Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

David J. Zucker, Aurora, Colorado, USA

Abstract

Samson’s mother is nameless in the Hebrew Bible. Little is said about her as a person. Roughly two millennia ago, in three sources of Rewritten Bibles her character is fleshed out, she becomes much more of a real figure. This article addresses specific verses pertaining to her in Judges 13 showing how they were recast in three pieces of literature from the Late Second Temple period and beyond. The three works are Josephus’ Judean Antiquities; Biblical Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo – Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]); and the homiletic discourse, Pseudo-Philo’s “On Samson.”

Key Words: Biblical Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo – Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]); Josephus’ Judean Antiquities; Judges 13; Ms. Manoah/Eluma; Pseudo-Philo’s “On Samson.”

Although anonymized in the biblical book of Judges, Samson’s mother increasingly is a person of interest in a number of writings created in the Late Second Temple period and after, i.e. the centuries around the time of the turning of the millennium two thousand years ago, about 200 BCE-200 CE and beyond. She becomes romanticized and idealized; she becomes more prominent and empowered in these works. Referring to specific verses which address her in Judges 13, this article shows how in three later texts a new picture of this woman emerges. The three sources under consideration are: Flavius Josephus’ Judean Antiquities (also known as the Antiquities of the Jews); a Pseudepigraphic work titled Biblical Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo – Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]) and a third source, the homiletic Pseudepigraphic work, Pseudo-Philo “On Samson.” All three of these texts come under the rubric, Rewritten Bible or Rewritten Scripture. Before considering the verses in Judges, some words about the concept of Rewritten Bible and then something about the three texts themselves. Broadly speaking, the term Rewritten Bible refers to “literature written in the Second Temple period [or beyond] that either expands biblical stories, retells biblical stories, or uses biblical stories as platforms to write new texts.”1 To place this in some kind of context, one has to realize that the Masoretic Text (MT), the Hebrew Bible as known

1

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

today, is a product of the late first century CE. Emanuel Tov explains that before “that period, only the proto-rabbinic (Pharisaic) movement made use of MT, while other streams in Judaism used different Hebrew textual traditions. In other words, before the first century of the Common Era, readers witness a textual plurality among Jews, with multiple text forms conceived of as ‘the Bible,’ or Scripture, including the Hebrew source upon which the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (LXX), was built.”2 Josephus’ Judean Antiquities The purpose of Josephus’ Judean Antiquities (Antiquities of the Jews) as he explains in the work known as Against Apion, is to correct non-Jewish ignorance about Jewish history. Josephus’ motives may well have been apologetic since the Jews had been accused of being misanthropic and of having failed to produce marvelous men (AgAp 2.12 §135).3 Composed c. 90 CE, in sections 5: 276-285 of Judean Antiquities, Josephus writes about the birth of Samson. Quite unexpectedly, Josephus has positive things to say about Manoah’s wife. More commonly, explains Louis H. Feldman, in “the Antiquities Josephus has a number of sneers directed against women,” and Josephus’ attitude tends to be “misogynistic.”4 It is difficult to know if this was true misogyny or whether he was living in and reflecting a culture which was both patriarchal and androcentric. In any case Josephus often “downplays the role of women”5 although this tendency is not apparent in his comments about Samson’s mother. In his Judean Antiquities in order to make his narrative more appealing, Josephus introduces romantic motifs reminiscent of Homer, Herodotus, Xenophon, and Hellenistic novels.6 Biblical Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo – Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]) Biblical Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo – Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]) – hereafter abbreviated to Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) – was likely composed somewhere between the Roman Army’s destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, and 150 CE. Falsely attributed to Philo of Alexandria (25 BCE-50 CE), it is “an example of a genre known as rewritten Bible. The author reviews the biblical narrative from Adam to David, adding, subtracting, embellishing,

