Samson Crushed the Philistines, and They Wanted Entertainment

My colleague, Charles Halton, has a fascinating study of a pun in Judges 16:25-27 in the most recent issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature.

The play on words involves two verbs that sound virtually the same except that one begins with “s” (sin) and the other begins with “sh” (shin). The verb in the text is related to Isaac’s name, which has to do with laughter, so the translations relate how Samson was summoned to “entertain” the Philistines. The related verb, the one that starts with the “sh” sound, means “crush,” which is exactly what Samson did to the Philistines when he brought down the house.

You can get the teaser video here, and his post has the link to his article in JBL.

I think this fits with the wider theme of the Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman.