The story of Shimshon as recorded in the book of Shoftim supplies a prime example of how careful one must be when studying the Tanach not to be tempted to suggest textual emendations to "correct" our present day Masoretic text.

Shimshon was one of the later Shoftim, or leaders of Israel, in the pre-monarchy period. He was a man of extraordinary -- even supernatural -- strength, who rose to save his people from the oppression of the Philistines who ruled over substantial parts of Eretz Yisrael at the time. He once killed a thousand Philistines single-handedly, armed with only a donkey's jawbone (Shoftim 15:15). The Philistines finally succeeded in overpowering Shimshon with the help of his infamous wife Delilah. His eyes were gouged out and he was imprisoned by the Philistines in their capital, Gaza. One day they brought him out of his cell in order to humiliate him by having him "perform" for the Philistine crowds, who had assembled at a large celebration held in their huge temple in honor of their god. Shimshon then situated himself between the two main pillars of the building and literally "brought down the house," killing the thousands of Philistine spectators along with himself. In the Talmud Yerushalmi we find the following comment concerning the span of Shimshon's years of leadership.

One verse says, "He [Shimshon] led Israel for forty years," while another verse (Shoftim 16:31) says, "He led Israel for twenty years." How can this be resolved? Said Rav Acha: This teaches that the Philistines feared Shimshon for twenty years after his death just as they feared him for twenty years during his life.

(Yerushalmi Sotah 1:8)

The Talmud seems to be in disagreement with our texts of Tanach.... The Talmud Yerushalmi quotes a verse saying, "He led Israel for *forty* years." In all of our texts of the Tanach the reading is "*twenty* years."

(Tosafot Shabbat 55b, s.v. Ma'avirim)

But this presents a difficulty: If the Sages of the Talmud had a different reading, and we always follow the rulings of the Talmud, why should we not admit our "mistake" and emend our texts to correspond to the Talmudic version? (See the words of the Geonim on textual integrity in cases where the Talmud apparently presents a different reading of the text, Teshuvot Ge'onim Kadmonim #78)

In Shoftim 13:1 we read, "The Children of Israel continued to do what was wrong in the eyes of Hashem, and Hashem delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years." The Tanach then goes on to tell the story of Shimshon's conception and birth. Although the simple reading of the verse would seem to imply that Shimshon was born after the Israelites had already been subjugated by the Philistines for forty years, this cannot be the case, as the commentators point out. Some, or all, of the forty years of Philistine domination must overlap with the years of Shimshon's leadership of Israel ( -- otherwise there would be more than the requisite 480 years between the Exodus from Egypt and King Solomon's Temple -- I Kings 6:1).

According to the Yerushalmi, Shimshon prevented the dominating Philistines from attacking Israel for forty years. Since the Philistines only subdued Israel for forty years, we may conclude that Chazal [= the Sages of the Talmud] understood that *all* forty years of the Philistine domination of Israel coincided with Shimshon's tenure as leader.

Perhaps this is alluded to in the promise that the angel made to Shimshon's mother shortly after his conception that "your child will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Shimshon would *begin* to bring a salvation when the Philistine rule began, and would *continue* to be their nemesis for *as long as* the Philistines retained power over Israel. Shimshon would prevent the Philistines from overburdening Israel throughout the entire period of their rule over Eretz Yisrael.

If Chazal understood this to be the angel's intent, then they have a clear source in Tanach to demonstrate that Shimshon indeed led Israel for *forty* years -- i.e., for the entire period that they were subjugated to the Philistines.

Perhaps this, then, is the verse that the Yerushalmi cites to show that Shimshon led Israel for forty years. If so, the exact wording of the verse is not "He led Israel for forty years," as the Yerushalmi quotes. Rather, there are two distinct verses: "Hashem delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years," and "[Shimshon] will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines." It is possible that the Yerushalmi did not intend to cite a verbatim quote at all -- it may have really meant to paraphrase the two above-mentioned verses. Such combining of verses is not uncommon in the Talmud, as Tosafot himself points out in Megillah 3a (s.v. Vayyalen) and in many other places.

