‘Revenge for My Two Eyes’: Talion and Mimesis in the Samson Narrative
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The Samson narrative is notable for its cycles of violence and revenge. Sometimes this has been understood to be an expression of lex talionis (‘an eye for an eye’); indeed, Samson appears to assert as much, though his actions do not match up to the ideal. This paper argues that while the narrator p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Biblical Interpretation Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 133 - 158
Autor principal: Paynter, Helen
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Brill Academic Publishers 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: ‘Revenge for My Two Eyes’: Talion and Mimesis in the Samson Narrative
.
      aug:
        au: Paynter, Helen
        affil: Bristol Baptist College, UK

      su:
        Lex talionis
        Mimesis
        Scapegoat
        Violence
        Revenge
      sug:
        subj:
          Lex talionis
          Mimesis
          Scapegoat
          Violence
          Revenge
      keyword:
        Girard
        Hebrew Bible

        lex talionis
        mimesis
        Samson
        scapegoat
      ab: The Samson narrative is notable for its cycles of violence and revenge. Sometimes this has been understood to be an expression of lex talionis (‘an eye for an eye’); indeed, Samson appears to assert as much, though his actions do not match up to the ideal. This paper argues that while the narrator permits Samson to make this claim, he demonstrates that a far more sinister dynamic is at work: namely, Girardian mimesis and scapegoating. At the centre of the rivalry between Israel and the Philistines is Samson, ‘monsterised’ by both sides, and represented in hulk-like terms. His sexual rivalry with his Philistine ‘companions’ embodies the rivalry between the two nations. Using a Girardian hermeneutic reveals how the cycles of violence are, in fact, an escalating form of mimesis, which twice approach crisis, but conclude with Samson escaping from the scapegoating role by taking matters into his own hands.

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