biblical legends - samson. Legend of Samson and Dalila Samson in Greek mythology

It so happened that the Israelites, stronger than all other nations, were oppressed by the Philistines. The Philistines were warlike and strong, lived in fortified cities by the sea and were a real danger. They raided the Israelites, took their property for themselves, destroyed entire villages, all this went on for forty years.

The Lord, seeing this, sent Samson the strong man to his people. Samson's mother did not have children for a long time, but one day someone told her that she would give birth to a son. Before the birth of the child, she had to lead a particularly pious lifestyle, not drinking wine and not eating pork. After the birth of a child, he was not allowed to cut his hair, the knife should not touch his head, because the child will be dedicated to God.

Samson's mother was surprised and told her husband about this phenomenon, the husband asked the guest who reported this news to enter the house, but he refused, and Samson's father ordered to sacrifice a goat to the Lord. The flame above the altar carried away a mysterious messenger into the sky… It was the Angel of the Lord.

Samson really grew incredibly strong and once defeated a lion that attacked him with his bare hands. He protected the Israelites from the Philistine raids, but he himself fell in love with the young Philistine Delilah and married her. At the wedding, Samson asked those present a riddle that the Philistines could not solve and sent his wife to him with a request to tell the answer. After the wife found out the answer, she immediately told it to her compatriots. Samson got angry and punished 30 Philistines. Thus began their 20-year confrontation. The Philistines, dreaming of defeating Samson, came to Delilah and promised her many silver coins if she learned the secret of Samson's extraordinary strength.

Delilah, who had never known such wealth, betrayed her lover and asked how to defeat him. Samson told Delilah that if he was tied with new damp ropes, he would not break free. Delilah did just that when Samson fell asleep and woke him up, exclaiming “Samson! The Philistines are coming at you." Samson got up and broke the ropes. Delilah realized that she had been deceived and asked again to reveal the secret. Then Samson said that if only his hair was woven into a cloth and nailed to the log, he would lose his strength. Delilah did just that when Samson fell asleep again. Samson was able to free himself again.

Angry, Delilah threatened Samson that she would leave him if he did not tell the truth, and Samson was forced to admit that the strength lies in his hair.

How can you say: “I love you”, but your heart is not with me? Behold, you deceived me three times, and did not tell me what is your great strength.

And as she weighed him down with her words every day and tormented him, his soul became heavy to death. And he opened his whole heart to her, and said to her:

The razor did not touch my head, for I am a Nazarite of God from my mother's womb; but if you cut me, my strength will depart from me; I will become weak and be like other people.

Delilah, seeing that he had opened his whole heart to her, sent and called the owners of the Philistines, saying to them:

Go now; he opened his whole heart to me.

Then Delilah made Samson drunk with wine and called the Philistines, who cut off seven braids from Samson's head. Delilah received the promised payment, and Samson was captured, tortured, gouged out his eyes and thrown into prison, where he was forced to turn the millstones that grind the grain.

Once the Philistines gathered for a feast in honor of the pagan god Dagon. Cheered up, they asked to bring a blind strong man to mock him. But Samson's hair had already grown by that time. Having quietly prayed for his strength to return, Samson, exclaiming "die, my soul, with the Philistines," brought down the roof of the house. Under the rubble, he himself died along with the Philistines who tortured him.

The legend of Samson and Delilah: interpretation

The story of Samson and Delilah teaches us a lot, and it's not just about:

• betrayal;
• disappointment;
• Pain;

Samson began to resist the Philistines not only to protect the Israelites, personal grievances moved him and his physical blindness became a symbol of spiritual blindness and loss of orientation. The power that the Lord gave him to protect him from enemies, Samson used for other purposes. The story of Samson and Delilah is the story of the eternal struggle between good and evil for the soul of man.

L. Giordano "Samson and Delilah"

Historical facts

It is known that the Philistines in those days did indeed raid the Israelites.