No verse, then, openly states that Shimshon led Israel for forty years. However, there are verses that *imply* it, and it is to these verses that the Yerushalmi is referring. There is now no need to assume that the Yerushalmi had a variant reading of the verse, nor is there a need to tamper with the text of the Yerushalmi! (See also Maharsha to Sotah 10a, who offers a similar explanation to reconcile the Yerushalmi with our texts. "Tzion Yerushalayim" to the Yerushalmi loc. cit.; Rashash to Bemidbar Rabba 14:9; "HaMikra VeHaMesorah" by R. Reuven Margulies, essay #2, all independently reached the same conclusion as the Maharsha. The way that they all present it, however, it is still necessary to make extensive emendations in the text of the Yerushalmi.)

It is interesting to note that the conclusion of the Yerushalmi -- that Shimshon's reign spanned two distinct 20-year periods -- can be corroborated by another piece of textual evidence. The Yerushalmi based its conclusion on the insinuation that Shimshon humbled the Philistines throughout the entire 40-years that they held a position of power in Israel. The Midrash to this week's Parasha comes the same conclusion based on the *repetition* of the verse that describes Shimshon's 20-year tenure as leader.

"On the tenth day ... the leader of the tribe of Dan brought his offering: ... two bulls" (Bemidbar, 7:66,71) -- These two bulls represent the two times that it is said in connection with Shimshon [who was from the tribe of Dan], "He led Israel for twenty years" (-once in Shoftim 15:20, and again in Shoftim 16:31). The phrase was repeated in order to teach us that the Philistines feared Shimshon for twenty years after his death just as they feared him for the twenty years of his life.

(Bemidbar Rabba 14:9)

[Just before Shimshon toppled the Philistine temple, he called out,] "My Lord Hashem, remember me and strengthen me just this once, O G-d, and I will avenge myself on the Philistines the revenge for one of my two eyes." (Shoftim 16:28) -- Rav said: This is what Shimshon said before Hashem: Master of the Universe! Remember for me the 22 (sic) years that I led Israel, during which I never asked any one of them to so much as bring me my walking stick.

(Gemara Sotah 10a)

[QUESTION #2] Another difficulty with this excerpt is that Rav's comment seemingly has nothing to do with the verse which is quoted to introduce his statement. What is the connection between Shimshon's prayer of "Remember me... one revenge for my two eyes" and Rav's comment that Shimshon was recalling his years of faithful service to his nation? Where did Rav see any hint to this motif in the verse quoted? (Rashi and Maharsha, who were also bothered by this problem, both offer suggestions that sound rather forced.) Perhaps, based on what we have explained, we may suggest a new interpretation for this passage.

The Bavli may have understood instead that the two periods of Shimshon's leadership were the twenty years during which Shimshon judged, and another twenty years during which he was *imprisoned* by the Philistines. (The Tanach in fact does not record how long he was in prison before he was brought out to perform for the crowds. It may well have been a very lengthy period of time.) If so, it would be entirely understandable that the Philistines feared Shimshon during the latter 20-year period. They were afraid that Shimshon would burst out of his shackles, although bound and blinded. Only after twenty years did they have the audacity to publicly taunt him (and we all know what happened to them then.... ) If so, the end of the 40-year Philistine rule coincided with Shimshon's dramatic martyrdom. Perhaps Shimshon brought about the downfall of the Philistines by destroying their temple and their leaders at the time of his death!.

[ANSWER #1] We may now suggest that the original reading of the Gemara was "the two twenty years that I led Israel," ("Shenayim Esrim Shana"). Shimshon was asking Hashem to remember for him the two 20-year periods during which he led the Jewish nation! Since the phrase "two twenty years" seems at first glance to be a meaningless phrase, it was "corrected" by copyists to "22 years," which is, of course erroneous! (See Maharsha Sotah 10a, who proposes a similar emendation of the text of the Bavli.)

[ANSWER #2] We may now understand the connection between Rav's teaching and the verse from which it was derived. Perhaps Rav saw in the word "eyes" an allusion to "leadership." In Bava Batra 4a the Gemara tells us that the words "the *eyes* of the congregation" (Bemidbar 15:24) refer to the *leaders* of the congregation. Thus, "one of my two eyes" may be homiletically interpreted as meaning "one of my two periods of leadership." From this verse, Rav derives further support for the thesis that Shimshon led Israel for *two* 20-year periods. Shimshon was now asking Hashem to award him for at least one of his periods of leadership in This World, by allowing him to bring about the fall of his captors!

We saw before that the Yerushalmi and the Midrash found two separate hints in the verses of Shoftim to Shimshon's "double-term" as spiritual leader. The Talmud Bavli now adds a *third* source for that contention!