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Past Characters

These are characters long dead by the narrative's start but are alluded to.

Eli, a 98 year old man, waits anxiously for news from the battle. He has peachy beige skin, fluffy white hair covered with a hood, and gray eyes clouded with cataracts. He wears a white linen sadin, a techelet blue ketonet, and a white me'il with seven white stripes.

Eli HaKohen Gadol (the High Priest) and Shofet (Judge)

Tanakh

וַיָּב֗וֹא וְהִנֵּ֣ה עֵ֠לִ֠י יֹשֵׁ֨ב עַֽל־הַכִּסֵּ֜א (יך) [יַ֥ד] דֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ מְצַפֶּ֔ה כִּֽי־הָיָ֤ה לִבּוֹ֙ חָרֵ֔ד עַ֖ל אֲר֣וֹן הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְהָאִ֗ישׁ בָּ֚א לְהַגִּ֣יד בָּעִ֔יר וַתִּזְעַ֖ק כׇּל־הָעִֽיר׃

"He [a Binyaminite man] came, and here: Eli was sitting on a throne, beside the road, waiting-anxiously, for his heart was trembling for the Coffer of God. And when the man came to tell it in the town, the whole town cried out" — Sh'muel Aleph (Samuel I) 4:13; 1995 Shocken Bible Everett Fox translation

Talmud, Midrash, and Commentary

"A Binyaminite man. This was Shaul, *Perhaps the reason for Scripture not revealing that it was Shaul, was to protect the honor of his kingship being that he was responsible in part for Eili’s death.—Da’as Sofrim who grabbed the Tablets from the hands of Golyas and fled." — Rashi on I Samuel 4:12:1 from the Metsudah Tanakh Series

Date Finished

April 6, 2025

Description

Unlike Shaul whose character is greatly expanded within Talmud, Eli does not see much expansion in Talmud. Within the written text, Eli was known to be an indulgent father who did not rebuke his sons enough.

Content Warning: Sexual harassment and rape

Some in the Talmud claim that Eli's sons did nothing wrong sexually or that Pinchas did not do anything wrong sexually and that he just didn't stop his brother. They claim Eli's sons were said to lay with the women because they delayed in sacrificing the women's offerings, so now the women couldn't have sex in a timely fashion and that they were simply negligent and careless (Shabbat 55b:12).

However, the Gemara disagree with this interpretation since it goes against the plain meaning of the text (Shabbat 55b:19). I also strongly disagree with it especially when you consider the mirrors that the women who contributed to the Mishkan (Vayakhel, Shemot (Exodus), 38:8) and did tasks. Rashi commented how these women's contributions helped the people survive in Egypt (Rashi on Exodus 38:8). Rabbeinu Bahya recounts that these mirrors made up the basin where the priests washed (Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 38:8). The only other time these women are mentioned is in reference to how Eli's sons lay with them (Sh'muel Aleph (Samuel I) 2:22). Notably however, these women are not blamed for the misdeeds of Eli's sons.

Therefore I interpret this as a case of clear sexual harassment. Because Eli's sons were priests, their sexual harassment of these women perverted a sacred space. They mimicked idolatrous practices of soliciting sex in temples and spitting on the gifts that their female ancestors gave the priests to wash their faces in every day and allowed them to exist. If what the Talmud says is true in that the women they bothered were married, that makes everything worse in the sexual crimes department since adultery is a crime defined as having sex with a married woman. Jews are supposed to die rather than commit these crimes and yet here they are.

It also feeds into the perilous status of women going into the monarchic era since Shoftim ends with the episode of the Levite's Concubine to show the people's moral decay. Ultimately, the war wasn't conducted because of concern about women but rather to sate the men's stained honor since they multiplied the crime of the Levite's Concubine six hundred times over with the women of Yavesh-Gilead and Shiloh.

Regardless of Eli's disapproval, Tanakh conveys a powerful message that sexual harassment is not to be tolerated and that enabling cultures ultimately lead to ruin.

Name

Eli's (עֵ֠לִ֠י) name means ascension. If you divide his name into parts, it has the Hebrew suffix meaning "to me" while the ayin means "eye."

Design Inspiration

I wanted to allude to Sh'muel HaNavi's design and a tallit gadol with Eli's me'il. Although the Kohen Gadol's clothing is well described in Torah, the Kohen Gadol can only serve until he is 50. Older Kohanim and Levites seemed to serve as mentors and assistants. Since Eli was 98 when he died, I took more liberty with his clothing while still alluding to the Kohanim clothing with the blue ketonet. I based Sh'muel's me'il off the Ashkenazi style tallit gadol while Eli's is based off the Sephardic tallit gadol. The Sephardic tallit gadol is completely white unlike the Ashkenazi tallit which adds black or dark blue stripes to remember the techelet. On a more symbolic note, white in the tallit represents divine mercy and forgiveness. Eli was less severe than Sh'muel. However, Eli needed to apply more stringency with his sons, and so Hashem cursed Eli's line.

