Sotah

And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.  Wherewith did He bless him? — Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: With his physique which was like that of other men but his manly strength was like a fast-flowing stream. And Samson called unto the Lord, and said: O Lord God, remember me, I pray Thee and strengthen me, I pray Thee, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.  Rab said: Samson spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He, Sovereign of the Universe, Remember on my behalf the twenty  years I judged Israel, and never did I order anyone to carry my staff from one place to another. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes.  Why just foxes? — R. Aibu b. Nagari said in the name of R. Hiyya b. Abba: Samson declared: Let [the animal] come which turns backward  and exact punishment of the Philistines who went back on their oath. It has been taught: R. Simeon the Pious said: The width between Samson's shoulders was sixty cubits, as it is said: And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders;  and there is a tradition that the gates of Gaza were not less than sixty cubits [in width]. And he did grind in the prison house. R. Johanan said: 'Grind' means nothing else than [sexual] transgression; and thus it is stated: Then let my wife grind unto another.  It teaches that everyone brought his wife to him to the prison that she might bear a child by him [who would be as strong as he was]. R. Papa said: That is what the proverb tells, 'Before the wine-drinker [set] wine, before a ploughman a basket of roots.' R. Johanan also said: Whoever is faithless, his wife is faithless to him; as it is said: If mine heart have been enticed unto a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour's door  and it continues, Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. That is what the proverb tells, 'He among the full-grown pumpkins and his wife among the young ones'. R. Johanan also said: Samson judged Israel in the same manner as their Father in heaven; as it is said: Dan shall judge his people as One.  R. Johanan also said: Samson was called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He; as it is said: For the Lord God is a sun and a shield.  According to this argument, [his name] may not be erased!  — The intention is that [his name] was typical of the name of the Holy One, blessed be He;  as the Holy One, blessed be He, shields the whole world, so Samson shielded Israel during his generation. R. Johanan also said: Balaam was lame in one leg, as it is said: And he went shefi;  Samson was lame in both legs, as it is said: An adder in the path. Our Rabbis have taught: Five were created after the likeness of Him Who is above, and all of them incurred punishment on account of [the feature which distinguished] them: Samson in his strength, Saul in his neck,  Absalom in his hair,  Zedekiah in his eyes, and Asa in his feet. 'Samson [was punished] in his strength', as it is written: And his strength went from him.  'Saul [was punished] in his neck', as it is written: Saul took his sword and fell upon it.  'Absalom [was punished] in his hair', as we shall have occasion to explain later. Zedekiah [was punished] in his eyes, as it is written: They put out the eyes of Zedekiah.  Asa [was punished] in his feet, as it is written: But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet;  and Rab Judah said in the name of Rab, Podagra [gout] attacked him. Mar Zutra, son of R. Nahman, asked R. Nahman, What is Podagra like? — He answered: Like a needle in living flesh. How did he know this? — Some say he suffered from it himself; others say that he heard it from his teacher;  and others declare, The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will shew them His covenant. Raba expounded: Why was Asa punished? Because he imposed forced labour  upon the disciples of the Sages, as it is said: Then King Asa made a proclamation unto all Judah; none was exempted.  What means 'none was exempted'? — Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: Even the bridegroom from his chamber and the bride from her canopy. It is written: And Samson went down to Timnah,  and it is written: Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah!  R. Eleazar said: Since in the case of Samson he was disgraced there, it is written in connection with it 'went down;' but in the case of Judah, since he was exalted in it,  there is written in connection with it 'goeth up'. R. Samuel b. Nahmani said: There are two places named Timnah; one [was reached] by going down and the other by going up. R. Papa said: There is only one place named Timnah; who came to it from one direction had to descend and from another direction had to ascend, as, e.g., Wardina, Be Bari and the market-place of Neresh. She sat in the gate of Enaim.  R. Alexander said: It teaches that she [Tamar] went and sat at the entrance [of the hospice] of our father Abraham, to see which place all eyes ['enaim] look. R. Hanin said in the name of Rab: It is a place named Enaim, as it states: Tappuah and Enam.  R. Samuel b. Nahmani said: [It is so called] because she gave eyes to her words.  When [Judah] solicited her, he asked her, 'Art thou perhaps a Gentile?' She replied: 'I am a proselyte'. 'Art thou perhaps a married woman?' She replied: 'I am unmarried'. 'Perhaps thy father has accepted on thy behalf betrothals?'  She replied: 'I am an orphan'. 'Perhaps thou art unclean?' She replied: 'I am clean'. And he planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba.  Resh Lakish said: It teaches that he [Abraham] made an orchard and planted in it all kinds of choice fruits. R. Judah and R. Nehemiah [differ in this matter]; one said that it was an orchard and the other that it was a hospice. It is right according to him who said that it was an orchard, since it is written 'and he planted'; but according to him who said that it was a hospice, what means 'and he planted?' — It is similarly written: And he shall plant the tents of his palace, etc. And he called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.  Resh Lakish said: Read not 'and he called'