Samson

Paul Lisney

This is from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament and is about Samson.

Samson

The Angel of The Lord
Came down to the earth
To Manoah’s barren wife he spoke
You shall bear a son
Drink no wine nor strong drink
Eat nothing unclean
Heed my words

For he shall be a Nazirite to God
From the womb to the day he dies
No razor shall touch the hair on his head
Through him, Israel will begin to be freed
From the power of the Philistines

The woman bore a son
Samson, he was named
And the Spirit of the Lord stirred within him
On the road to Timnah
To lay claim for his
foreign bride
He slew a lion with his bare hands

And he told no one the marvel of his deed
And later found the carcass of the beast
With a swarm of bees nesting within
For the honey inside, he reached his hand in
Partook of the sweetness and walked on

Out of the eater came something to eat
Out of the strong came something sweet
With mother and father the honey he shared
From whence it came, they were not aware

At Samson’s wedding feast
A seven day affair
A riddle he proposed to his Philistine companions
Solve this riddle and
Thirty shirts and as many coats
Will be yours unless you fail,
Then you must give me the same

They all agreed and Samson spoke his rhyme
And for three long days no answer came to mind
When the fourth day came, they threatened his bride
We’ll burn down your home, and none will survive
Now go to your husband and bring us the answer or die

Out of the eater came something to eat
Out of the strong came something sweet
She begged, nagged and pleaded, and wore the man down
By the seventh day Samson surrendered his crown

She ran straight to her brethren, revealing the secret
For fear of losing her life
So when Samson questioned his thirty companions
The answer they gave was right;
What is sweeter than honey?
What’s stronger than a lion?
Enraged Samson said, You’d not have the answer
Unless you plowed with my heifer

And the Spirit of the Lord
Rushed down upon Samson
And to Ashkelon he went
Where thirty men he slew
Took their garments as his spoil
And as promised gave them to the victors

In anger he went home to his father’s house
Leaving his philistine wife without her spouse
So her father gave her to Samson’s best man
Though he wouldn’t know ‘til they’d reap the farmland
There’s more in Judges 15 & 16
Samson

© 2011 Paul Lisney 2/18 to 2/26/11