Samson's shadow men

From the description of his behavior and actions, an image of a sophisticated, balanced and settled person is drawn, who plans his actions several steps ahead. He was by no means an individualist. He knew how to use people very resourcefully and intelligently

Mazar Haim

introduction

The story of Samson's life reveals that he was a man of great power, a womanizer, impulsive and individualistic. In everything he did, there was no one who stood by him. The story of the foxes, the story of the doors of the city gate and the story of the pillars, raise doubts about his individualistic activity. From the analysis of these stories, a figure of a sophisticated man is drawn who knew how to consider his actions, plan and activate people.

The story of the foxes
In chapter XNUMX verses XNUMX it is said: "And Samson said to them, I am rid of the Philistines this time because I am doing evil with them, and Samson went and captured three very foxes and took torches and put them tail to tail and put one torch between the two tails in the middle, and kindled fire with the torches and sent the Philistines standing and killed From Gish to Kama to Kerem Zeit." A detailed description is given here of the measure taken by Samson to take revenge for the fact that his wife's father did not give him control. The revenge that Samson aimed for had to be quick, otherwise it would have lost its effectiveness. Capturing such a large number of foxes in a short time cannot be done by one person. This requires a number of skilled people who know the ways of behavior of foxes and their area of ​​operation. They need to know where to lay traps and be especially patient, wait hours until they notice the foxes and catch them immediately after they are caught in the traps. To maintain the element of surprise, Samson released all the foxes at the same time, which meant that the foxes had to be hidden in a hiding place. This place should be big enough to hold three very foxes. This place must also be well camouflaged in order not to be discovered by the Philistines. For this, professionals are needed to set up a pen for the foxes and until they are released, they must be fed. It is impossible to keep animals even for a few days without feeding them. Since the moment of their release has arrived, it is not possible for one person to tie their tails, attach torches to them and direct them towards the target fields in a short time. A team of workers is also required here. In order for the revenge that Samson sought to be effective, it needs to be done in complete secrecy. From this the conclusion is required that Samson had a group of loyal activists who helped him in the whole of the operations, from the moment the idea of ​​the foxes was practiced until its realization.

The story of the city gate doors
In chapter XNUMX verses XNUMX-XNUMX it is said: "And Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and came to her. The people of Gaza said that Samson came here, and they turned around and ambushed him every night at the city gate, and they happened all night until morning, and we killed him, and Samson lay down until midnight, and got up in the middle of the night, and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two gates. ". This is a missing story since there is a beginning here - the visit to the prostitute and the ambush they prepare for him, and the end - the uprooting of the doors and their transfer to Hebron. The middle is missing here. An ambush is being prepared for Samson and there is no reference to any action on the part of the ambushers to capture him. What is clear is that the ambushes failed, but why did they fail?
From the entirety of the description of Samson's exploits, it can be seen that he visited many Philistine cities and that they did not like him, to put it mildly. These frequent visits to the Philistines, which were actually pleasure visits to the women he desired, Samson could not do with his body. Any such visit would invite a gathering of Philistines to attempt to assassinate him. Even if Samson had used a disguise during his visits to the Philistine city, he would have been accompanied by a group of people meant to keep him safe. Samson was aware that they would try to assassinate him. He planned the routes of his movement in the Gaza cities, while placing his men in suitable places so that they could react quickly, in case they tried to attack him. This was probably also the case during his visit to the prostitute. Before his visit to the prostitute, his men mingled among the crowd, including among the group of lurkers. Most likely Samson coordinated with his men when he left the harlot's house. Until the end of his visit to her, his men made sure to eliminate the lurkers.

Only after that, when Samson's safety was assured, were the city gates removed. Removing doors at night must be done in complete silence so as not to arouse the suspicion of the sentries on the city walls, which requires an extremely high technical skill. One must be well acquainted with the construction of city gates, the ways of connecting the doors to the walls, and the places where holes are drilled in the wall and nails or hinges of the doors are inserted into them. While the displacement operation is being carried out, the place is bustling with activity, which may arouse the suspicion of the sentries. It should also be taken into account that guards would walk inside the walls during the night, in addition to the sentries on the walls. Even if Samson's men manage to dislodge the gates of the gate without arousing a shadow of suspicion, since the doors were removed from their place, a large hole opened in the gate that could have aroused the suspicion of those guards. The inevitable result would have resulted in the recruitment of warriors who were most likely always on standby in case of an invasion and who would have eliminated Samson's men and Samson himself. From this set of reasons, a conclusion is required that Samson's men were involved not only among the ambushers but also among the sentries and guards who patrolled inside the walls. These ensured the displacement of the city gates. It becomes clear then that the displacement of the forest doors required complex action planning, strict and precise planning, and knowledge of the ways of behavior of the sentries and patrollers, including the shift change time.

