Saturday, February 07, 2004
Judges 14 - The Wife, the Prostitute, and the Lover
As he moves in rapid succession from one woman to the other, Samson's libido seems more powerful than his thought processes. That judgment is perhaps unfair, for the narrative portrays Samson as a poet and riddler as well as a man of action.
That he happens to choose both a wife and lover who succumb to threats and bribery and betray him, and do so by nagging him in ways that should have alerted even the least sensitive that there was trouble afoot, suggests either a blindness caused by either lust or love, or a subtle knowing that plays along with the wiles of the women in his life in the expectation that God will work everything for good, one way or another.
Here is the odd narrative of Samson's wooing:
Judges 14:1 Once Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw a Philistine woman. 2 Then he came up, and told his father and mother, "I saw a Philistine woman at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."
3 But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among your kin, or among all our1 people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?"
But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, because she pleases me."
There is no romantic love here. Everything seems driven by Samson's lust. His parents do not seem to be alarmed by this, but they are alarmed that Samson desires a non-Jew. But, the narrator immediately explains what is really going on is something else entirely.
Judges 14:4 His father and mother did not know that this was from the LORD; for he was seeking a pretext to act against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
This reads as if Samson knew what he was doing all along -- it was just a ploy to get at the Philistines. Taking another track, the Tenack translation reads:
His father and mother did not realize that this was the LORD's doing: He was seeking a pretext against the Philistines,...
This makes God the protagonist who wrests good from Samson's lust. In either case, in the context of the Samson cycle, it is required to remember that "good end" in mind is fulfillment of the prophecy that accompanied his birth:
Judges 13:5 It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
There is, I think, no endorsement of Samson. The point is that God is able to work through even such a one as Samson to accomplish deliverance. After God's miraculous appearances in the birth narrative, there is no mention of God in Samson's affairs. God only appears as the "the spirit of the Lord" rushing on Samson to strengthen him for war, as the fall-out of his affairs give occasion for conflict and retribution. (See Jdg. 14:6, 19; 15:14, 18-19. and then his final prayer for strength in Jdg. 16:28.)
Can God work with sin to accomplish his ends? Samson, the arrogant husband. Samson, the prostitute's john. Samson, the besotted lover. This is the material that God was able to use. If God can use Samson, he can use you or me.
That he happens to choose both a wife and lover who succumb to threats and bribery and betray him, and do so by nagging him in ways that should have alerted even the least sensitive that there was trouble afoot, suggests either a blindness caused by either lust or love, or a subtle knowing that plays along with the wiles of the women in his life in the expectation that God will work everything for good, one way or another.
Here is the odd narrative of Samson's wooing:
Judges 14:1 Once Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw a Philistine woman. 2 Then he came up, and told his father and mother, "I saw a Philistine woman at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."
3 But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among your kin, or among all our1 people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?"
But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, because she pleases me."
There is no romantic love here. Everything seems driven by Samson's lust. His parents do not seem to be alarmed by this, but they are alarmed that Samson desires a non-Jew. But, the narrator immediately explains what is really going on is something else entirely.
Judges 14:4 His father and mother did not know that this was from the LORD; for he was seeking a pretext to act against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
This reads as if Samson knew what he was doing all along -- it was just a ploy to get at the Philistines. Taking another track, the Tenack translation reads:
His father and mother did not realize that this was the LORD's doing: He was seeking a pretext against the Philistines,...
This makes God the protagonist who wrests good from Samson's lust. In either case, in the context of the Samson cycle, it is required to remember that "good end" in mind is fulfillment of the prophecy that accompanied his birth:
Judges 13:5 It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
There is, I think, no endorsement of Samson. The point is that God is able to work through even such a one as Samson to accomplish deliverance. After God's miraculous appearances in the birth narrative, there is no mention of God in Samson's affairs. God only appears as the "the spirit of the Lord" rushing on Samson to strengthen him for war, as the fall-out of his affairs give occasion for conflict and retribution. (See Jdg. 14:6, 19; 15:14, 18-19. and then his final prayer for strength in Jdg. 16:28.)
Can God work with sin to accomplish his ends? Samson, the arrogant husband. Samson, the prostitute's john. Samson, the besotted lover. This is the material that God was able to use. If God can use Samson, he can use you or me.
