Drawn by Boudier, from photograph No. 265 of the _Palestine Exploration Fund._ These cities had also to reckon with Ephraim, and the tribes which had thrown in their lot with her. Dan had cast his eyes upon the northern districts of the Shephelah--which were dependent upon Ekron or Gath--and also upon the semi-Phoenician port of Joppa; but these tribes did not succeed in taking possession of those districts, although they had harassed them from time to time by raids in which the children of Israel did not always come off victorious. One of their chiefs--Samson--had a great reputation among them for his bravery and bodily strength. But the details of his real prowess had been forgotten at an early period. The episodes which have been preserved deal with some of his exploits against the Philistines, and there is a certain humour in the chronicler’s account of the weapons which he employed: “with the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men;” he burned up their harvest also by letting go three hundred foxes, with torches attached to their tails, among the standing corn of the Philistines. Various events in his career are subsequently narrated; such as his adventure in the house of the harlot at Gaza, when he carried off the gate of the city and the gate-posts “to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.” By Delilah’s treachery he was finally delivered over to his enemies, who, having put out his eyes, condemned him to grind in the prison-house. On the occasion of a great festival in honour of Dagon, he was brought into the temple to amuse his captors, but while they were making merry at his expense, he took hold of the two pillars against which he was resting, and bowing “himself with all his might,” overturned them, “and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein.” * * Some learned critics considered Samson to have been a sort of solar deity.