Friday 5 July 2013

Judges 16: the art of seduction.



This post is just an excuse for sharing a youtube video I found. The youtube video is a rendition of the famous duet Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix, from the opera Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saëns. The opera is based on the story of Samson as told in the book Judges. This book was in all likelihood composed during the Babylonian exile and its outlook is theological rather than historical. It is mainly a collection of original independent myths and legends of heroes saving their tribes in battle. For instance the figure of Samson has characteristics which point to a mythical origin.
Samson is one of the heroes of the Israelites, invincible against the Philistines because of his extra human strength. Samson falls in love with Delilah, a Philistine woman, and the Philistines got knowledge of this relationship and persuaded Delilah in return for a lot of money to detract from Samson the secret of his strength. Three times Samson gives the wrong answer and then Delilah asks for the fourth tine:

Judges 16
15 Dixitque ad eum Dalila : `Quomodo dicis quod amas me, cum animus tuus non sit mecum ? Per tres vices mentitus es mihi, et noluisti dicere in quo sit maxima fortitudo tua.’ 16 Cumque molesta esset ei, et per multos dies iugiter adhæreret, spatium ad quietem non tribuens, defecit anima eius, et ad mortem usque lassata est. 17 Tunc aperiens veritatem rei, dixit ad eam : Ferrum numquam ascendit super caput meum, quia nazaræus, id est, consecratus Deo, sum de utero matris meæ : si rasum fuerit caput meum, recedet a me fortitudo mea, et deficiam, eroque sicut ceteri homines. 18 Vidensque illa quod confessus ei esset omnem animum suum, misit ad principes Philisthinorum ac mandavit : `Ascende adhuc semel, quia nunc mihi aperuit cor suum.’ Qui ascenderunt assumpta pecunia, quam promiserant. 19 At illa dormire eum fecit super genua sua, et in sinu suo reclinare caput. Vocavitque tonsorem, et rasit septem crines eius, et cÅ“pit abigere eum, et a se repellere : statim enim ab eo fortitudo discessit. 20 Dixitque : `Philisthiim super te, Samson’. Qui de somno consurgens, dixit in animo suo : `Egrediar sicut ante feci, et me excutiam’,  nesciens quod recessisset ab eo Dominus. 21 Quem cum apprehendissent Philisthiim, statim eruerunt oculos eius, et duxerunt Gazam vinctum catenis, et clausum in carcere molere fecerunt.

per tres vices: for three times
mentior: to cheat
molestus: troublesome, annoying
iugiter: closely
lasso: to make tired, exhaust
ad mortem usque lassata est = usque ad mortem lassata (anima eius) est
ferrum: a knife
id est, consecratus: this is not in the Hebrew original or in the Septuagint, but inserted by Jerome.
rado rasi rasum: to shave
confiteor confessus sum: to confess
semel: one time more
genu –us (n): knee (both words have a common Indo-European origin.)
sinus –us (m): bosom 
tonsor –oris (m): hair-cutter
septem crines eius: not seven hairs, but seven braids of hair (seven is a sacred number!)
coepio coepi coeptum: to begin
abigo abegi abactum: to repel, drive away
Philisthiim: Hebrew plural
egredior egressus sum: to go out
excutio excussi excussum: to shake off (the exact meaning of the Hebrew word here is unclear,)
eruo erui erutum: to draw out
catena: chain
molo molui molitum: to grind (in a mill, the word comes from Late Latin molina.)

And here is the video this post is all about, featuring Jon Vickers and Shirley Verrett. There are worse reasons for writing a post!


Samson and Delilah by Rubens (1577 – 1640)

No comments:

Post a Comment