by VM44 23 Replies latest watchtower bible
Didn't the Philistines possess bow and arrows during the time of Samson?
Samson was unbeatable in hand to hand combat. He wiped out an entire army using only the jawbone of an ass, so why didn't the Philistines simply get 20 or more archers, have them surround Samson, and then simultaneously let loose a volley of arrows? End of Samson. Permanently!
This is so obvious a thing to try I wonder why it is not mentioned in the Bible?
probably because the bible is fiction, and doesn't follow any rules of logic. Otherwise, yes, Samson would have been toast.
Samson was unbeatable in hand to hand combat. He wiped out an entire army using only the jawbone of an ass, so why did the Philistines get 20 or more archers, have them surround Samson, and then simultaneously let loose a volley of arrows? End of Samson. Permanently!
They also had PLENTY of opportunities to kill him in his sleep. Four at least that I know of, while they were trying out weaknesses. But they gave him a verbal warning and WOKE him up before trying to kill him. She yelled: "The Philistines are upon you!"
The same goes for David, Saul actually yelled: "I will pin David to the wall!" ....
That's the type of stupid stuff that people do in movies, but not real life. It allows the 'hero' (I'm using the word hero pretty lightly here, Samson is more of a serial-killer/terrorist) to survive and allows the story to continue.
It's like when the Batman enemies tie you to a converor belt with a saw, or dangle you over a pool of acid... And then leave the room.
(Judges16:8-9)8 So the axis lords of the Phi·lis´tines brought up to her seven still-moist sinews that had not been dried out. Later she tied him with them. 9 Now the ambush was sitting in the interior room of hers, and she began to say to him: "The Phi·lis´tines are upon you, Samson!" At that he tore the sinews in two, just as a twisted thread of tow is torn in two when it smells fire. And his power did not become known.
If she can tie wet/bloody tendons to him while he's asleep, surely they could jab a spike through his head...
This happens three more times.
I short, the reason that they don't just shoot him or kill him in his sleep: Because it doesn't make for very interesting fiction.
Lore - W.W.S.D?
i'm starting to see so many bible stories as based on greek myths. sampson sounds like hercules. would love to find a book that compares biblical heros to greek myths. anyone know of any?
Dr. Evil: I have an even better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.
Scott: Wait, aren't you even going to watch them? They could get away!
Dr. Evil: No no no, I'm going to leave them alone and not actually witness them dying, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?
Scott: I have a gun, in my room, you give me five seconds, I'll get it, I'll come back down here, BOOM, I'll blow their brains out!
Dr. Evil: Scott, you just don't get it, do ya? You don't.
Infidel!
Jehovah allowed things to develop the way they did in order to bring the greatest shout of praise to his name.
OM
Samson was unbeatable in hand to hand combat. He wiped out an entire army using only the jawbone of an ass, so why didn't the Philistines simply get 20 or more archers, have them surround Samson, and then simultaneously let loose a volley of arrows? End of Samson. Permanently!
Kind of like Indiana Jones against the swordsman.
And yeah, they had archers back then.
at peace....Actually, the Philistines were Greeks. And they were in contact with the Aegean. So when the Greeks say that they got their alphabet (which is based on the West Semitic alphabet) from Cadmus, this is a reflection of the fact that the Sea Peoples living in the Levant were in contact with the Hebrews and Phoenicians and indeed got the alphabet from them (in fact, Cadmus is a Semitic name, cf. Hebrew qedem "east", so in fact the Greeks did receive the alphabet from the East). You know the story about Perseus fighting the sea monster at Joppa, in order to save Andromeda? Joppa was a town in the land of Dan (before the Danites moved north), adjacent to Philistia, and Samson hailed from Dan at a time when it was on the coast. In fact, the tribe of Dan was probably another Sea People, the Danuna, who settled the Levant along with the Philistines and the Shardana (the Sardinians). Many other Greek myths are reflections of Canaanite and Phoenician legends. The myth of Zeus fighting the sea monster at Mount Cassius is identical to the myth of Baal fighting Yamm in the same location. The myth of Heracles slaying the dragon Ladon is a reflection of the Canaanite myth of Lotan (= Leviathan in the Bible). The Aqhat of Canaanite myth (possibly the "son" of Danel obliquely alluded to in Ezekiel 14:20) corresponds to the Actaeon of the Greeks.
The questions were asked:
Why didn't the Philistines surround Samson with a firing squad of 20 archers who would shoot their arrows into Samson at the same instant.
Or, Why didn't they simply drive a spike through his shaved-head after he had fallen asleep in Delilah's lap?
Apparently, the Philistines wanted to capture Samson alive, not dead. This is shown by the fact that when they finally did capture him they didn't kill him.
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Apparently, the Philistines wanted to capture Samson alive, not dead. This is shown by the fact that when they finally were able to capture him they didn't kill him.
Exactly... it's all very Batman and Joker-esque.
They all act stupid in order to prolong the story.
