Biblical Hebrew Forum

[trepp AT telus.net]

Bruce:

It does not actually say he committed any fornication. He was in a starnge 
city, where he could not sleep safely out in the open by night. None but the 
harlot was as safe a person to be taken in by. Mayne he paid her for a 
lodging 
and she appreciated not being used in exchange. Anyways, it doesn't mention 
anything beyond a situation that is obvious from the context:

That his enemies would have loved to have killed him in his sleep;

that he had travelled into a city where eventually he would require a safe 
night's rest;

that so long as he was at the harlot's home, his enemies would presume that 
they could wait fro his departure to surround and take him;
 
that, by using the harlot's home for a good night's sleep, he could get that 
safe rest;

and that he must not have stayed up having sex, as he got up early;

and that he decided to be up earlier than his enemies, and must have planned 
to 
sleep early enough to avoid being caught by morning.


Furthermore, the idea that he was a fornicator is not a staple of anceint 
Christendom, but a popular modern idea, not hinted at by any New Testament 
writer.

sincerely.
Travis Jackson


Quoting b-hebrew-request AT lists.ibiblio.org:

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> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:18:13 +1000
> From: "Bruce Prince" <bruceprince AT bigpond.com>
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Samson at Gaza - Judges 16:1
> To: "b-Hebrew List" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
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> 
> Folks
> 
> Not being very good at understanding the intricate details of Biblical
> Hebrew, I'm wondering if you can help me understand what is going on in this
> verse?
> 
> Generally, Christendom paints Samson as a bad man, but I'm not convinced.
> Even whilst staying in Gaza, the power of the Lord was upon him as he heaved
> those massive gates out of their foundation and up the hill. God's purpose
> for Samson was to rile the Philistines - a task he seemed particularly
> adapted to.
> 
> Samson's reputation had gone before him to this city, and I'm wondering if
> he was simply using the home of the harlot as a place of abode in much the
> same way that the spies used Rahab's home in Jericho.
> 
> Does the Hebrew of this verse undeniably state that Samson had intercourse
> with the harlot? Verse 3 states that he lay until midnight; it doesn't say
> that he lay with her.
> 
> I'd appreciate any views.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Bruce Prince
> Australia
>