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

and revising.”7 [Note: Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) is not to be confused with another Pseudepigraphic work, Pseudo-Philo “On Samson” as is explained in that section below.] Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.), similar to the book of Jubilees which probably dates from the early 2nd century BCE, is the most extensive rewritten Bible of the ancient world. Jubilees covers material found in the book of Genesis and early Exodus. Both of these sources offer very different views when compared to the Masoretic Text. Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) weaves the biblical text – whichever version(s) the author was using – with its own interpretation of these narratives.8 Unlike the Bible, where verses are often but a sentence in length, verses in Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) are often a paragraph in length, containing many sentences. Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” also is falsely ascribed to Philo of Alexandria. His authorship of this extended homily is unlikely. Scholars suggest that Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” was written somewhere in between the period of early 2nd century BCE and about the 4th century CE. The Septuagint (LXX) is the underlying biblical text for this work. The “approaches of Philo and Pseudo-Philo to the biblical text are quite different. Philo sequentially cites short biblical passages and gives their literal or allegorical interpretation (or both), whereas Pseudo-Philo has composed rhetorically embellished literary versions of biblical stories.”9 Pseudo-Philo “On Samson” is Hellenistic. The reader can immediately see the difference between this work and Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.). “On Samson” similar to Josephus is presented from the view of the omniscient narrator who describes what is taking place in the voice of the third person. The author offers his portrayal of events and then periodically presents an evaluation of what has happened. For example, the author asks rhetorically why was it that in the case of Abraham and Sarah that it was Abraham who first learned about the birth of a child, and in this case as one shall see that it is the wife who learns first? He answers his own question with “For there the husband was readier than the wife to believe the annunciation, while here Manoah’s wife was readier to believe” (Chapter 7, verse 3). In total, Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” contains forty-six short chapters.

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

Rewriting Judges: Introducing Manoah’s Wife 2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren, having borne no children. (Judges 13:2).

In Judges Manoah’s wife, the woman who will become Samson’s mother, is nameless. Initially she is but an adjunct to her named husband Manoah. It is the “exclusive quality of infertility—the sense that it is the only aspect of [this woman] that is worth mentioning”10 which stands out in verse 2. Manoah lives in Zorah, and is a Danite. Similar to the first notation of Abraham’s wife Sarah [Abram/Sarai] toward the end of the eleventh chapter in Genesis, here too one initially learns of her husband’s name, and then that his wife was “aqarah.” The same word is utilized in both accounts, in Genesis and Judges. This word often is mistranslated as “barren” or “sterile” and then comes the clarification, at least up to that point, that she was without issue. (If she actually was infertile/barren/sterile, she would be incapable of having children. What aqarah means in these contexts is that to date she has not yet given birth to a child.)11 Josephus’ Judean Antiquities Josephus introduces Manoah and then explains that he “had a wife who was notable for her beauty and who stood out among the women of her time.” (5.276). Further it is stated that Manoah “was madly in love with his wife and therefore immoderately jealous of her.” (5.277). The text states that because of not “having children and being distressed at his childlessness…[Manoah] kept begging God to give them legitimate offspring.” (5.276). Like Judges, the woman who will become Samson’s mother is unnamed. Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) Samson’s mother is addressed in chapter 42, and in the first verse of chapter 43. The reader is immediately aware how this text differs from the book of Judges. The first verse of chapter 42 gives additional information about Manoah’s ancestry, but then more to the point, his wife is actually named and one learns about their domestic situation. “Manoah…had a wife whose name was Eluma, the daughter of Remac, and she was sterile and did not bear children to him.” That same verse continues, “Every day Manoah her husband would say to her, ‘Behold the LORD has Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Volume 15 Number 2 (2018) 4 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2019 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor

Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

shut up your womb so that you cannot bear children.’” She then would retort, “It is not me whom the LORD has shut up that I may not bear children, but you, so that I do not bear offspring.” (42.1). Furthermore, they “quarreled daily and both were very sad, because they had no offspring.” (42.2). Manoah seeks Eluma’s consent to take on another wife so that he will not die childless. Manoah’s assumption as in other biblical texts is that she is at fault. This contrasts with what is a modern perspective, that he might have a low sperm count or some other reason that he may be the cause of their childlessness. Not only does Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) provide a name and a genealogy for Manoah’s wife, and add some important dialog, but at this point Eluma takes charge of the situation. She goes to the upper chambers of their home and prays to God. (Judges does not mention this; Josephus has Manoah “begging” God for offspring.) She enquires from God; she desires to know who is responsible, is it she or is it Manoah, or are they both incapable of producing children? Eluma prays, Behold LORD God of all flesh, reveal to me whether it has not been granted to my husband or to me to produce children, to whom it has been forbidden and to whom it has been allowed to bear offspring, in order that the one who is forbidden may sigh over his sins because he remains without offspring. Or if both of us have been deprived, reveal this to us also so that we might bear our guilt and be silent before you. (42.2).

