Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Christian <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>]

Hi all,
to be completely honest, I don't really see the level of sexual morality we
are accustomed to in modern times in the Tanakh. I see that it is bad to:

1) Be a girl and have sex before marriage
2) Be a married woman and have sex with someone who is not your husband
3) Be a man and have sex with someone else's wife

James Christian

2009/9/26 <dwashbur AT nyx.net>

>
>
> On 26 Sep 2009 at 11:57, Dianne Burke wrote:
>
> > Dear Sirs,
> >
> > this is my first time on this lists.  I am rather new to Hebrew and
> > I am
> > only beginning to find out how useful some knowledge of the langauge
> > and
> > grammar is to my studies.
> >
> > I am recently in discussion with an individual on the topic of
> > Samson and he
> > has introduced the most extra-ordinary and unbelievable points on
> > Samson.
> > And before I discussed these things further with him, I wanted to
> > get a more
> > professional opinion.
> >
> > Samson was a Nazarite and part of the vow is to avoid touching dead
> > bodies.
> >
> > In this verse:
> > Jdg 14:19 The LORD's spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon
> > and*murdered
> > * thirty men. He took their clothes and gave them to the men who had
> > solved
> > the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.
> >
> > To me, it's clear from the text that the Hebrew word for "murdered"
> > ( *
> > nakah)* is correctly translated.
> >
> > However, my opponent makes the following point:
> >
> > *By removing them before the men were dead. Death from a wound is
> > rarely
> > instantaneous - a man may be terminally wounded but live on for some
> > time.
> > Consider that Jesus was nailed to the wood to die, then his garments
> > were
> > removed and divided among the soldiers (John 19:23); he actually
> > died some
> > hours later.*
> >
> > My oponent is arguing that the word "nakah" in this instance doesn't
> > mean
> > that these men were completely dead.
> >
> > I come to you to ask your opinion on the matter of the grammar and
> > the
> > definition of the word "nakah" in it's proper context.
>
> To be honest, I find such an approach just silly.  Samson was flawed;
> that's one of the
> things that makes him such a fascinating character.  But even more
> important, his life's work
> was killing Philistines.  As Randall pointed out, he had just been scooping
> honey out of a
> lion's carcass, so he touched a dead body there.  As for the NKH, it means
> "hit" or "strike,"
> and it's often used in the context of battle.  So it's most likely that
> Samson wasn't especially
> careful to make sure these guys weren't quite dead before he took their
> robes.  I wouldn't
> say "murdered;" NKH isn't quite that narrow in meaning.  "Struck," or
> "killed" is appropriate.
> In any case, your opponent doesn't have any real basis for his/her view.
>
> > ALSO
> >
> > It has been brought up that Samson in Judges 16:1, did not actually
> > have
> > sexual intercourse with the harlot, yet from my understanding "he
> > came on
> > unto her" is an idiom used for sexual intercourse.
> >
> > Can I have your thoughts on this.
>
> Many years ago I presented a paper suggesting that Samson's problem wasn't
> so much lust,
> as loneliness.  But seeking female "companionship" is a common way for guys
> to try and
> alleviate loneliness, and Samson isn't depicted as being any different.
>  The woman was a
> prostitute, and Samson spent the night with her.  Even I can do that math.*
>
> Dave Washburn
>
> http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
>
> *By way of clarification: I often describe myself as possessing a "math
> idiot" gene :-)
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