THE WIFE OF MANOAH, THE MOTHER OF SAMSON

Abstract

The last account of the judges is that of Samson (Judges 13–16). This account has all the elements of a blockbuster. All the indications are that Samson would be an extraordinary person. And yet, even though Samson may be regarded as some sort of hero, the story suggests that Samson was also the weakest or most ineffective of the judges. Tension is created through the juxtaposition of “ideal” and “non-ideal” bodies. An alternative ideology, as a hidden polemic, is concealed in the account. As in the case of Achsah (Judges 1:11–15) and Deborah (Judges 4–5), the nameless wife of Manoah (the mother of Samson) serves as an illustration of “countercultural rhetoric” as a hidden polemic.