Samson
The name Samson, written šmšwn, is explained as meaning “sun”, but that has nothing to do with the story. It’s more likely a pun with ṣmṣm for “locks” & “veiling”, and ˁṣm for “strength”. This fits much better, because Samson’s story is about locks & strength, and the spooky version beneath is about veiling.
Samson’s puns in a nutshell
That Samson should mean “sun” makes no sense, because there’s no relation to that in the story. But because Samson’s riddle has “hidden leaders” for an answer, we can assume Samson’s name means something like that as well.
In the literal story, Samson’s superhuman strength comes from his locks. Real-life locks don’t give you strength, so the 2 may be linked through a pun. In Samson’s story, the word used for “locks” is ḥlp for “twisted around” (think “caliph”). The word used for “strength” is kḥ for “power” (think “Koch brothers”).
But there’s also the letter combo ṣm (not used in the story), which has both meanings “strength” & “locks”, and is also similar to Samson:
- Samson is very strong, because עצם ˁṣm means “strength” & “power” (think “Osama”).
- Samson is a leader, because עצם ˁṣm is in Daniel 8:24 even translated as “mighty men” & “powerful leaders”.
- Samson’s strength comes from his locks, because צם ṣm / צמצם ṣmṣm means “locks”.
- Samson is thirsty after fighting in the desert, because צמא ṣmˀ means “thirst” & “desert”.
- Samson is tortured in captivity, perhaps because צמי ṣmy means “making suffer”.
- Samson meets a lion, because Arabic ˀsˀm means “lion”.
- Samson meets bees, because zmzm / zmm means “humming”.
- Samson is a spook symbol, because צם ṣm / צמצם ṣmṣm also means “veiling oneself”.
As to the pun similarity: * All these meanings occur either in Samson’s story, or in the spook story beneath. * The words also sound similar to Samson, since Tsade is pronounced close to Shin (both are fricatives). * To get the N, you can simply add the grammar suffix -n which means “X person”. * To get the N in another way, you can add the suffix שן šn for “disguise”. ## Hebrew / Aramaic *ṣm* for “locks” & “veil”, *ˁṣm* for “strength” The punny similarity is strongest in Hebrew & Aramaic: Both ˁṣm for “strength” & “power” and ṣm for “locks” & “veil” are spelled with ṣm. (Interestingly, Klein [derives **ṣmṣm** for “veil”](https://www.sefaria.org/Klein_Dictionary%2C_%D7%A6%D7%9E%D7%A6%D7%9D) from [**ṣmm** for “pressing” & “drawing together”](https://www.sefaria.org/Klein_Dictionary,_%D7%A6%D7%9E%D7%9D.1). So, in an archaic sense it may even be loosely related to ˁṣm for “power” & “force”. We’ll also find some evidence for that in Egyptian.)
Hebrew, Aramaic ṣm = restrict, veil, veiling, braids, locks
צמה ṣmh : veil, woman’s veil, locks — Old Hebrew (Strong)
צמה ṣmh : pigtail, braid, plait — Hebrew (Wikt)
צמה ṣmh : lock, plait; woman’s veil — Hebrew (Klein)
צמצם ṣmṣm : to press, reduce, contract; restricted, reduced, limited, minimized; drew together, tied up, veiled — Hebrew (Klein)
צמצם ṣmṣm : to squeeze in, confine; to restrain the hair from flying, to tie up, veil; to veil one’s self — Hebrew (Jastrow)
צמצם ṣmṣm : to make tight, to confine, restrict, to veil tightly; to define exactly, observe closely; to be severely limited; to veil oneself — Aramaic (CAL)
Hebrew, Aramaic ˁṣm = strength, force, power, might
עצמה ˁṣmh : might, power, abundance, strength — Old Hebrew (Strong)
עצמה ˁṣmh : force, might, power — Hebrew (Klein)
עצום ˁṣwm : great, numerous, mighty, mighty men, strong — Old Hebrew (Strong)
עצם ˁṣm : to constrain, force; to make a binding agreement; to litigate; to urge; to urge; to prevent; to make necessary; to be forced; to quarrel — Aramaic (CAL)
עצומה ˁṣwmh : force — Aramaic (CAL)
עצים ˁṣym : violent — Aramaic (CAL)
Arabic ḍmd = bandage, patch
Arabic ˁẓm = power, greatness, aristocracy
Egyptian ṯȝm = veil, bandage, cloak, cover
𓅷𓄿𓅓𓂡 ṯȝm : veil, cover over — Egyptian (Vygus)
𓅷𓄿𓅓𓋳 ṯȝm : to cloak (oneself); to cover over (of a wound with skin) — Egyptian (TLA)
𓅷𓄿𓅓𓋳 ṯȝm : veil — Egyptian (AED)
𓅷𓄿𓅓𓍱 ṯȝm : cloak; swaddling clothes; bandages — Egyptian (TLA)
𓅓𓅷𓄿𓅓𓋳 mṯȝm : a woman’s garment, veil — Egyptian (Vygus)
𓅷𓄿𓅓𓏏𓋳𓂡𓏥 tham-t : coverings, face-cloths — Egyptian (Budge)