삼손의 수수께끼(사사기 14:14,18) 연구

Studies on Samson's Riddle[הדיח] in Judges 14.14 and 18.

&nbsp;&nbsp;Although the history of the reception of Samson"s riddle(Judg 14.14,18) within the Jewish and Christian traditions underlines its brilliancy, a convincing interpretation has not yet been given. Unnecessary intricacies that adhere to certain attempts to solve the riddle have often resulted from a procedure that deviates too quickly from the level of textual expression.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The story of the riddle is no less an integral part of the legend of Samson than that of the torch-tailed foxes. Like the latter, it poses a number of questions because of its inconsistency with the biblical world, but unlike the story of the foxes many of these questions have aleady been noted and discussed, and may be put as follows:<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;(1)Is the "riddle" a common literary form in the Bible, or is this instance unique?<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;(2)Is this reddle a riddle within the meaning of the definition of this literary form?<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;(3)What language, i.e. common means and terms of communication of ideas, did Samson and his interlocutors speak?<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Samson"s narrative not only integrates disparate elements, but it also involves an unusually complex structure. The riddle of Samson in Judg.14.14 and its answer in v.18 raise a number of difficulties and have produced a variety of explanations, none of which is wholly satisfactory. With regard to the riddle itself, it has been held that it would be an impossible task, since to answer it would require a knowledge of a particular event which Samson"s companions would not conceivably possess.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;I will argue that the aim of the riddle is to narrate a particular "story" and not to tell riddles. Therefore it must harmonize the riddle with the sequence of the narrative history. The structure of the "history" and that of the riddle then became so intertwined that it looks as though the historical events occasioned the development of the riddle.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The narrator of the Samson story ironically utilized the truth of Samson"s riddle in his motif-centered history of Samson. This motif is employed by the narrator as a means of structural progression in the story. Therefore the riddle of Samson has a functional position at the beginning of the real plot, i.e. the conflict between the Philistines and Yahweh.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;What I have tried to suggest here, in fact, is that there may be as much to learn about border formation from the fictionality of the Samson story, its use of ouns and riddles, the patterns that give shape to its plot, its possible mimicry of the other side"s story-telling traditions, as there is from investigating whether or not it reflects historical reality, noting as we have that borders are themselves a kind of fiction crafted through the way people imagine space.