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Famous Hebrew Tales

With the release of the Blockbuster Samson just around the corner, we thought we’d take a look at what other stories come from ancient tales. From Noah and his animal preserving ark, Moses parting the red sea or Abraham and his son in the ultimate test of faith, there are plenty of Hebrew heroes to have a look at, so let’s talk about a few!

Coat of Many Colours

With the release of the Blockbuster Samson just around the corner, we thought we’d take a look at what other stories come from ancient tales. From Noah and his animal preserving ark, Moses parting the red sea or Abraham and his son in the ultimate test of faith, there are plenty of Hebrew heroes to have a look at, so let’s talk about a few!

Although this garish garment is more commonly known because of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical from 1970, the original parable still contains the same amazing coat. Jacob (who’s also known as Israel) loved his son Joseph very much, because he was the son of his late wife Rachel and he was the last reminder he had of her. He gave his son a coat, an amazing technicolour one, which made his half-brothers insanely jealous. So, like most rational siblings, they sold Joseph into slavery and told their father he had been killed, sweetening the pitch by staining his coat with blood. Joseph had a few wild adventures of his own and rose from slave to vizier by helping the pharaoh and earning his trust. When his brothers came to beg pharaoh for food, a disguised Joseph didn’t reveal himself until some time and forgave them for their deeds. He didn’t get the coat back though.

Samson

Earning himself a Hollywood Blockbuster this month, Samson was a Nazirite who was known for his incredible strength that was a result of his luscious locks of hair. He slew a lion with his bare-hands and killed an army of 1,000 Philistines with just the jawbone of an ass. His downfall comes after he falls in love with Delilah – she agrees to betrays him in exchange for 1,100 silver pieces and is tasked with finding his weakness by the Philistines. After three different joke-y answers from Samson and decidedly non-jokey attempts by Delilah to put them into practice, he tells her that cutting his hair will remove his strength. Whilst he slept, Delilah cuts his hair and hands him over to the Philistines, who gouge his eyes out and put him into forced labour. Finally, in the temple to Dagon, Samson prays to God to return his strength, and collapses the temple, killing both himself and a whole lot more Philistines.

David & Goliath

The original tale that inspired countless spin-offs, so much so that it’s still used as a term to describe an underdog fight. Whilst Saul and the Israelites are facing the Philistines (apparently Samson didn’t kill all of them), Goliath moves between the two armies and challenges the Israelites to send out their greatest champion. Which is intimidating as he was either 6 foot 9 or 9 foot 9, depending who you ask. King Saul, obviously, didn’t want to fight this mountain of a man but David, a relative nobody, agrees to face him. While Goliath was in full armour, David went armed with only his sling and a few stones. While it might be tempting to ramp up the tension here, I think we all know how the fight went down. David defeated Goliath and cut his head off to prove his victory. Which is why, even to this day, we describe a woefully mismatched situation where the underdog wins as a David VS Goliath situation.