As a woman, I’ve wondered: How would certain bible stories sound if they were written from a woman’s perspective? Writing the story from a woman’s perspective doesn’t mean the story would end differently. But maybe it means that women would be seen in a more positive light.
Take for example the Story of Delilah and Sampson in the book of Judges.[i] I’ve always felt that Delilah was portrayed as a woman with no redeeming qualities. She was depicted as scandalous! But what if the story were told from a different perspective – a woman’s perspective. Maybe Delilah could be shown as someone who had some type of redeeming qualities.
In honor of Women’s History Month, imagine the Story of Delilah going something like this:
“Delilah was like no other woman Samson had ever met. Physically, she was beautiful! In fact, there was something alluring about her beauty. It was no wonder that Samson fell in love with her. It was almost as if he couldn’t help himself. He was instantly attracted to her when he first saw her. But the attraction didn’t stop with her physical beauty. There was something about her mannerisms that drew Samson to her. It was the way she looked at him – the way she spoke to him – the way she touched him.
Samson was known as “Samson the strong man.” He was a wild, restless man. But there was something about Delilah that calmed him. Delilah gave him a place to rest, relax and lay his head. This was the Delilah Samson loved. But in spite of the affection and tenderness she showed Samson, there was another side to Delilah – a side that was complex, calculating and self-serving.
This was the Delilah who was confronted by a group of Philistine leaders to make a deal with them: she would find out the secret behind Samson’s great strength (so that the Philistine’s could tie him up and strip him of his strength) and they would each give her eleven hundred pieces of silver. It was the complex, calculating, self-serving Delilah who, day after day, asked Samson the secret to his strength and how he could be tied up and made weak. It was the complex, calculating, self-serving Delilah who tied Samson up only to find out that he had lied to her and that he was able to break free with little to no effort. And it was the complex, calculating, self-serving Delilah who pressed and pushed until Samson finally told her that if his hair were ever to be shaved from his head, he would be like any other person.
It was the tender, affectionate Delilah, on whose lap Sampson lay his head. And it was the complex, calculating, self-serving Delilah who tied him up and had his hair cut off. The Philistines got Sampson and Delilah got her silver.
Years later, when people spoke about what happened, they were always left wondering why she did it. No one understood why Delilah took the bribe. She had found out Samson’s truth and used it for her own personal gain and for his harm. For that reason, not much good was ever spoken of her after that day – except for one thing:
She was a woman who knew how to persist until she found the truth.“
[i] Judges is believed to be written by a man. Some traditions say it was written by the prophet Samuel.
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The Story of Delilah as told in this blog can be found in the book: LESS THAN VIRTUOUS-MORE THAN CAPABLE: Affirmations for Everyday Women. To purchase copies of the book, click here.
No portion of this story may be duplicated in writing or in any other recorded form.
Copyright © 2018 by Kanisha L. Adkins.
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