I got a legitimate question that actually doesn't bash any religion!?

Question

How rare is that for this section?! Anyway, heres the question-aimed at Christians or anyone else who knows the bible well.

I was reading this book and came across this paragraph or so that I didn't understand, not actually having read the entire bible. So heres the passage-

"Did you ever think, Clarice, why the Philistines don't understand you? It's because you're the answer to Sampson's riddle: You are the honey in the lion."

So for a little backround information, Clarice is a FBI agent who is in trouble and its due to the fact that her superiors are more interested in politics than justice. So please just don't tell me who the Philistines and Sampson is, can you explain to me why this metaphor makes sense?

I'm assuming its something along the lines of justice or right and wrong or something of that nature.

Yes, the quote is from Hannibal-by Thomas Harris, so yeah, *cue the with cannibal comments that I didn't ask for!*

Answer 1

Samson had found for himself the woman he wanted to marry, but she was a Philistine. This was out of the question for Samson's family, but he insisted. On his way to get his wife, Samson was attacked by a lion. He killed the lion and went on his way. He talked to her and was pleased. Later, he came back to get her and passed by the lion's carcass. The carcass was full of honey, which he ate and gave to his family as well.

The riddle was that the Philistines were the lion, and the woman Samson wanted as his wife was the honey.

So, for Clarice, her superiors were the lion, a simile of the Philistines because of their superiority over her (like the Philistines were dominant over Israel at the time). She was the honey, because she was the prize within the organization, the FBI.

Unfortunately, the story didn't turn out well for Samson. His wife betrayed him and he gave her to his best man. That doesn't bode well for Clarice. Did Hannibal know this?

Answer 2

You are right I believe it is a metaphor regarding power. Or rather the Philistines are Clarice's superiors. It is a metaphor because even the priests and religious leaders of Jesus' time didn't understand Jesus. They did not believe that he was the one sent to put order in God's house on earth so to speak. Even though God had promised them this. They expected a king, and since Jesus was the son of a carpenter did not believe the teachings he was showing them, did not and could not perceive that they were wrong and had turned away from the real meaning behind what they were teaching, the blind leading the blind, a lot like today wouldn't you agree?

In your story the FBI, CIA didn't really care about the message, just how good they would look if it was one of their's that did the collar. It's a bit twisted because Hannibal being a cannibal is twisted and saw no wrong in eating humans, couldn't understand as the Philistines couldn't understand, that this child could take scriptures of the forefathers and put a just and true answer to them, they were always trying to trap Him, in his work and only achieved to show how much more He knew than them, and this infuriated them.

Does this help.

Answer 3

What a marvelous metaphor. Thank you for sharing it!
The honey-lion dynamic revolves around the image of something good from the guts/death of the dangerous.
Not understanding the riddle was going to cost the Philistines. Rather than pay up to Sampson, they warped the system, bribed/threatened his bride.
In your novel, the Philistines/boss are more interested in saving their "bet" than in playing square w/ Clarice when they stand to lose power/face/whatever..

Answer 4

Samson's riddle was: Out of the eater comes something to eat. Out of the strong comes something sweet. The Philistine men threatened Samson's wife. His wife begged him to tell her the riddle and she then shared the answer with the people he had challenged with the riddle. The Philistine men then answered, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?"

The Philistines could not figure out the riddle on their own. They got the answer by wrong doing. Perhaps the supervisor of your Clarice (I always think of Silence of the Lambs when I hear that name) can't figure her out or cannot understand her without the help of others.

Answer 5

In the Bible Samson uses his special gifts God gave him for selfish purposes. In the same way the FBI was utilizing Clarice for their own selfish purposes. She was the sweetness within the strength.

In the Bible Samson kills a lion with his bare hands, days later he sees the carcass with bees swarming within making honey. He then makes this into a riddle to fool his enemies. The riddle - Food came out of the eater, and sweetness from the strong - no one could figure out it was a lion until the girl he liked tricked him into giving the answer.

Hope that helps

Answer 6

When he came close to where he had slew the lion, he went over to take a closer look, and there, in the carcass of the lion, was a swarm of bees and some honey!

How can something so good grow in something so bad?

Because that's the way God works! God is the specialist at making good things come out of bad situations, of making good people grow in bad environments, of bringing good out of bad churches, even using crooked "evangelists" to bring about healings and other miracles! God knows how to make ALL things work together for good, even to the point of making honey in the carcass of an unclean animal!

Friends, don't deny yourself the good, just because it comes in an "untouchable" package! Remember Sampson! Allow God's Spirit to guide you, and if you do, you will enjoy the blessings of God, no matter what their source!

"God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28-29)

Answer 7

Clarice is the "bait" that will calm down the "lion". Something that the Philistine's could not do. It's a power struggle, I think. Clarice should not have the power she does.

Answer 8

That's correct

Answer 9

Judges 14:5-9, 12-14 As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

8 Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, 9 which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.

Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13 If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes."
"Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."

14 He replied,
"Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet."
For three days they could not give the answer.

Answer 10

gonna eat you up!

in fact comes from a riddle that samson posed the philistines. he"d seen a dead lion infested with bees, and said to the philistines if you guess thisi will give you the secret of my strength. out of the strong came forth sweetness.