The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-02-17

and sky were talked about and described by the early Semitic with ss much precis. ion as his undcveloped language eoald give him. and such phrases as he used became expanded. involving other and human incidents. by succeeding bar,is and story sellefs when ,hesr physical mean ing was wholly serEosscn. This is the more logical and reasonable conclusion than the theory which assumes tha, some individuals unusually endowed with physical beauty and strength. ~cre the ostg,nal centres around which clustered descriptions belonging to natural phe- nognena only.
 The deeds accorded to samson afe be. yond the po~ers of a purely mortal being to accomplish. His exploi, of staying thousands with the jaw bone ot an ass, has no, the effect. even in religious h,sto- tory, of either pointing a moral or adorn. . ing a tale. l, is said that he vas wise judge. vet he was twecdicd by Delilah. He does nos display human craft and as tusenes> by destroying himself in the overthrow oi hts enemes. His vaeillat- ing disposition and lussful nature wholly destroy his character as spiritual cnthu- stass and muscular judge, ahn,n the Al. mighty sen, forth a, the type and Aseng- CT of his chosen people. He becomes nothing more than the physical brute Hesacles. os the lassisious Mclkarth,or the Moloch of the Phanicians. or the iScl ol Babylon. The riddle he ptopounds IS really no riddle at all. as |, refers to some thing outside cf the range of the guess. ing faculties. -H is the assumption ei the happening oi some occurrence wh,. h Tn the nature of things could never hap pen.
 The phrase ia~ bone" comes from a Hebrew root haekak. meaning vigor. freshness, beautiful. handsome, and hnal. ly came to be used as a term tor the cheek. retaining In great measure iis original significance. Ass IS the word CAass, meaning reddish er ruddy color. and IS related 10 the word eAawss. heat. warmth. Hence the terms :" laA bcnc of An ass. appear so have ariscn from va, ablcs which were used to represent some as pcct of nature. or attributes st either ob- lecss ot nature. of of persons. and that the sense m winch they were used and under stood was a mctaphorioal one derNed from terms which had appiie alton oni, ] "a physical objects. thcit appearance. ot qual,,les. These arc terms that original- l, related .c !isht. .a .he rays of the sun. i Thus we are led to the conelusioa that the phrase of appellstive ia" bone oi an as>. in the sense oi weapon. grew up from the VOC ahies whick meant light, the power or the rays ot the sun. In other my,hologieS the rays oi the sun and lightning are the weapons oi the de- ihed heroes A weapon really possessrs na power or strength m itseli but ae- quli,s |, only through the w,eldet oi II. se the rays ei light. eI tho Jaw bone ni an as" become the instruments n. slsugh- ter ln the hands of samson er the sun Words when used tn an abstract et meta phorioa al sense wander A grea, distano [ away m meaning from the physical sig- niticanoc m which they were hrs, used. The Canaaniies, and nccessarily the Is- raclItes also were not unfamiliar with sun-worship. The lhuu,ctans woFshipped ! the sun under tho name ei Baal oi Mo lcch. and both these names mean ,hc sun In the lndo- European races the sun-god heroes are endowed with supcrhumar strength perform marvellous exploits. un- dcrgo overwhelming msfouunes. and finally are overcome by some fell ssrate- gem. Thf original of samson was pure sun-god, a myth. the pcfsonisic alton oi the physical aspects and powers of the sun. Many different legends have beer woven iy the old Hebrew writers into the history of the life and exploits oi l samson Indeed the old ehronielers du not hesitate 10 asaribe the same acton. | and the same quarfels ,o the different pauiafchs whose lives they have al tempted ,o record.
 i All the sun gods possess long. lururi ant and golden han. and their birth Is al ways attended by some marvellous or m i raeulous incidents. The golden hair long, brilliant and strong. IS nothing bu the flaming ligh, of the sun. These sun god heroes arc not always triumphant The darkness of night or the coldness O winter at las, overtakes them. samson likewise. after the gloom of darkness comes upon him by the loss of his eye sight, meets with defeat and utter des truc'ion.
 The lives and exploits of Indo-Enro pean legendary heroes offer many point Oi similarity 10 those or tnls DiDtiCai nero The weapon of Samson IS the suns rays or the darts of the thundefer As thu rays of Ugh, fall upon the earth, and al the lightning flashes from the cloud ans rcnds II, they may be considered AS beini thrown away, and ram springs from ;h' cloud after the flash, the same ss wa,e bursts from the spo, where Samson weapon is thrown All the sun god he toes are amorous and iastivious, so | samson The sun was the symbol Q fecundi,y and proos~a;ion- The howini locks of Samson are symbols of the hea and fruiliulness of summer, and thei cutting CT represents lhe eels and d<atl of winter As we have noticed bcfou the riddle IS no riddle. l, can be ex plained only on the supposis,on that ib' whole story IS sun myth. We cal readily understand that bees make thei honey when the sun passes through thu zodiacaI sign of the Lion. IL IS a fac, Q natural history that bees do not bulk ,heir nests CT make honey inscauion. We ind analogies not only bet sweeI the legends of lndo-EuropeAn races ana