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The works of medieval exegetes such as Maimonides, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra demonstrate that Judaism has a long-standing tradition of studying the Torah critically.

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Samson’s story opens with Manoah fearing death after seeing a divine messenger. It ends with Samson, blinded and broken, seeking death himself. The parallel is deliberate: where Manoah sees the divine yet fails to understand, Samson loses his sight and only then recognizes YHWH. The reversal is sharpened by the role of prayer in the narrative: Samson’s parents never pray for a child, and Samson himself never prays throughout his life—until his final moments, when he cries out for strength, vengeance, and death.