SAMSON

SAMSON (Shimshon), the son of Manoah from the tribe of Dan, the "judge" (ruler) of the ancient Israelites, whose exploits are described in the biblical book of Judges (13-16). The story about him is more full of legends than the stories about other "judges".

The story of Samson's birth is a characteristic motif of God's miraculous gift of a son to a barren woman. An angel sent by God announced to the mother that she would give birth to a son, who should be a Nazirite already in the mother's womb, and therefore she was forbidden to drink wine and eat anything unclean, and when the child was born, he should not cut his hair. The angel also announced that the boy was destined to begin the deliverance of Israel from the yoke of the Philistines.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Sacrifice of Manoah. 1641
Art gallery, Dresden.

The stories about Samson, which the book of Judges tells about, are associated with three Philistine women. The first lived in the Philistine city of Timna, or Timnata. Samson accomplished his first feat on the way to Timnata, killing a lion that attacked him with his bare hands.

Peter Paul Rubens. Samson tearing the mouth of a lion. 1615-16
Villar-Mir Collection, Madrid

In Timnath, at his wedding, Samson gave the Philistines a riddle based on the incident with the lion, which they could not solve, and persuaded the bride to extort the answer from Samson. When Samson realized that he had been deceived, he attacked Ashkelon in anger and, having killed 30 Philistines, returned to his parents' house. When Samson came to see his wife a few days later, it turned out that her father, believing that Samson had abandoned her, had given her in marriage to Samson's "marriage friend".

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Samson threatens his father-in-law. 1635

In retaliation, Samson burned the fields of the Philistines by releasing 300 foxes with torches tied to their tails. Knowing the cause of Samson's anger, the Philistines burned his unfaithful wife and her father, but Samson considered this insufficient and inflicted severe injuries on many. The Philistines marched into Judea to capture and punish Samson. Frightened, the Israelites sent a delegation of 3,000 men to Samson demanding that they hand themselves over to the Philistines. Samson agreed to be tied up by the Israelites and handed over to the Philistines. However, when he was brought to the Philistine camp, he easily broke the ropes and, seizing the jaw of an ass, killed a thousand Philistines with it.

Gustave Dore. Samson smashes the Philistines with a donkey's jaw

The second story is connected with the Philistine harlot in Gaza. The Philistines surrounded her house in order to capture Samson in the morning, but he got up in the middle of the night, tore out the city gates and carried them to the mountain, "which is on the way to Hebron."

The third Philistine woman, because of whom Samson died, was Dlila (in the Russian tradition, Delilah, later Delilah), who promised the Philistine rulers for a reward to find out what Samson's strength was.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Delilah's betrayal. 1629-30
Berlin State Museums

After three unsuccessful attempts, she still managed to find out the secret: the source of Samson's strength was his uncut hair.

Francesco Morone. Samson and Delilah

Having lulled Samson, Dlila ordered that "seven braids of his head" be cut off.

Peter Paul Rubens. Samson and Delilah.

Fragment

Having lost his strength, Samson was captured by the Philistines, blinded, chained and thrown into prison.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Blinding of Samson.

Fragment. 1636

Soon the Philistines held a feast where they thanked their god Dagon for handing over Samson into their hands, and then brought Samson to the temple to amuse them. Meanwhile, Samson's hair had grown back, and strength began to return to him.

Peter Paul Rubens. Death of Samson. 1605
Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Having offered up a prayer to God, Samson moved the columns from their place, the temple collapsed, and the Philistines who had gathered there and Samson perished under the ruins. "And there were more dead that Samson slew at his death, than how many he slew in his life." The biblical story of Samson ends with the message of Samson's burial in the family tomb between Zor'ah and Eshtaol.

Samson's tomb today

The Book of Judge reports that Samson "judged" Israel for 20 years. Samson was different from the other "judges": he is the only one who, while still in his mother's womb, was destined to become the deliverer of Israel; the only "judge" endowed with superhuman strength, performing unprecedented feats in battles with the enemy; finally, Samson is the only "judge" who fell into the hands of the enemy and died in captivity.