She indicates that it is preferable to know who is responsible, so that he/she/they can accept that fact, and then move on with their lives. These details which reflect the inner thoughts of Eluma, and her taking direct action do not appear in Judges. They appear only in the Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) text which describes a deeply thoughtful person, someone who is willing to learn that she herself is at fault. Eluma’s willingness to face facts that could be personally painful shows her to be a woman of great inner strength. Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” Manoah’s wife in Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” as in Judges is again anonymized. Her appearance is even postponed until chapter 5. The text addresses their childless state in very flowery and ornate language:

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

“Samson’s parents, having lived with each other for a long time and having sought a fruit for their union did not find it. For the soil of the woman’s field turned out to be sterile and was perplexed: receiving the seed it did not grow a fruit.” (5.1-2). The text continues pointing out the need for divine intervention. “Just as the dryness and infertility of this earth needs the visitation of God and a flow of waters over it, likewise when a woman’s soil rejects her fruit, she is in need of the divine spring and grace.” (5.3).

Rewriting Judges: Confronting the Angel

3And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are barren, having borne no children, you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, or to eat anything unclean, 5 for you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor is to come on his head, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth. It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” (Judges 13:3-5).

This annunciation is a familiar type-scene.12 “The announcement of conception to a previously barren woman is something we have encountered many times before in Genesis, where it always signifies the birth of a hero, but it receives its most elaborate treatment here” in Judges, explains Everett Fox.13 Previous examples include Hagar and Sarah. Uriel Simon refers to miraculous survival stories as a literary genre which has “three fundamental components—affliction, miracle, and destiny—”14 Coincidentally, on many occasions, although not in Judges or Josephus, the Bible adds the explanation that God closes or opens wombs (Gen 11:30; 16:1-2; 20:18; 29:31; 30:2, 22; 1 Sam 1:5-6; Isa 66:9). In Judges 13:3 the action immediately focuses on her. An angel of YHWH, unexpectedly and unannounced appears to Manoah’s wife and confirms that she is childless, but that she will give birth to a son. Further, she is given instructions that she is to refrain from intoxicants and from eating anything unclean. Her son is to be a Nazirite to God; no razor is to touch his head. In addition, she is told that her son “shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines” (vs. 5). The contemporary scholar Susan Niditch takes note of the words “you shall conceive (v’harit) and bear a son.” She explains that the verb v’harit should be translated that she is already pregnant.15 6Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name; 7 but he said to me, ‘You shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.’” (Judges 13:6-7).

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

In vss. 6 and 7 the woman remains fairly passive. After she receives this message and the angel departs, she simply goes to her husband and tells him that she has had a visitation from a man of God. She further clarifies that he looks like “an angel of God, most awe-inspiring” but she does not explain what that means to her. She adds that she had not inquired where he was from, nor did the man of God tell her his name. Thus vs. 6; in vs. 7 she paraphrases what the man of God said to her. Manoah neither affirms her statements, nor does he question her further. Instead Manoah implores YHWH to send the messenger again, that they both can know what to do (“Let the man…teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born” (vs. 8). God agrees to this request, and the angel of God reappears to Manoah’s wife. 9… the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” (Judges 13:9-10).

The text is very clear on this point: she again is alone by herself in the field (vs. 9). No dialogue takes place; instead she actively “ran quickly and told her husband” (vs. 10). She explains that the man has reappeared and together they go to the field and Manoah ascertains that this is the same man who had come previously. Josephus’ Judean Antiquities As in Judges, in Josephus’ Judean Antiquities one day when she “had been left alone…a specter, an angel of God,” once again unannounced, brings her news of a forthcoming son. This son is not to have his hair cut, and he is only to drink water. The angel then departs. In Josephus’ rendition, when Manoah arrives, his wife tells him about her unexpected visitation. She stresses the “the young man’s beauty and height so that her husband, in his jealousy, was driven to distraction” (5.279). Perhaps, thinking that she has overstepped the mark, the wife then begs God to send the angel back so that her husband may see him directly. The angel does reappear, but again she is alone. In Josephus’ telling, the woman “asked him [the angel] to remain until she fetched her husband, and upon his assent she sought Manoah” (5.280).