I gave Eli's me'il seven white stripes to represent Eli's six biological descendants mentioned in Tanakh: Chofni, Pinchas, Ichabod, Achituv, Achiyyah/Achimelech, and Evyatar as well as his foster son Sh'muel.

Eli was said to be blind when he died, so I decided to represent that with cataracts, the most common cause of blindness worldwide. Cataracts cloud the vision, and I wanted to parallel the design choice with Eli's desire to see the best in many but especially his sons. However, this obscured the truth to what his sons actually were. When faced with the truth that the Ark was lost and his sons died against the Philistines, Eli broke his neck falling backwards in his chair. Rashi and other midrashim claim that the one who related this tragic news was Shaul before he became king. I plan to play with that in my narrative too.

A medium coppery skinned man in his 30s with broad shoulders and heavy muscles. He wears a white linen sadin with short sleeves, an orange ketonet covered with snakes and tied with a red sash, and olive-brown leather sandals. His hair is bound into seven locs and covered with a rectangular hat. The scene is set in the sunny desert.

Shimshon HaShofet (the Judge)

Tanakh

וַתֵּ֤לֶד הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ בֵּ֔ן וַתִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ שִׁמְשׁ֑וֹן וַיִּגְדַּ֣ל הַנַּ֔עַר וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ יְהֹוָֽה׃

וַתָּ֙חֶל֙ ר֣וּחַ יְהֹוָ֔ה לְפַעֲמ֖וֹ בְּמַחֲנֵה־דָ֑ן בֵּ֥ין צׇרְעָ֖ה וּבֵ֥ין אֶשְׁתָּאֹֽל׃ {פ}

"The woman gave birth to a son; she called his name Shimshon. The boy grew up, and Hashem blessed him.

And Hashem’s rushing-spirit began to stir him up in Mahaneh-Dan, between Tzor’a and Eshtaol." — Shoftim (Judges) 13:24-25; 1995 Schocken Bible Everett Fox Translation

Talmud, Midrash, and Commentary

תַּנְיָא, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן הֶחָסִיד: בֵּין כְּתֵיפָיו שֶׁל שִׁמְשׁוֹן שִׁשִּׁים אַמָּה הָיָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיִּשְׁכַּב שִׁמְשׁוֹן עַד חֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיָּקׇם בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיֶּאֱחֹז בְּדַלְתוֹת שַׁעַר הָעִיר וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזוֹת וַיִּסָּעֵם עִם הַבְּרִיחַ וַיָּשֶׂם עַל כְּתֵיפָיו״, וּגְמִירִי דְּאֵין דַּלְתוֹת עַזָּה פְּחוּתוֹת מִשִּׁשִּׁים אַמָּה.

"It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon the Pious said: The width between the shoulders of Samson was sixty cubits, as it is stated: “And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and grabbed 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 carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron” (Judges 16:3). The verse indicates that the width of the gate of the city of Gaza was equal to the width of Samson’s shoulders, and it is learned as a tradition that doors of the gate of Gaza were no less than sixty cubits wide." — Sotah 10a:5; The William Davidson Talmud Koren Steinsaltz translation

Date Finished:

April 3, 2025

Description:

Shimshon who is single and ready to mingle. I gave Shimshon bilateral club feet since the rabbis said that he was disabled in both his legs (Sotah 10a:9)

Name:

Shimshon (שִׁמְשׁוֹן) means man of the sun, related to the word shemesh (שֶׁמֶשׁ) "sun." He served as a shield for the people, so I wanted to go with a warmer sunkissed palette.

Design Inspiration:

I looked for motifs in the story to see if I can find a common color or symbolic motif. All the stories around him center on golden, amber colors between the bee's honey from a lion's carcass (Shoftim (Judges) 14:8) and the foxes he tied as a torch in revenge (Shoftim (Judges) 15:4). Within Shimshon's story, fire is a common motif (Shoftim (Judges) 14:15, 15:4, 15:14, 16:9).

Shimshon hails from the tribe of Dan, which means “Hashem has judged me.” Dan is Rachel’s foster son via Bilhah (Vayetzei, Bereshit (Genesis) 30:6), and he was born after Rachel begged Ya’akov to give her children or else she was as good as dead (Vayetzei, Bereshit (Genesis) 30:1). Ya’akov responded pretty cruelly to this, so Rachel gave him her handmaiden Bilhah so that Rachel could have a foster son. Dan’s symbol is the snake and his gemstone is often interpreted as a jacinth (yellow-red to red-brown zircon).