According to a rough estimate, this action required the involvement of dozens of people who ensured the removal of the doors and the safe exit of Samson and his men from the city.
The doors of the city must have weighed hundreds of kilograms, perhaps between 200-300 kg. It is hard to believe that a person, however strong, can carry such a heavy load on his back alone. Most likely it was Samson's men who put the doors on his back. The scripture tells us that Samson went from the city to Hebron with the doors on his back. Is it really possible to travel tens of kilometers with such a heavy load on your back? It is likely that the doors were hidden in a hiding place not far from the city. It is impossible to walk with your back straight with a heavy load and at the same time defend yourself against potential attackers, what's more, walking back then was slow. If the Philistines found out what Samson was doing to them, they would send a group of warriors to capture him. Therefore, it must be assumed that while moving the doors, Samson was secured from all sides by his men and their pace was adjusted to his pace.

The story of the pillars
In chapter XNUMX, verse XNUMX, it is said: And Samson said to the boy holding his hand, "Put me down, and let me lean on the pillars on which the house rests, and rest on them." One in our days and one in his left, and Samson said, My soul shall die with the Philistines. With great force the house fell on the axles and on all the people who were in it, and they were dead

who killed more in his death than he killed in his life". From the description given in these verses it is possible to learn about the method of construction in temples and possibly other buildings among the Philistines. Can a building only rest on two pillars? Probably not. It seems that there were additional pillars, but the pillars were in the center of the building. The buildings were erected in a symmetrical format so that to the right and left of the center point between these columns, there was an equal number of columns and at equal distances from each other. The scripture says that Samson leaned on them one on the right and one on the left, which means that the distance between the pillars was small. Since Samson pushed the pillars and exerted his full strength on them, it is clear that he had to extend his hands for this, which means that the distance between pillar to pillar was about 1.5 meters.

After gouging out his eyes, it seemed to the Philistines that Samson had become impersonal. What can a blind person do? There is no doubt that Samson was severely traumatized following his terrible abuse. It took him a while to get used to the new situation. In verse XNUMX it is said about the Philistines "And it happened that their hearts were kind and they said, call Samson and he will play for us." And they called Samson from the house of prisoners, and Isaac was before them, and they placed him between the pillars." Samson played their game. His request to the boy holding his hand that they lead him to the pillars, it seems that despite what he went through, his mind was clear. He knew exactly what he wanted and with a determined thought he actually went to take his personal revenge and lose his life as a result.

Pushing down pillars is an act that no man, however strong, can do alone. How then did Samson do it? Even though Samson was a prisoner of the Philistines he kept in touch with his men and when he came to his senses he began to plan his actions. He created a false impression with his captors that he was playing their game and that he was no longer a risk for them. It was easy for his men to visit him and they came to him in Philistine disguise in order to further reduce their supervision over him. From his past visits to the city, Samson got to know the building style of the Philistines and the mechanical weaknesses of these buildings. During his visits to his people, he gave instructions on how to sabotage the foundations of the temple, so that exerting even minimal force on the pillars would cause them to fall and, in their wake, more pillars to fall and the entire temple to collapse. The Philistines did indeed hurt Samson, but they did not know his way of thinking. To them it seemed that he was endowed with divine powers. From the story of the pillars we can also learn that Samson was gifted with an excellent photographic memory.

Summary
From the first impression obtained from the story of Samson's life, it appears that this is a charismatic man who knew how to work his charms on many women, a man of unusual physical strength who used his full strength at every opportunity that came his way. From a careful study of what is said and what is implied from the description of his behavior and actions, a picture of a sophisticated, balanced and settled person is drawn, who plans his actions several steps ahead. He was by no means an individualist. He knew how to use people very resourcefully and intelligently. To refer to Samson as an impulsive person would be incorrect and inappropriate.