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) 42.3 commences by noting that God heard her voice, for the next morning God sends an angel to her when she is by herself outside of their home. Unlike the texts in Judges, Josephus, and Pseudo- Philo “On Samson” where her visitor is described as an angel, in Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) there is no description of his physical appearance. The angel tells Eluma that she is the cause, she is sterile. “You are the sterile one who does not bring forth, you are the womb that is forbidden to bear offspring. But now the LORD has heard your voice and seen your tears and opened your womb. Behold you will conceive and bear a son, and you will call him Samson.” (42.3)

Further the boy is to be a Nazirite. The child is not to eat any fruit of the vine or other unclean things, but unlike Judges there are no food restrictions for her. In 42.4, after the angel departs. Eluma goes into their home and explains to Manoah much of what the angel told her. She does not comment on the angel’s appearance. Again, this is totally at variance with the account in Judges. In Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) she takes full responsibility for her mistake in thinking it was her husband who was at fault. She says: “Behold, I put my hand over my mouth, and I will be silent before you always because I boasted in vain and did not believe your words. For the angel of the LORD came to me today and informed me, saying, ‘Eluma, you are sterile, but you will conceive and bear a son.’”16

Eluma’s willingness to bow to the report of the angel, as well as her statement that she now will be silent, characterizes her as purposeful, courageous, and admirable.17 At this point in Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) Manoah goes to the upper chambers in his house and there he prays to God. At that same moment, even while he is at home, the angel appears again to Eluma. Similar to the reports in Judges, Josephus’ Judean Antiquities and Pseudo-Philo “On Samson” she is alone – here again in a field – but in this telling of the story it is the angel who instructs her to get her spouse. The angel specifically says, “Run and summon your husband, for God has deemed him worthy to hear my voice” (42:6).

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” In Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” the text takes note that “when a woman’s soil rejects her fruit, she is in need of the divine spring and grace.” (5.3). The next chapter then begins with an explanation that the “philanthropic God…dispatched an angel as if a bringer of good news to annunciate [the birth] of a child to the barren woman.” (6.1) The text then continues with a long discourse about childbirth and childrearing. Chapter 8 “annunciated the good news to the woman and…ordered her to be aware of drunkenness...” (8.1). When the husband returns, the nameless wife tells him about God’s visit and the vision of the angel. She explains that she did not know who appeared to her, or where that person lived. Her remarks are vaguely based on the parallel part in Judges. She then expands at length about the angel, and in ornate language she describes his “venerable dignity…[his] angelic image with a shining and majestic countenance.” (8.3). She enthuses about the visitor’s “grandeur…[he was] like a citizen of heaven, as if wearing the rays of a luminary.” (8.5). When on the second occasion she sees the angel in the field, she not only runs to Manoah, but she also borrows “some speed from the…angel and adding it to her own run, the woman raced with a bird’s swiftness and reached her husband.” (9.4). Rewriting Judges: Pyrotechnics

19So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to him who works wonders. 20 When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.21 The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”23 But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.”24 The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. (Judges 13:19-24).

Towards the close of Judges, the text is unambiguous. His wife had specifically told Manoah that she had had a visitation from a man of God, and that the visitor’s “appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring.” Nonetheless, “Manoah did not know that he was the angel of YHWH” (vs. 16). When in the presence of the divine visitor Manoah and his wife offer up a