Schnorr von Karolsfeld.The death of Samson

Nevertheless, despite its folklore coloring, the image of Samson fits into the galaxy of "judges" of Israel, who acted under the guidance of the "spirit of God" that descended on them and gave them the strength to "save" Israel. The biblical story of Samson reveals a combination of heroic-mythological and fairy-tale elements with historical narrative.

Slate bas-relief "Samson tears the mouth of a lion"

XI-XII centuries.

The historical image of the “judge”, which was Samson, is enriched with folklore and mythological motifs, which, according to a number of researchers, go back to astral myths, in particular, to the mythology of the Sun (the name “Samson” is literally `sunny’, “the braids of his head” - the rays of the sun, without which the sun loses its power).

"Samson tearing apart the mouth of a lion" - the central fountain

of the Peterhof Palace and Park Ensemble A. ( 1736)

The biblical story of Samson is one of the favorite topics in art and literature, starting from the Renaissance (the tragedy of Hans Sachs "Samson", 1556, and a number of other plays). The topic has become very popular. at 17., especially among the Protestants, who used the image of Samson as a symbol of their struggle against the power of the pope. The most significant work created in this century is J. Milton's drama "Samson the Wrestler" (1671; Russian translation 1911).

Among the works 18 in. it should be noted: a poem by W. Blake (1783), a poetic play by M. H. Luzzatto "Shimshon ve-ha-plishtim" ("Samson and the Philistines"), better known as "Ma'ase Shimshon" ("Acts of Samson"; 1727). IN 19 V. this topic was addressed by A. Carino (circa 1820), Mihai Tempa (1863), A. de Vigny (1864); in the 20th. F. Wedekind, S. Lange, L. Andreev and others, as well as Jewish writers: V. Zhabotinsky (“Samson the Nazarene”, 1927, in Russian; republished by the Library-Aliya publishing house, Jer., 1990); Lea Goldberg ("Ahavat Shimshon" - "Samson's Love", 1951-52) and others.

In fine arts episodes from the life of Samson are depicted on marble bas-reliefs of the 4th century. in the Naples Cathedral. In the Middle Ages, scenes from the exploits of Samson are often found in book miniatures. Paintings on the themes of the story of Samson were painted by the artists A. Mantegna, Tintoretto, L. Cranach, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens and others.

In music Samson's plot is reflected in a number of oratorios by Italian composers (Veracini, 1695; A. Scarlatti, 1696, and others), France (J. F. Rameau, opera to Voltaire's libretto, 1732), Germany (G. F. Handel based on the drama by J. Milton wrote the oratorio Samson, premiered at the Covent Garden Theater in 1744). The most popular opera by the French composer C. Saint-Saens "Samson and Delilah" (premiered in 1877).

Samson is the hero of the traditions of the Old Testament. In Hebrew, the name Samson presumably means "servant" or "sunny." He became famous for his extraordinary physical strength.

Samson was the son of Manoah of the tribe of Dan. Manoah and his wife did not have children for a long time, but their prayers were heard, an angel appeared to them and announced that they would have a son. Then he added that his destiny would be to serve God, so parents from early childhood should prepare their son for Nazariteship. Nazariteship was understood as a vow, after the adoption of which a person had to consecrate himself to God. At the same time, the initiate had to refrain from drinking wine, observe ritual purity, and not cut his hair.

After some time, as predicted, Manoah and his wife had a son. From childhood, the boy felt the presence of the "spirit of the Lord", which gave him strength and helped him defeat his enemies.

Throughout his life, Samson committed acts that were incomprehensible to others, but had a secret meaning. For example, having reached the age of majority, he, despite the protests of his parents, decided to marry a Philistine girl. But Samson did this not out of love for the girl, but in order to find a suitable opportunity to take revenge on the Philistines. Samson went to Finmatha to his bride, but on the way he was attacked by a lion. Samson tore the lion apart with his bare hands, found a swarm of bees in his stomach and fortified himself with honey. At the wedding, he asked thirty Philistines, marriage friends, a riddle: "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came sweet." Then he bet thirty shirts and thirty changes of clothes that the Philistines would not be able to find the answer.

