Samson in rabbinic literature x. 13), was a member of that clan (comp. I Chronicles iv. 3). The name "Samson" is derived from "shemesh" ("sun"), so that Samson bore the name of God, who is also "a sun and shield" (Psalm lxxxiv. 12 [A. V. 11]); and as God protected Israel, so did Samson watch over it in his generation, judging the people even as did God. Samson's strength was divinely derived (Sotah 10a); and he further resembled God in requiring neither aid nor help (Genesis Rabba xcviii. 18). In the blessings which Jacob pronounced on the tribe of Dan (Genesis xlix. 16-17) he
Wildlife of Israel The insects of Israel belong to various ecological zones, but mainly to the Mediterranean. There are insects belonging to roughly 27 orders in Israel, out of about 29 worldwide. Israel contains many invasive species brought by man, including scores of molluscs (the most common is the common garden snail "Helix aspersa") which usually live around gardens and greenhouses but also in natural habitats of native molluscs. As of 2008, over 220 species of invasive insects have been identified, some of them considered pests. The situation is little better with vertebrates, as a 2004 report reported that there are two mammalian