Samson visits a place called Timnah, and finds a Phillistine woman that lights his fire. (so to speak.) He asks his parents to fetch her for him, to be his wife. His parents are appalled that he would marry a Phillistine woman. Nonetheless, the three of them go to Timnah together to settle things. On the way, a lion attacks Samson, and he tears it to pieces. After a few days, he returned again to take the Phillistine woman, and saw the carcass on the side of the road. There was a swarm of bees in the carcass, and he scooped some honey out and ate it as he went along, giving some to his parents, who didn't know he took it from a caracass. (I'm not sure how this violates the Israeli diet laws, but I'm thinking it must, somehow....). So he goes back to fetch her, and he and his father throw a customary feast. He makes an outlandish bet with his companions, challenging them with this riddle:
"Out of the eater came something to eat,
Out of the strong came something sweet."
Samson's wife begged and pleaded for seven days to hear the answer. Samson finally gives in and tells her. (we will note again later on that Samson's weakness is obviously women). Naturally, she runs off and informs the other fellows of the answer. So Samson loses his bet, and kills some people to acquire the goods he needs to pay up for the bet, then he hauls butt out of town. Samson's wife was given to his best man.
He goes back for her, but her father will not allow Samson into her room. In response, Samson makes a string of live foxes and sets their tails on fire, and lets them loose in the grain & orchards, destroying the Phillistine's crops. When the Phillistines discover the reason behind this action, they "burn with fire" Samson's wife and her father. Now the Spirit of the Lord comes over Samson, and when he is tied up and given to the Phillistines, the ropes "melt" off his body, and he proceeds to kill a thousand Phillistines with a donkey's jawbone.
He is noted to be Israel's next judge, and judges for 20 years. He goes to Gaza, and finds a prostitute that tickles his fancy. The Gazites decide to kill him in the morning. But Samson decides to leave in the middle of the night, and simply picks up the doors to the city's gate and carrys them up a hill. (Hey, you do what you gotta do.....)
Finally, Samson meets the lovely Delilah, who is in dirty business with the Phillistine leaders to find out the source of Samson's strength.
Seduction is her main tool. First, Samson tells her that if he is tied with seven bowstrings, he will be incapacitated. She proceeds to tie him with the bowstrings, with the Phillistines hiding in the next room, ready to pounce. He easily breaks them. Next, he tells his sweetheart that he must be bound with new ropes. She binds him with new ropes. But that was a lie......(this would have made a great Maury Povich episode with the lie detector tests...). He lies again when he tells her that for him to lose his strength, she must weave his hair into a web.
But finally, Samson comes clean with his buttercup when he tells her that he is a Nazarite, and that his hair must be cut for him to lose his strength. You know how this will end. She cuts his hair while he sleeps with his head on her lap, and the Phillistines capture him. They gouge out his eyes and set him to work at a grinding mill.
And then one day, all the leaders of the Phillistines are gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god "Dagon." Blind Samson is made to entertain the crowd of 3,000. He is put between two pillars. He prays and asks God for strength, God grants it, and Samson pushes the pillars apart, the building collapses,killing the 3,000 Phillistines (and also himself.)
A man in the hill country of Ephraim, named Micah and his mother make a carved image out of silver. A Levite man comes to Michah's house, looking for a place to stay, and Micah offers to hire him as his priest. The Levite accepts. The Israeli tribe of Dan, who had not yet received their inheritance (allotted place to live), send five men to spy out the land. The five "Dans" come to Micah's house, and recognizing the priest is Levite, ask what business he has there.
Then the five Dans travel to a place called Laish, where the residents are living comfortably, set quite far apart from any neighbors. They decide it's a good idea to capture the land of Laish. So they get 600 Dans together, and on their way to Laish, they pay a visit to Micah's house, and steal his carved image, his ephod, and his priest. The people in the houses surrounding Micah try to go after the Dans, but the Dans were too strong for them. So the Dans easily capture Laish, and rename it "Dan." Jonathan (Moses' grandson), and Jonathan's sons were their priests.
In those days, when there was no king over Israel, a Levite acquired a concubine from Bethelehem. The concubine cheated on him, and left him to go to her father's house. He followed (after some 4 months) to fetch her, but the girls' father convinces him to stay several days. Finally he leaves, with his concubine and his servant. As they are traveling together, they accept the hospitality of an old Benjaminite man in Gibeah who has offered them a place to stay for the night. The men of the city come to the house that night and begin banging on the door, and demand to be given the male visitor for their sexual pleasure. The master of the house is appalled, and offers them his daughter and the visitor's concubine, instead. The men take the concubine and "abuse" her all night. In the morning, she is found dead, lying on the doorstep. The man takes a knife and divides her into twelve pieces, and had each piece delivered to Israel's tribes.
Israel decides to attack Gibeah, and orders the tribe of Benjamin to remove it's people from Gibeah, and help in the battle. The Benjaminites refuse. It becomes a war between the tribe of Benjamin (who muster 26 thousand men) and the rest of Israel (who muster 400 thousand). Carnage ensues, and 25 thousand of the 26 thousand Benjaminites are killed on the third day of fighting.
Israel feels bad that one of their 12 tribes has been nearyly obliterated. They decide to round up some wives for the remaining Benjaminites. So they destroy the city of Jabesh-gilead, who failed to attend their assembly, and take 400 virgins from them for Benjamin. But alas, this was not enough wives. So they decide to have the Benjamins ambush girls at a yearly feast in Shiloh. So the men hide in some vineyards, and as the girls came out to dance, they "snatched" them away for wives. I've got to wonder how exactly this went. Did they dress up nicely, as though they were guests of the party and say, "May I have this dance?" and after showing off some killer moves, ask them to dance with them forever? or did they just toss them over their shoulder and run?
At any rate, at the end of "Judges", Israel is still without a king, and everyone does what is right in their own eyes.
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