Judges 15:9-16:3. \u00a0Yesterday I said our story ended with Samson threatening revenge for the burning of his abandoned wife and her family. \u00a0Actually he carried through on his threat and I have updated that post. \u00a0It only increases the picture of Samson as a man controlled by his feelings. \u00a0At the end of yesterday’s story he said he would get revenge and then quit. \u00a0And after he fought a severe and ruthless fight with some Philistines he did just that. \u00a0He went up into the hills and hid in crack in the rocks. \u00a0The place was called Etam and scholars do not know exactly where it was. \u00a0From today’s reading we know it was in the territory of the tribe of Judah.<\/p>\n
So far in our reading we have met several of the tribes of Israel (See “The Twelve?”<\/a>). \u00a0Manasseah which had territory on both sides of the Jordan River in the northern part of the promised land. \u00a0Asher, Naphtali, and Zebulun further north yet on the west side of the Jordan across the Jezreel Valley from Manasseh. \u00a0Issachar between Naphtali \u00a0and Manasseh at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley. \u00a0Gad and Reuben on the estern side of the Jordan River just south of Manasseh’s territory on that side. \u00a0And Ephraim in the cetral part of the promised land on the western side of the Jordan. \u00a0Dan, the tribe that Samson is part of had a small section of land just south of Ephraim’s land. \u00a0Dan’s land started about half way across from the Dead Sea and went to the Mediterranean Sea. \u00a0Benjamin’s land was next to Dan’s spreading east to the northern tip of the Dead Sea. \u00a0The southern part of the promised land belonged to Judah and was quite large. \u00a0It started about even with the northern tip of the Dead Sea and went south to the border of Egypt. \u00a0Simeon’s land was also in the south but was completely surrounded by Judah’s land. \u00a0Gaza was on the coast about even with the middle of the Dead Sea. \u00a0Remember that, although this land was given to the different tribe that they had not completely taken it over. \u00a0That is where all the problems in the book of Judges come from both the physical problems and spiritual ones. \u00a0Or lets say that that is the setting where the spiritual problems come out. \u00a0Remember too that the Philistines, who had originally been “sea people” lived mostly on the costal plain between the hills and the Mediterranean Sea. \u00a0Think Costa Mesa to Long Beach. \u00a0Garden Grove to Lakewood.<\/p>\n Although we do not know the exact place Samson went we do know the name. \u00a0Just like people’s names in the Old Testament can sometimes be related to who they are and what they do (See “What’s in a Name”<\/a>) \u00a0the same goes for place names, maybe even more. \u00a0The Hebrew word “Etam” \u00a0comes from a root that means to shriek and to fly. \u00a0From that root the Hebrews had a word for birds of prey, you know the kind that shriek and fly. \u00a0And from both of those words they had the word “Etam” which means a place where wild beasts hide. \u00a0That certainly paints an interesting picture of Samson. \u00a0You don’t get much more wild than this guy and he is now hiding. \u00a0If any person ever lived like a bird of prey or a wild animal it was Samson. \u00a0Driven by his desires he swooped in and took or lashed out at anyone who crossed him.<\/p>\n