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

sacrifice, the angel ascends in the flames. Shocked, Manoah and his wife fling themselves to the earth. Manoah finally understands that he has, indeed they both have been visited by a representative of God. He says to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” (vs. 22). Manoah’s wife is more grounded and sensible than he. Fully taking charge of the situation, she contradicts him, arguing logically that for multiple reasons he is wrong. God accepted the burnt offering, God accepted the meal offering, and God let them see all these things. Further, in the first place God had made the announcement to them that they would have a child. Manoah does not respond to her. The very next line focuses on her, not on her husband. It relates that the “The woman bore a son, and [she] named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him” (vs. 24). Josephus’ Judean Antiquities Towards the end of this passage in the Josephus account, Manoah tells his wife to roast a kid which he has killed. As in Judges, following the fiery sacrifice and the angel’s final disappearance, Manoah expresses his fears that they will die. As in the account in Judges, Manoah’s wife calms his concerns. He “was encouraged by his wife: it was for their benefit that God had been seen by them.” (5.284). In a notable change from the biblical version where Manoah’s wife alone names her son, in Judean Antiquities both persons give Samson his name. When the “child was born, they called him Samson, a name that means ‘strong.’” (5.285). This etiological explanation connects directly with what the angel had told her, that her son “would be handsome and famous for his strength.” (5.277). Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) In 42.9 Manoah builds an altar and offers a sacrifice and burnt offering. The angel ascends in a flame of fire. Chapter 42:10 describes Manoah and Eluma both falling “on their faces and [saying], ‘We will die because we have seen the LORD face to face.’” In contrast to the accounts in Judges, Josephus, and Pseudo-Philo “On Samson,” here the wife offers no comments of comfort or

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

explanation. In the first verse of chapter 43 Eluma gives birth to Samson. Just as in Judges, there is no etiological explanation for his name. Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” In Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” chapter 17, as in the biblical text and as in Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) the woman is not directly involved in the preparations for the sacrifice. This contrasts with the Josephus’ version where she is involved. When the angel ascends, Manoah is fearful, but she consoles him and calms him down. Even as he is disparaged, she is praised. As the text explains, a “new wonder could be seen: how the husband was full of fear, while the wife of courage” (28.7). There is no etiological explanation for Samson’s name. Some Observations About the Character of Samson’s Mother: Judges In the opening verses of Judges 13, Manoah’s wife is nameless in contrast to the genealogical and geographical details about her husband. Further she is dismissed as being barren and childless (vs. 2). When unexpectedly an angel appears before her, she passively listens to what he has to say. She does not respond to him, nor to his comments to her. Instead she simply goes and tells her husband. She admits that her visitor’s visage frightened her, and that she did not enquire from where he came, nor did the angel tell her. She neglects to relate to her husband that her future child is not to have his hair cut, nor that he “shall be the first to deliver Israel from the Philistines,” words that she had heard from the man of God. Following the second visitation, however, she becomes energized. She moves from a passive to an active participant in this drama. While she had been sitting alone in a nearby field, in response to this sudden reappearance “the woman ran in haste to tell her husband” (vs. 10). Manoah too appears to be affected by her reaction, for he “promptly followed his wife” (vs. 11). Both husband and wife are at the sacrificial site and they both see the angel ascend. Equally frightened “they fell on their faces to the ground” (vs. 20). Yet, when Manoah overcome with his fear suggests that they are bound to die, it is his wife who contradicts this view. She logically points out that had God wanted them to die, that the deity

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

would not have accepted the offering nor made the announcement to them about their future son. Finally, she is the one who names their son (vs. 24). A number of contemporary scholars take note of the role of Manoah’s wife, Samson’s mother. They address how crucial she is to this narrative. Susan Niditch writes that “Manoah’s wife is shown to be worthy of divine information, more worthy than her dolt of a husband.” Niditch continues, “ As in many traditional cultures, the empowerment of women takes place within the system and is imagined within stereotypical roles.” She adds that the narrative “serves to portray Manoah as outside the loop. God and women deal with matters of birth and the hero-son’s future, as in other biblical annunciations.”18 Adele Reinhartz argues that despite her anonymity, Samson’s mother comes into her own as an important figure. She suggests that “contrary to what might be expected, anonymity in this case does not subordinate the woman to the male characters, but rather serves to underscore her centrality to the narrative as well as her affinities with the anonymous angel.”19 Yair Zakovitch likewise points out that the “wife of Manoah stands in the center of the story—not Manoah, her husband, but her”20 She is “the dominant figure in the story.”21 Uriel Simon observes that in “stories of miraculous births…there is frequently an element of the superior wisdom of the wife and mother, who is not only wiser than the male protagonist but even manages to persuade him of the rightness of her path and gets him to follow her.”22 Finally, Tammi J. Schneider points out that in Judges, the divine “messenger sought out Samson’s mother specifically…she was the one who had been singled out…[for] the messenger only spoke to the father Manoah as a last act, primarily for the mother’s sake.” She goes on to point out that when she is visited for a second time, that her husband was not with her, which “reemphasizes the role of the woman, showing that her messages should be trusted (Judges 13:9).”23 Josephus’ Judean Antiquities

