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Prof David Fishelov.Department of Comparative Literature at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem   E-mail: fishelov@mscc.huji.ac.il  web page : http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~fishelov/cv.html

Only part of the Bible's rich gallery of characters have been interpreted artistically time and again. King David is such an example. What is it about certain Biblical figures that repeatedly capture the imagination throughout the centuries? Why is it that Samson has been interpreted artistically more than his counterpart Barak Ben Avinoam? Is the attractiveness dependent on the centrality of the character in the Biblical world?

It seems that the number of chapters dedicated to any one character in the Bible does not cause it to be preferred over other characters: the stories of Joshua Ben Nun, for instance, comprise many chapters, yet his character failed to attract a great number of creators, artists, and thinkers.

What's more important than the quantitative issue is the qualitative and structural aspect, namely the special traits of the Biblical character and the relationship between those attributes. The following three characterizations can serve as common indicators of the potential of Biblical character to be interpreted artistically again and again:

•  If the character represents the summit of a certain aspect of life, personal or public (power, beauty, cunning, love, leadership, courage, etc.), it is likely to attract attention and leave an impression in the collective imagination and serve as a source for creative inspiration.
• If there is a tension, contradiction, or polarization between different traits of the character, then we have a fascinating subject likely to be deeply rooted in the collective consciousness and capture the imagination of later artists.
• If the character is involved in situations or relationships of deep universal nature: relationship in the nuclear family (father-son, mother-daughter, brother-sister), between man and woman (love, envy, hate), between a ruler and his subjects (submission and rebellion), and between man and G-d (faith, heresy, and everything between).

These characterizations work just as well, not only for Biblical characters, but for mythological archetypal characters (Cain and Abel, Hercules, Oedipus, etc.).

Samson's character, as revealed to us in Judges 13-16, embodies these three principles: Samson is not just a strong man, he is almost a Superman, prying out the gates of Gaza, carrying them on his back and destroying a massive temple with his bare hands; he is not just a brave man, but a hero who can slay a lion with his bare hands, then fight one thousand Philistines equipped with nothing but a donkey jawbone; he's also uncontrollably aroused by Gentile women. In other words, Samson's traits and idiosyncrasies are brought to the extreme in various areas. Furthermore, various interesting tensions arise between some of his traits: Samson is a judge and a warrior for national liberty, but also over his head in love affairs and private vengeance campaigns; he is G-d's monk who behaves lewdly with prostitutes; he is the sophisticated riddler who fails to decipher the simplest of signals. He is the strongest among men and as weak as the next guy. The third characteristic comes into play as well. Infertility and the birth of a child who has been yearned for (Samson's birth), love and betrayal (Samson and his wives, in particular Delilah) or ruler-subjects relations (Israelites - Philistines) are basic human situations, repeatedly found at any time and any place.

It seems to me that this combination is what makes Samson a fascinating character for countless readers and artists in world and Hebrew art and literature. One might add that having these characteristics does not guarantee rewriting of a Biblical or archetypical character; it just gives it a high potential. What brings about the manifestation is, of course, the demands, sensitivities, and needs of later eras seeking at times ways to express themselves by referring to Biblical characters.

(2673)

Source: Samson's Locks: The Transformations of Biblical Samson
Haifa University Press, Zmora-Bitian Publishers (2000)

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