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
Leaders of the tribes of Israel Leaders of the tribes of Israel The Torah gives several lists of leaders of the tribes of Israel. The first, and main, list appears in . It lists the leaders who supervised the first census of the Israelites, and who led them during their travels in the wilderness. Numbers 1 gives the list of those leaders who supervised the census: In the following chapters, these same leaders are recorded as being heads of their tribes during the encampments of the tribes in the wilderness. (, ) These leaders also brought donations from their respective tribes on the occasion of the