In Josephus’ rendition of this tale, while she remains anonymous, he tells us that she is notable for her beauty, and that her husband is inordinately jealous. Still beauty or not, initially she is fairly passive. Unlike in the book of Judges where the wife goes to tell her husband, in Josephus she

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

waits until her husband comes home to tell him about the visitation. It is at this point that she takes on a more active role. Manoah’s wife tells her husband what the angel had said. She then goes on to speak about the “young man’s beauty and height so that her husband, in his jealousy, was driven to distraction” and he was filled with suspicion. (5.279). Seeing that she has gone too far, she keenly “kept begging God to send the angel again” so that her husband’s irrational grief might subside. (5.280). She is alone when the angel does reappear, and in Josephus’ account, she proactively asks the angel to remain while she fetches her spouse. (5.280). When Manoah kills the sacrificial animal, she involves herself by roasting it, and together, they set out loaves and the meat upon the sacrificial site. At the close of this event, it is she again who encourages her husband. At the birth of their son, they both name him. Biblical Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo – Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum [L.A.B.]) In Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) while the author gives her a name, Eluma, daughter of Remac, here again she is childless, and initially passive. Nonetheless, this soon changes. As Manoah complains to her about her inability to produce a child, she is quick to respond. She says to him that YHWH “has shut up…you, so that I do not bear offspring” (42.1). Given the biblical predilection to assume that the wife was responsible (God had “shut her womb” is the language often used), Eluma’s retort to her husband is unexpected and is far from the response of a docile and quiet character. Next it is she who actively goes to the upper chamber and seeks God’s response in order to know who has been forbidden and who allowed to bear offspring (42.2). When the next day she finds out from the angel that she is the responsible party, she immediately goes to her husband and claims this knowledge. She admits that she has boasted in vain, and likewise she says, “I put my hand over my mouth, and I will be silent” (42.4). When the angel reappears to her, as in Judges she runs to tell Manoah. She is present at the sacrifice and she too in fright falls on her face. In 43.1 it is Eluma who “called his name Samson.” Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.) differs from the biblical account in many ways: it offers a name and a genealogical connection for Manoah’s wife; it provides vital information about their difficult

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

domestic situation. She is much more verbal in this version, but she does not comment following the angel’s ascension. Eluma is an admirable, strong-willed, courageous figure. Like in Judges while there are some narrative explanations, the characters engage in dialog. Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” In Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” the woman is praised for both her “willingness” (11.1) and her “awareness” (12.1). While there are occasions where words are put into the mouth of Manoah’s wife, these are limited and do not match up with the MT’s version. “On Samson” often commends and compliments Manoah’s wife for her insights as opposed to Manoah’s greater obtuseness about the angel’s true identity. In Pseudo-Philo, “On Samson” the anonymous author describes in allegorical terms the condition of the unnamed wife. “For the soil of the woman’s field turned out to be sterile.” It is compared to “the dryness and infertility of the earth” (5.2, 3). When the angel speaks to her, she remains passive for instead of going to tell her husband, she waited until “her husband came back” and then she “told him about the visit of God and the vision of the angel.” She also docilely says “she did not know who had appeared to her and in what place he lived.” She does note that her visitor “looked like a man of God…like a citizen of heaven” (8.2, 5). Finally, she moves from her passivity to take on a more active role. Upon the angel’s second visitation, again when she is alone in a nearby field, she went to tell her husband, and “borrowing some speed from the…angel and adding it to her own run, the woman raced with a bird’s swiftness and reached her husband” (9.4). As in Judges, when the angel ascends in the flame, Manoah is nearly frightened to death; she however actively dispels his fears. As the narrator explains, “the husband was full of fear, while the wife of courage” (18.7). In the fullness of time, she gives birth to Samson. In the initial telling of Judges 13 – the events leading up to and then the birth of Samson – and then in its retelling in late Second Temple times and a bit thereafter, there are noticeable internal changes in the presentation of the one female character in the narrative. On a fairly consistent basis the identified wife of Manoah, the woman who is to become Samson’s mother, moves from the shadows to the limelight. She is romanticized and idealized. In the Bible, men are ten times more

