Shownotes Transcript
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss Samson, one of the judges appointed by God to champion the Israelites. He's a man characterized by prodigious strength and ungovernable impulsivity, a man who could fairly be dubbed the biblical Hercules.We'll begin by going over who exactly the judges were and who the Philistines were, and then with that covered, we'll spend the rest of the video going over Samson's story in its entirety. Alright, let's get into it.The judges are a series of leaders who guided and governed the Israelites before the establishment of the monarchy. Their stories are primarily recounted in the Book of Judges, which is the seventh book of the Old Testament. The judges were not judges in the modern sense of the word; they were more like tribal leaders, military commanders, and deliverers chosen by God to rescue the Israelites from their enemies and to govern the people during times of crisis. The judges were seen as instruments of God's will, and their authority was believed to be divinely ordained.The period of the judges lasted several centuries, from the time of Joshua's death until the rise of the monarchy with the anointing of King Saul. According to the Book of Judges, the Israelites would often fall into a cycle of disobedience and idolatry, prompting God to allow their enemies to oppress them. Then, when the Israelites cried out to God for help, He would raise up a judge to deliver them from their enemies, restoring peace and order for a time. However, once the judge died, the Israelites would often fall back into disobedience, and the cycle would repeat.The Philistines were an ancient people who lived in the southern coastal region of Canaan, along the eastern Mediterranean coast, in what is now modern-day Israel and the Gaza Strip. Their territory, known as Philistia, comprised five main city-states: Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza. The Philistines emerged as a distinct culture around the 12th century BC and persisted until the Babylonian conquest in the 6th century BC.