Judges: The Power of Shimshon
Shimshon שמשון [Samson] is Hebrew for “of the Sun,” which indicates clearly that this Biblical character is a Solar Hero in the tradition of Apollo, Osiris, Heracles, and many more. Shimshon’s great power is demonstrated through many acts of strength and bravery in defense of the people of God. Like all the great heroes of the Sun, Shimshon incarnated the “light of the world,” also known as Christ, whose great power is developed through sexual purity, as revealed here. It is also worthwhile to reflect upon the chapter number: sixteen.
Judges 16
1 And שמשון [Samson] went to Gaza [Yesod], and saw there a harlot [Lilith / Nahemah], and went in unto her [he entered the sexual act with his wife, in order to confront his own inner Lilith].
2 And it was told the Gazites [his own desires], saying: 'Samson [Tiphereth, the bodhisattva] is come hither.' And they compassed him in, and lay in wait for him all night in the gate [senses] of the city [mind and body], and were quiet all the night, saying: 'Let be till morning light [when the Sun arrives], then we will kill him.' 3 And Samson lay till midnight [the darkest hour], and arose [his willpower] at midnight [to confront the darkness in his own mind], and laid hold of the doors of the gate [senses] of the city [body and mind], and the two posts [male and female], and plucked them up [from degeneration], bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders [as a cross, like Jesus], and carried them up to the top of the [spiritual] mountain that is before Hebron.
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he [Shimshon] loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was דלילה Delilah [from לילה Laila, “night” and the letter ד daleth, which indicates a door; she is the “doorway to the night”; related to Lilith. Lilith is the seductive power that entices through the liver and impure blood].
5 And the lords of the Philistines [his psychological enemies: lust, anger, pride, etc] came up unto her, and said unto her: 'Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.'
6 And Delilah said to Samson: 'Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.' 7 And Samson said unto her: 'If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as any other man.' 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And he broke the bowstrings as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So [the source of] his strength was not known.
10 And Delilah said unto Samson: 'Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies; now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.' 11 And he said unto her: 'If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work, hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as any other man.' 12 So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson: 'Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies; tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound.' And he said unto her: 'If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.' 14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And he awoke out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.
15 And she said unto him: 'How canst thou say: I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.' 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said unto her: 'There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite [meaning “one who is apart” or “one who abstains” - observing sexual purity: chastity] unto God from my mother's womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.' [Long hair has always been a symbol of sexual purity: chastity].
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: 'Come up this once, for he hath told me all his heart.' Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep [losing his vigilance] upon her knees [under her hypnotic power]; and she called for a man [Shimshon’s masculine instincts], and had the seven locks of his head shaven off; and she began to afflict him [with lust], and his strength went from him [through the orgasm]. 20 And she said: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And he awoke out of his [psychological] sleep, and said: 'I will go out as at other times, and shake myself.' But he knew not that the LORD [the sexual power] was departed from him [because of his fornication]. 21 And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his [spiritual] eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza [the ninth sphere], and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.