought
constantly with the Israelites
throughout the 12th and 11th
centuries bce. One of the
Sea Peoples who raided the
eastern Mediterranean in
around 1170 bce, they were
based in the five city states of
Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Gaza,
situated on the coast of
southwestern Canaan, and
Ekron and Gath inland.
Their origins are unconfirmed.
It was once thought the
Philistines originated from
Asia Minor, but recent
evidence supports a theory
that they came from the
Aegean island of Crete and
settled in Canaan around the
same time as the Israelites in
the 12th century bce. In the
lead-up to the founding of the
Northern Kingdom of Israel in
around 930 bce, the Philistines
constituted one of the
country’s greatest threats.
There has been much
debate about the meaning of
the name “Philistine,” which
translates from the Hebrew
Pelesheth, as “sojourners.”
The area they occupied was
known as Philistia, believed
to be the origin of Palestine,
the name given to the area
by the Greeks.Philistine oppression. Samson’s
mother is warned not to drink any
wine or other fermented substance,
nor eat anything “unclean” during
her pregnancy, as her son will be
a “Nazirite” from the womb.
Nazirites, whose name derived
from the Hebrew word nazir,
meaning “dedicated to God,” were
Israelites who took a voluntary
vow to follow Nazarite law for
a designated period of time in
service to the Lord. By contrast,
Samson’s oath, made on his behalf
by his mother, lasts his whole life.
Two key stipulations for Nazirites
were that they must not cut their
hair, nor come into contact with
dead bodies. However, during the
course of his life, Samson breaks all
of these rules and more.Samson’s strength
In Judges 14:6, Samson encounters
a young lion as he is on the way
to visit the vineyards of Timnah—
now called Tell Batesh—in the
Sorek Valley. As the lion charges,
Samson is endowed by the Holy
Spirit and tears the lion apart with
his bare hands.
Samson later returns to the
scene of the carnage. As he passes
the lion’s carcass, he sees that bees
have made a nest in it and gathers
some of the fermented honey in
his hands. Samson then eats some
of the honey as he goes along his
way. Here, Samson breaks two key
Nazirite laws in swift succession:
he touches a corpse and consumes
a fermented substance.
Endowed by God with
superhuman strength, Samson
becomes a leader and judge of the
Israelites; he rules the people for
20 years. However, he continues
to break his Nazirite vows andprovoke the Philistines in a series
of conflicts. This culminates in
Samson burning their crops and
murdering large numbers of
them on behalf of the oppressed
Israelites. Visiting the cities of
Philistia, he also spends time in the
house of a harlot, indicating his
weakness for women.
Yet Samson receives God’s
support in spite of his misdeeds.
God provides the strength Samson
requires to fulfill his divinely
ordained mission of breaking
the Philistine yoke.Imprisonment
Matters come to a head when the
Philistines confront Samson about
his rampages. When Samson
replies that he is only doing to the
Philistines what had been done to
his own people, the Philistines take
Samson prisoner. However, God
once more comes to Samson’s aid
and he breaks free. Seizing the
jawbone of a freshly killed donkey ❯❯THE HISTORICAL BOOKS
Samson battles the lion with his
bare hands in this 18th-century icon
painting from Kargopol, Russia. Many
famous depictions of Samson show him
bravely reaching into the lion’s mouth
to tear it apart by the jaws.US_104-107_Samson.indd 105 12/10/2017 15:01