Read Judges 16 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
16:1-3 {p} Samson removed the gates of Gaza and carried them opposite Hebron
16:4-22 {p} Samson’s foolishness and Delilah’s treachery
16:23-31 {p} Samson destroyed the Philistine temple and died with 3000 Philistines
Judges 15:20-16:31 Chiastic Structure:
The capture and death of Samson at the hands of the Philistines took place in 1117 BC, according to Ussher. This was a little earlier than the Greek mythology was settled, and close to the time the founders of Ancient Greek civilization were borrowing stories from other cultures, as recorded by the Greek historian Herodotus, to incorporate into their national identity. I believe the Greek hero Hercules was modeled after him. Hercules’ first labor was to slay the Nemean lion, just as Samson’s first heroic feat was the victory over the lion that had attacked him.
In art and literature, Heracles was represented as an enormously strong man of moderate height, a huge eater and drinker, very amorous, and generally kindly but with occasional outbursts of brutal rage. Encyclopedia Britannica
Sound familiar? The history of the Bible has been so downplayed in our generation that it can come as a shock to realize that YHVH, the God of the Hebrews, was famous in the ancient world, because of the destruction He had rained down on Egypt to release His people from their slavery. As God, however, He was rejected by the pagan world because of His holiness and expectation of the same from His people.
If there are questions, this is a good resource:
The Annals of the World by James Ussher, translated by Larry Pierce
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