THE JAWBONE

OF AN ASS

We are told that Samson is to be dedicated to the Nazarites from birth. "No razor shall touch his head." His hair is not to be cut. But is Samson to be one of these "angels of vengeance"? He could have been one of these, but fate seems to have designed for him more the role of a pawn. It is through his love of "pagan women" (Philistine women, in particular) that his troubles are created.

As a young man, Samson first becomes enamoured of a Philistine girl and wishes to marry her. His parents are very much against this union and try to disuade him. But Samson, being the mighty man he was, prevailed over their wishes. They travel to Timnath to ask for the girl's hand. Samson kills a lion there and when he returns to the carcass later in the day, he sees that it is full of honey. He eats the honey and takes some to his parents to eat.

At a feast for the men of the community, Samson makes a bet with the men there that they cannot guess the answer to a riddle. They must guess the answer within seven days. If they fail to do so, they must give him "thirty sheets and thirty change of garments." If they guess it, he must give them the same. The riddle is based upon his encounter with the lion:

And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. [Ju. 14:14]

After three days, the men find themselves stumped. They go to Samson's bride and ask her to get the answer from Samson. If she doesn't, they threaten to burn down her house, along with her and her family. In the face of this threat, she goes to Samson and cries and tells him that he doesn't really love her, or he would tell her the answer to the riddle. She keeps this up for the rest of the week until Samson is vexed to the point of telling her the answer. She then goes to the men and tells them the answer.

And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than the lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. [Ju. 14:18]

Samson's wrath is kindled against the men and he goes down to Ashkelon and slays thirty other men as 'scapegoats' for the men who "plowed with" his bride. He takes the belongings of the men he kills and gives it to those who cheated him, as payment of his debt. In the meantime, the bride's father gives her away to another who was a friend of Samson's.

When Samson discovers this duplicity, he is again angered. His retribution is to gather three hundred foxes or jackals and tie fire-brands to their tails and set them loose in the grain fields, destroying all their source of grain. Commentary in Lockyear's Bible Dictionary says that evidently Samson had not learned that vengeance belonged to the Lord. But Samson was a part of the vengeance of the Lord. He was a Nazarite. And this was only the beginning.

The men of the town come and take their own vengeance on the bride and her family, burning them in their house. This is in retribution for having caused this calamity to come upon their fields. They then go and ask Samson why he has done this thing -- burning their fields. He tells them that he will have his vengeance on them for what they've done and he proceeds to slaughter them. After this, he goes into Judah and dwells on a mountain called Etam.

Those who are left pursue him into Judah, to capture him. When the men of Judah ask them why they have come, they tell them it is to bind Samson and take him back for punishment. They talk the men of Judah into going and getting him and bringing him to them.

The Judeans approach Samson and tell him why they are there. He makes them swear that they themselves will not harm him. They tell him that they will not and bind him with two new cords, then take him to the Philistines. The Philistines take him to Lehi, which means "jawbone." The ropes that bind his arms "melt like flax burned in a fire" and he breaks free from his bonds, snatching up the jawbone of a dead ass and slaying a thousand Philistines with it.

The story of him killing a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass is of particular interest. Can we take this literally? Perhaps, if we stretch our imaginations. There are many legends and mythic characters who are connected with the donkey or ass. In late Roman times, to call someone a donkey or an ass was to call him a fool -- much as it is today. Clearly, Samson has been a fool. But this doesn't tell us anything about the sigificance of killing a whole lot of people with a donkey's jawbone. In Samson's day, the most well-known figure associated with a donkey was the supposedly 'ass-eared' Egyptian god Set. (Baal Peor did not appear until sometime later.)

The later incarnation of the Nazarites, the Nasoreans were known to be Gnostics. The Gnostics considered themselves the Children of Seth, Adam's oldest son. Adam was taught all the secrets of heaven and earth by the angel Raziel. Adam, in turn, taught all these things to his son Seth. These wisdoms can be found in a book called Sepher Raziel Ha'malech - The Book of the Angel Raziel. This book contains not only instructions in astrology, the elements, and the secret names of God (to name a few of the many subjects covered) ... it also contains many spells, ciphers and magical diagrams. It is a grimoire of sorts. The practice of magic is forbidden by the Torah, the Bible and the Koran, yet Moses and Aaron, Abraham and Mohammed all were portrayed to have practiced magic. So too did the later prophets and that "angel of the Lord" that announced Samson's birth.

Set is also called Seth, and the priests of Set were known to be magicians of great and dark powers. When one thinks of a jawbone, the idea of talking - or 'flapping' one's jaw comes to mind. Could it be then that Samson actually uttered spells he knew from the Setian based wisdoms of the Nazarites to slay a thousand men? No one can answer that for certain, but it is something to contemplate.

 

SAMSON AND DELILAH