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

likely to be named than women. There are named women who take active roles (such as Sarah, Hagar, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Tamar, Jochebed, Miriam, Deborah, Yael, Naomi, Ruth, Abigail, Huldah, Vashti, and Esther) but many, many more women are presented as simply being there, passive participants in the biblical drama. The figure of Manoah’s wife/Samson’s mother in Judges and in these other narratives, initially is portrayed in such a passive role. Then, as events unfold, she takes on authority and actively moves the drama along, in several cases being shown to be the stronger, the more courageous member of this family. She begins in the shadows and then moves out from there, becoming a resilient, active, spirited, and powerful figure in her own right.

1 Malka Z. Simkovich. Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society/Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2018), 279. As Simkovich points out the terms Rewritten Bible/Scripture are somewhat controversial, see 221-222.

2 Emanuel Tov, “The Bible and the Masoretic Text,” The (Proto-)Masoretic Text: A Ten-Part Series, (2017). TheTorah.com. http://thetorah.com/proto-masoretic-text

3 Louis H. Feldman. Josephus (Person). In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 3). (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 988.

4 Louis H. Feldman. Josephus’s Interpretation of the Bible. (Berkeley: University of California, 1998), 190, 191. For further explanations about Josephus’ misogyny see p. 191, and also where (in reference to his treatment of Deborah), Feldman refers to “Josephus’ notorious misogyny.” Louis H. Feldman. Studies in Josephus’s Rewritten Bible. (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 160.

5 Silvia Castelli, “Deborah,” In Outside the Bible: Ancient Writings Related to Scripture, Vol. 2. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, (Eds.) (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 1236.

6 Feldman, Josephus (Person), 988.

7 Howard Jacobson, “Pseudo-Philo, Book of Biblical Antiquities.” In Outside the Bible: Ancient Writings Related to Scripture, Vol. 1. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, (Eds.) (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 470. D. J. Harrington favors an earlier date for its composition, “Pseudo-Philo.” In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2. James H. Charlesworth, (Ed.), (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985), 299. The translation used here is by Howard Jacobson, A Commentary on Pseudo-Philo’s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum. 1996.

8 Harrington, “Pseudo-Philo,” 301.

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

9 Gohar Muradyan and Aram Topchyan, “Pseudo-Philo, On Samson and On Jonah.” In Outside the Bible: Ancient Writings Related to Scripture, Vol. 1. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, (Eds.) (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 750. Translation by Gohar Muradyan and Aram Topchyan.

10 Candida R. Moss and Joel S. Baden. Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015), 23.

11 Nahum M. Sarna. Genesis: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation. JPS Bible Commentary. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 87, n. 30. Havrelock discusses the patterns one sees in the Bible’s “barren” women Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Hannah, the mother of Samson and the Great Woman of Shunem, and how they overcome this difficulty, oftentimes “through a combination of articulation and initiative. The steps of this journey are: 1. Barrenness 2. Statement of protest 3. Direct action 4. Encounter with God 5. Conception 6. Birth 7. Naming.” Rachel Havrelock, “The Myth of Birthing the Hero: Heroic Barrenness in the Hebrew Bible,” Biblical Interpretation 16 (2008), 6.

12 A type-scene is similar to the word “motif,” or what is sometimes termed a “trope.” https://literaryterms.net/trope. The concept of a type-scene/motif/trope, and this particular annunciation in relation to other biblical ones, is not a subject of this article.

13 Everett Fox. The Early Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The Schocken Bible: Vol. II, (New York: Schocken, 2014), 210. See Robert Alter. “Biblical Type-Scenes and the Uses of Convention,” Critical Inquiry, Vol. 5, No. 2. (1978) [355-368]; Benjamin J. M. Johnson. “What Type of Son is Samson? Reading Judges 13 as a Biblical Type-Scene.” Journal of the Evangelical Society, 53/2 (2010). [269–286].

14 Uriel Simon, Reading Prophetic Narratives, Trans. Lenn J. Schramm, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997), 40.

15 Susan Niditch, Judges: A Commentary. OTL. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011 [2008]), 143 comment on v. 3.

