Long considered a series of “loosely connected and grossly editorialized traditions” about the hero Samson,1 Judges 13–16 has been seen as increasingly unified in recent decades, with studies arguing for the coherence of its structure, theme, and even plot. 2 A 1974 essay by James Crenshaw extols the narrator’s skill at achieving a unified composition organized around a universal theme, “the conflict between filial devotion and erotic attachment.” 3 Cheryl Exum’s series of articles published between 1980 and 1983 reveals structural and thematic webs connecting scene to scene, episode to episode, and cycle to cycle, many of them lifting up the theological message that despite his strength Samson is nonetheless utterly dependent on the Lord for life and death. 4 A 1990 essay by Robert Alter describes the structural, thematic, and even psychological connections between episodes forged by the root -36, which underscores Samson’s compulsive drive toward foreign women. 5 Yairah Amit’s 1...
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