Samson And Other Notables: Lost in the Frey

Nadene Goldfoot                                                

Samson, from the tribe of Dan with father named Manoah, is lost to us.  His tribe was taken along with 9 other northern tribe of Jacob, as slaves by Assyria in  722-721 BCE. 

         Samson had been one of the Israelite judges as he grew older.  His mother made him a Nazirite from birth.  He didn't cut his hair, was extremely strong and had great courage, inherited from his ancestors. Going back to the 1st Dan-the namesake, he was the 5th son of Jacob and his mother was Bilhah, handmaid of Rachel.  They lived in what became the Southern part of  Jaffa, then forced to live in the hill country by the Amorites.  Part of the tribe was able to live along the coastal region.  The rest were forced to migrate north into Phoenician-held land and made a settlement there around Laish.   Then the Philistines arrived.  That's when Samson lived and showed his heroism.  The period of King Saul and David was yet to come.                                              

            King Hoshea (reigning from 732 to724 BCE)  He had conspired against PEKAH, assassinated him, and seized the throne with Assyrian help, Assyrians have related.  His kingdom was small, confined to the m5. Ephraim area.  Finally he rebelled against the Assyrians and was then put in prison by the new Assyrian ruler, Shalmaneser who then besieged and captured Samaria.  

      Before this attack, King Hoshea (730-721 BCE)  of Israel had tried to throw off the yoke  which led to Shalmaneser V's siege of Samaria, and it's capture in 721 by his successor, SARGON.  Sargon then annexed the country, deported 27,290 Israelites to Assyria and Media and replaced them with Syrian and Babylonian prisoners.  A bottleneck was being created as far as who lives and who is forgotten about.  That was the end of our Jewish Kings of Israel.  It had been created by the 1st king, Saul in the 11th century BCE (1100s- 1000s)  Example:  King David ruled from 1010 to 970 BCE).  David ruled after Saul was killed in battle.   

What happened to the tribe of Dan in the 721 siege?