Throughout these histories of the Old Testament the Israelites are constantly doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord. I find it so interesting that they are constantly being punished and constantly screwing up; not living by the law. You'd think after a while they'd understand, however a lot of these punishments that are written as the Lord's doing were historic events that the people probably blamed on the Lord to explain them.
The next part of the story is Manoah's wife telling him that an angel of God told her "You shall conceive and bear a son" and informed her not to drink or eat anything unclean. Her child shall be a nazirite to God. Manoah offers a grain offering in front of the angel and Manoah and his wife watch as the angel ascends in the flame. This mirrors the burning bush that Moses saw in the book of Exodus. They named their son Samson.
Samson is this extremely strong character who in the vineyards of Timnah tore a lion apart barehanded. This reminds me of the image found on the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck in the Major Arcana as the Strength card.
Samson eventually falls in love with Delilah; a woman in the valley of Sorek. The lords of the Philistines force her to tell them what makes Samson weak. She asks Samson repeatedly what makes him weak and he tells her repeatedly lies. What's interesting is that with each lie she believes it and tells the Philistines but then warns Samson when they are upon them. I find this very conflicting. Finally Samson tells Delilah that if his head were to be shaven he'd be able to be taken.
"She let him fall asleep on her lap; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken, and his strength left him." (Judges 16:19)
This passage is touching and disturbing. There is little known about Delilah's intentions or why Samson so freely gives up the information. The Philistines do capture him and but he eventually destroys them and himself by knocking down two pillars of their house.
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