The Philistines thought for a week, but they couldn't think of anything. Then they went to Samson's wife and frightened her by burning down the house if she did not find out the answer. The girl found out the answer from her husband and told her marriage friends, because of which Samson lost the argument.

Then he killed thirty Philistine soldiers and gave their clothes to his married friends, after which he left his wife and returned to his hometown of Zor.

According to the Philistine laws, the wife took the departure of her husband as a divorce and married one of the marriage friends. Samson, learning about this, saw another reason to take revenge. He caught three hundred foxes, divided them into pairs and tied their tails, to which he attached burning torches. Then he released the foxes into the fields of the Philistines, and they destroyed all the crops. The Philistines learned that Samson was the cause of the famine, and in retaliation they killed his wife and her father. In response to this, Samson committed another act of revenge, which led to the fact that a war broke out between the Jews and the Philistines. The Jewish envoys began to ask for mercy from the Philistines and promised to give them Samson, the instigator of the war. He was tied up and handed over to the Philistines, but in the enemy camp, thanks to divine intervention, the ropes untied by themselves. Samson again felt great strength in himself, picked up the donkey's jaw from the ground and with its help killed a thousand Philistines. In honor of this event, the area was named Ramat-Lehi, which in translation into Russian means “upland of the jaw”.

After defeating the Philistines, Samson was chosen as "the judge of the people of Israel." His reign lasted ten years. During this time, the strength did not leave the hero. For example, when the Philistines learned that Samson would spend the night in a woman's house, they locked the gates in the hope that Samson would not be able to leave the city, and they would kill the hero. But he approached the locked gate, pulled it out of the ground, carried it away with him and set it up on the mountain.

According to the prediction, Samson was born in order to save the Jewish people from the Philistines, under whose yoke the Jews were for forty years.

The most famous are two legends about Samson: about how he tore the lion apart, as well as about the hero himself and Delilah. The Philistine Delilah was the cause of Samson's death. She tried to find out how to deprive the hero of strength, but each time he hid the truth from her, saying that he would lose strength if he was tied with seven damp bowstrings or new ropes, or a cloth was stuck in his hair.

Delilah performed all these actions, but the strength did not leave the hero: he easily tore both bowstrings and ropes. Finally, Delilah was able to ferret out his secret, which Samson revealed to prove his love for her: he would lose his power if his hair was cut.

That same night, Delilah cut off his hair and called the Philistines. Samson saw the enemies, but suddenly felt that his strength had left him, and he could not do anything. The Philistines seized Samson, tied him up with ropes, blinded him, and then forced him to turn the millstones.

After some time, Samson's hair grew back, and his heroic strength returned to him. He broke the chains with which he was chained to the millstones, went to the temple where the Philistines had gathered, and brought down the pillars that supported the roof. Everyone who was in the building died, but Samson himself died under the rubble along with them.

Artists, sculptors, and architects have repeatedly turned to the legends about Samson in their work. Among them are A. Durer, J. Bologna, A. Montegni, A. Van Dyck, Rembrandt and others. The walls of the St. Gereon Church in Cologne are decorated with mosaics telling about the death of Samson. One of the fountains of Petrodvorets (a suburb of St. Petersburg) is decorated with the sculpture “Samson tearing apart the mouth of a lion”, made by M.I. Kozlovsky.

Fountain "Samson"

Samson Yakovlevich Makintsev (1776–1849) Adventurer, sergeant-major of the Russian service, who deserted to Persia. Little Russian by origin. Having entered the Persian service under the name of Samson Khan, he began to recruit Russian deserters into the ranks of the Persian troops, for which he was consistently