16 The midrash collection Numbers Rabbah 10.5 contains the preponderance of relevant rabbinic references to Manoah’s wife (and to Manoah himself). There she is criticized for failing to tell her husband that she was the one who was the cause of their childlessness. Rabbinic views of Samson’s mother is beyond the purview of this article.

17 There seem to be echoes here of the Great Woman of Shunem (2 Kgs 4), another woman who acts with determination and alacrity. See Simon, 241, 250.

18 Niditch, 143, 145.

19 Adele Reinhartz. “Samson’s Mother: An Unnamed Protagonist.” JSOT 55 (1992), 37.

20 Yair Zakovitch, “The Strange Biography of Samson.” From Bible to Midrash: Portrayals and Interpretive Practices. Hanne Trautner-Kromann, (Ed.) (Lund: Arcus), 2005, 25.

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Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

21 Avigdor Shinan and Yair Zakovitch, From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths & Legends. Trans. Valarie Zakovitch. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press/Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2012), 192.

22 Simon, 250. See also 268.

23 Tammi J. Schneider, Judges. Berit Olam. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 2000), 197, 199.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alter, Alter. “Biblical Type-Scenes and the Uses of Convention.” Critical Inquiry, Vol. 5, No. 2. (1978) [355-368].

Castelli, Silvia. “Deborah,” “The Birth of Samson” [In Josephus’ Judean Antiquities]. In Outside the Bible: Ancient Writings Related to Scripture, Vol. 2. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, eds. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013.

Feldman, Louis H. Josephus (Person). In D. N. Freedman ed. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 3). New York: Doubleday, 1992.

______Josephus’s Interpretation of the Bible, Berkeley: University of California, 1998.

______Studies in Josephus’s Rewritten Bible. Leiden: Brill, 1998.

Fox, Everett. The Early Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The Schocken Bible: Vol. II. New York: Schocken, 2014.

Harrington, D. J. “Pseudo-Philo.” In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol 2. James H. Charlesworth, Ed., Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985.

Havrelock, Rachel. “The Myth of Birthing the Hero: Heroic Barrenness in the Hebrew Bible,” Biblical Interpretation 16 (2008). [1-25]. https://literaryterms.net/trope.

Jacobson, Howard. “Pseudo-Philo, Book of Biblical Antiquities.” In Outside the Bible: Ancient Writings Related to Scripture., Vol. 1. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, Eds. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013.

Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Volume 15 Number 2 (2018) 17 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2019 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor

Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

Johnson. Benjamin J. M. “What Type of Son is Samson? Reading Judges 13 as a Biblical Type- Scene.” Journal of the Evangelical Society, 53/2 (2010). [269–286].

Midrash Rabbah (Numbers). Translation and notes by H. Freedman & M. Simon. (London, UK: Soncino, 1961 (1939).

Moss, Candida R. and Joel S. Baden. Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.

Muradyan, Gohar and Aram Topchyan. “Pseudo-Philo, On Samson and On Jonah.” In Outside the Bible: Ancient Writings Related to Scripture, Vol. 1. Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman, (Eds.) Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013.

Niditch. Susan. Judges; A Commentary. Old Testament Library. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2011 [2008].

Reinhartz, Adele. “Samson’s Mother: An Unnamed Protagonist.” JSOT 55 (1992). [25-37].

Sarna, N. M. Genesis: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation. JPS Bible Commentary. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989.

Schneider, Tammi J., Judges. Berit Olam. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 2000.

Shinan, Avigdor and Yair Zakovitch. From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths & Legends. Trans. Valarie Zakovitch. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press/Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2012.

Simkovich, Malka Z. Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society/Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2018.

Simon, Uriel. Reading Prophetic Narratives, Trans. Lenn J. Schramm, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.

Tov, Emanuel. “The Bible and the Masoretic Text,” The (Proto-)Masoretic Text: A Ten-Part Series, 2017. TheTorah.com. http://thetorah.com/proto-masoretic-text

Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Volume 15 Number 2 (2018) 18 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2019 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor

Romanticizing Samson’s Mother

Zakovitch, Yair. “The Strange Biography of Samson.” From Bible to Midrash: Portrayals and Interpretive Practices. Hanne Trautner-Kromann, Ed. Lund: Arcus, 2005. [19-36].

Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Volume 15 Number 2 (2018) 19 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2019 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor