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Delilah

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For other uses, see Delilah (disambiguation).
Samson and Delilah (1878) by Alexandre Cabanel

Delilah (/dɪˈlaɪlə/; Hebrew: דלילה Dəlilah, Dəlila, Tiberian Hebrew Dəlilah; Arabic Dalilah meaning "faithless one") is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible.[1] She is loved by Samson,[1] a Nazirite who posses great strength.[2] Delilah is bribed by the chief of the Philistines to discover the source of his strength. After three failed attempts at doing so, she finally goads Samson into telling her that his vigor is derived from his hair. As he sleeps, Delilah orders a servant to cut Samson's hair, thereby enabling her to turn him over to the Philistines.

Delilah has been the subject of both rabbinic and Christian commentary, with some Christians comparing her to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus. Notable depictions of Delilah include John Milton's closet drama Samson Agonistes and Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 Hollywood film Samson and Delilah. Her name has become associated with treacherous and voluptuous women.

In the Bible

Delilah was a woman of Sorek.[1] She is the only woman in Samson's story who is named.[3] The Bible says that Samson loved her (Judges 16:4), but not that she loved him.[3] The two were not married,[3] and the idea that they had a sexual relationship is, in the words of Josey Bridges Snyder, "at most implicit in the biblical text".[4] The lords of the Philistines bribed her to discover the source of Samson's great strength, each offering to give her 1,100 silver coins.[5][1] Three times she failed.[1] First, at his own suggestion, she bound him with "seven green withes," but these he easily snapped asunder.[1] Then she tied him with new ropes: these also failed.[1] Then she fastened the locks of his hair to the loom, but with the same result.[1] Finally, after many complaints that Samson did not trust her, he told her that his strength lay in his hair.[1] Then, when he was asleep, she ordered a servant to cut Samson's hair.[3] She then awoke him, and delivered him into the hands of the waiting Philistine chiefs.[1] The Bible does not mention her fate.[6]

Religious views

Jewish interpretations

Josephus and Pseudo-Philo both view Delilah as a Philistine and a prostitute; Josey Bridges Snyder theorizes that this may be due to the fact that Book of Judges portrays Samson as being attracted to both Philistine women (Judges 14:1) and prostitutes (Judges 16:1).[4] Pseudo-Philo also writes that Delilah was Samson's wife.[4] The Talmud says that Delilah used sex to get Samson to reveal his secret, in spite of the fact that the biblical text does not state that the two had a sexual relationship.[4] Midrashim on Delilah reveal negative attitudes toward non-Jewish women[7] and are supposed to "demonstrate the havoc that a foreign woman could wreak".[7] The midrash says that Samson lost his strength because of his relationship with Delilah, a foreign woman, and not because his hair was cut.[7] Late aggadah say that Samson and Delilah had sons together who were strong like their father, and Eldad ha-Dani claims that their sons resided in the land of Havilah.[7]

Christian interpretations

Saint Ambrose represents Delilah as a Philistine prostitute[4] and declares that "men should avoid marriage with those outside the faith, lest, instead of love of one's spouse, there be treachery."[4] Caesarius of Arles views Delilah's temptation of Samson as similar to Satan's temptation of Christ.[4] Marbodius of Rennes uses the examples of Delilah, Eve, Lot's daughters, Herodias, Clytemnestra, and Procne to illustrate that women are a "pleasant evil, at once a honeycomb and a poison".[8] Christian commentators have viewed Samson as a type of Jesus Christ, based on similarities between Samson's story and the life of Jesus as portrayed in the New Testament[9][10] Samson's betrayal by Delilah has also been compared to Jesus' betrayal by Judas Iscariot;[10] both Delilah and Judas were paid in pieces of silver for their respective deeds.[11] However, Thomas de Vio Cajetan views Delilah in a somewhat sympathetic light, suggesting that she never intended Samson to be killed or wounded. He asserts that Delilah accepted a bribe from the Philistine leaders because they convinced her that Samson would merely be weakened.[4]

Scholarly views

A sketch for Peter Paul Rubens' Samson and Delilah (c. 1609)

Delilah is usually thought to have been a Philistine,[3] although she is not identified as such in the Bible.[3] The name "Delilah" is a Hebrew name.[12] J. Cheryl Exum of the Jewish Women's Archive argues that the author of the Book of Judges would probably not portray Delilah in a negative light if she were a fellow Israelite.[3] Samson was attracted to Philistine women; he had previously been married to one.[3] Exum writes that the arguments that Delilah was a Philistine are inconclusive,[3] while the Jewish Encyclopedia says that Delilah was a Philistine in all probability.[1]

In Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson say that the Bible never discusses whether or not Delilah felt guilt for her actions.[13] Dolores G. Kamrada write in Heroines, Heroes and Deity: Three Narratives of the Biblical Heroic Tradition that Delilah is similar to Jael, a woman mentioned in the fourth and fifth chapters of the Book of Judges who murders Sisera by driving a tent peg into his head,[14] and frequently compared to the title character of the Book of Judith, who beheads Holofernes;[14] all three women defeat powerful warriors.[14] According to Susan Ackerman, Delilah differs from Jael and Judith in that she "sells out to the enemy, rather than the other way around".[15]

Some scholarly commentary on Delilah centers on her gender. In the Feminist Companion to Judges, Carol Smith says that feminist commentators tend to stress Delilah's positive qualities, explain her negative ones, or ignore her in favor of "other biblical women who are more amenable to reinterpretation in a positive way".[12] James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson feel that the Bible portrays Delilah as "a doubly dangerous woman given her apparent independence", noting that she is not "identified by a male relationship - the wife, daughter or sister of anyone" but simply "appears in her own right".[13] Conversely, Phillip Lopate writes "while the message of Samson's fall, like Adam's, would seem to be cautionary and misogynistic, underneath we see his time with Delilah as a liberating fantasy....Don't we secretly rejoice at his having the good sense to follow the route of his desire, to free himself from the "good boy" Nazirite onus by putting himself in temptation's way".[16]

Haaretz's Elon Gilad writes "some biblical stories are flat-out cautions against marrying foreign women, none more than the story of Samson",[17] noting that Samson's relationship with Delilah leads to his demise.[17] He contrasts this to what he sees as a more positive portrayal of intermarriage in the Book of Ruth.[17] Melissa A. Jackson, in Comedy and Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible: A Subversive Collaboration, says that the Bible delineates between "good" foreigners like Tamar, Pharaoh's daughter, Rahab, and Ruth, and "bad" foreigners like Jezebel and Delilah.[18] Contrariwise, Elizabeth Wurtzel sees Samson's relationship with Delilah as "the archetypal story of cross-cultural love between members of warring nations", akin to Romeo and Juliet.[12]

Cultural influence

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Delilah's name has "become synonymous with a voluptuous, treacherous woman".[19] In One Thousand and One Nights, her name is applied to cunning women.[1]

John Milton's closet drama Samson Agonistes, an allegory for the downfall of the Puritans and the restoration of the English monarchy,[20] casts Delilah as an unrepentant, but sympathetic, deceiver[21] and speaks approvingly of the subjugation of women.[21]

In 1735, George Frideric Handel wrote the opera Samson,[22] with a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, based on Samson Agonistes.[22] The opera is almost entirely set inside Samson's prison[22] and Delilah only briefly appears in Act II.[22] In 1877, Camille Saint-Saëns composed the opera Samson and Delilah with a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire in which the entire story of Samson and Delilah is retold.[22] In the libretto, Delilah is portrayed as a seductive femme fatale,[22] but the music played during her parts invokes sympathy for her.[22]

The 1949 Biblical drama Samson and Delilah, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the titular roles, was widely praised by critics for its cinematography, lead performances, costumes, sets, and innovative special effects.[23] It became the highest-grossing film of 1950,[24] and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two.[25] According to Bosley Crowther of The New York Times, the film depicts Delilah as "a much more noble creature than legend would lead us to suppose".[26]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Delilah". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  2. ^ "Samson". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Delilah". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Newsome, Carol Ann; Ringe, Sharon H.; Lapsley, Jacqueline E., eds. (2012) [1992]. Women's Bible Commentary (third ed.). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-664-23707-3.
  5. ^ Judges 16
  6. ^ Rogerson, John W. (1999). Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Ancient Israel. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 62. ISBN 0-500-05095-3.
  7. ^ a b c d "Delilah:Midrash and Aggadah". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  8. ^ Hecker, Eugene (2005). "A Short History of Women's Rights". p. 58-59. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  9. ^ Thomson, Edward (1838). "Prophecy, Types, And Miracles, The Great Bulwarks Of Christianity: Or A Critical Examination And Demonstration Of Some Of The Evidences By Which The Christian Faith Is Supported". Hatchard & Son. p. 299-300. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  10. ^ a b Heaster, Duncan (2017). "Micah: Old Testament New European Christadelphian Commentary". Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  11. ^ Lynn G, S (2008). "A Study of the Good the Bad and the Desperate Women in the Bible". p. 46. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c Brenner-Idan, Athalya, ed. (1999). Feminist Companion to Judges. Sheffield Academic Press. p. 95.
  13. ^ a b Dunn, James D. G.; Rogerson, John William, eds. (2003). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 201.
  14. ^ a b c Kamrada, Dolores G., ed. (2016). Heroines, Heroes and Deity: Three Narratives of the Biblical Heroic Tradition. Bloomsbury. p. 84-85.
  15. ^ Vander Stichele, Caroline; Pyper, Hugh S., eds. (2012). Text, Image, and Otherness in Children's Bibles: What Is in the Picture?. Society of Biblical Literature. p. 302.
  16. ^ Lopate, Phillip (2003). Getting Personal: Selected Writings. Basic Books. p. 37.
  17. ^ a b c Gilad, Elon (June 4, 2014). "Intermarriage and the Jews: What Would the Early Israelites Say?". Haaretz. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  18. ^ Jackson, Melissa A. (2012). Comedy and Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible: A Subversive Collaboration. Oxford University Press. p. 222.
  19. ^ "Delilah". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  20. ^ Smith, Preserved (1930). A History of Modern Culture. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-108-07464-3.
  21. ^ a b Guillory, John (1986). "Dalila's House: Samson Agonistes' and the Sexual Division of Labor". In Ferguson, Margaret; Quilligan, Maurren; Vickers, Nancy (eds.). Rewriting the Renaissance: The Discourses of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226243146.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Leneman, Helen (2000). "Portrayals of Power in the Stories of Delilah and Bathsheba: Seduction in Song". In Aichele, George (ed.). Culture, Entertainment, and the Bible. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, Ltd. p. 153. ISBN 1-84127-075-X.
  23. ^ McKay, James (2013). The Films of Victor Mature. McFarland & Company. p. 76. ISBN 9780786449705. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  24. ^ Barton, Ruth (2010). Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 174. ISBN 9780813126104. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  25. ^ "23rd Academy Awards Winners". www.oscars.org.
  26. ^ Crowther, Bosley (December 22, 1949). "THE SCREEN: LAVISH DE MILLE FILM ARRIVES; ' Samson and Delilah' Has Its Premiere at Two Theatres, Rivoli and Paramount". The New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
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