Therefore, I decided to use orange as the main color with green motifs for the snake of Dan. The green can be seen in his eyes and sandals.

One thing we do know about Shimshon is his hair. He had his hair bound into 7 tresses based on his claim to Delilah that if those were put into a loom, he would be as weak as any other man (Shoftim (Judges) 16:13). Therefore, I made a hairstyle using seven locs. I wanted him to look kind of similar to Sh'muel since both were Nazirites for life bound via their mothers.

I always pictured Shimshon as much broader with his shoulders and being short with his legs. Unlike Shaul HaMelech where I emphasized height over width, I did the opposite with Shimshon focusing on width and bulk rather than height.

Delilah contemplates shaving her husband's Shimshon's hair while he sleeps in her lap. She wears a white linen sadin and a silver necklace made of amethysts. Shimshon is only in his nightclothes. On the wooden nightstand sits a bronze razor.

Delilah and Shimshon HaShofet

Tanakh

וַתְּיַשְּׁנֵ֙הוּ֙ עַל־בִּרְכֶּ֔יהָ וַתִּקְרָ֣א לָאִ֔ישׁ וַתְּגַלַּ֕ח אֶת־שֶׁ֖בַע מַחְלְפ֣וֹת רֹאשׁ֑וֹ וַתָּ֙חֶל֙ לְעַנּוֹת֔וֹ וַיָּ֥סַר כֹּח֖וֹ מֵעָלָֽיו׃

"She [Delilah] lulled him [Shimshon] to sleep upon her knees, and she called for a man and he shaved off the seven locks of his head; she began to subdue him, and his might left him." — Shoftim (Judges) 16:19; 1995 Schocken Bible Everett Fox Translation

Talmud, Midrash, and Commentary

דִּילְדְּלָה אֶת כֹּחוֹ — דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיָּסַר כֹּחוֹ מֵעָלָיו״. דִּילְדְּלָה אֶת לִבּוֹ — דִּכְתִיב: ״וַתֵּרֶא דְּלִילָה כִּי הִגִּיד לָהּ אֶת כׇּל לִבּוֹ״. דִּילְדְּלָה אֶת מַעֲשָׂיו — דְּאִיסְתַּלַּק שְׁכִינָה מִינֵּיהּ, דִּכְתִיב: ״וְהוּא לֹא יָדַע כִּי ה׳ סָר מֵעָלָיו״.

"The Gemara explains: She weakened his strength, as it is written: “And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man and had the seven locks of his head shaved off; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him” (Judges 16:19). She weakened his heart, as it is written: “And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart” (Judges 16:18). She weakened his deeds, thereby decreasing his merits, as the Divine Presence left him, as it is written: “And she said: The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said: I will go out as at other times, and shake myself. But he knew not that the Lord was departed from him” (Judges 16:20)." — Sotah 9b:16; The William Davidson Talmud Koren Steinsaltz translation

Date Finished:

April 6, 2025

Description:

Shimshon fell asleep at Delilah's knees. Delilah contemplates shaving his hair herself. Certain rabbis has also identified her as Micah's mother, who helped make an idol (Shoftim (Judges) 17:2), but others disagree since it creates issues with the timeline. It's unclear if Shimshon had any children with Delilah even though the Rabbis agreed that they had relations.

Name:

Delilah (דְלִילָ֗ה) means "feeble" or "weak" but also has hints of "night" (lilah; לִילָ֗ה). Some scholars have also connected her to vines to foreshadow Shimshon's fall since Nazirites are not supposed to touch grape products. The Arabic version says her name means "flirt" while another says it means "dangling curls." Jospehus, Pseudo-Philo, and many midrashim see Delilah as a Philistine woman. However, the text itself is ambiguous. Notably, Rabbi Debra Orenstein discusses how Delilah's name is Hebrew and that it is ambiguous if Delilah was a Philistine woman, a Jewish woman, a widow, or a sex worker in The Women's Haftarah Commentary.

Design Inspiration:

Based on Delilah's name, I wanted to tie her design to the night in contrast to Shimshon's ties to the sun. Delilah's hair is dark like the night. Her face is pale to resemble the moon and stars but also call in mind weakness. Her overall look is cool in contrast to Shimshon's warmth, which ultimately foreshadows how she and her coldness overcome the tragic judge. I gave her a silver necklace based on late Bronze Age necklaces found in Egypt. The silver came from the silver the Philistines promised her if she betrayed Shimshon (Shoftim (Judges) 16:5) while the amethysts come from the ties with grapes and alcohol. Since this is night time, I put both Shimshon and Delilah in their night clothes. I plan on doing a "day version" of Delilah as well. Shimshon's hair is uncovered to emphasize his vulnerability at Delilah's hands.

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