Samson

Lore & Background

Samson was born to Manoah, an Israelite from Zorah descended from the Danites, and his wife, who had been unable to conceive. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and proclaimed that the couple would soon have a son who would begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. The angel stated that Manoah's wife was to abstain from all alcoholic drinks and unclean foods, and her promised child was not to shave or cut his hair—he was to be a Nazirite from birth. When the angel returned, Manoah asked his name, but he said, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding." The angel touched Manoah's sacrifice with his staff, miraculously engulfing it in flames, and ascended into the sky. In due time, their son Samson was born and raised according to the angel's instructions.

In Their Own Story

As a young adult, Samson left the hills of his people to see the cities of Philistia and fell in love with a Philistine woman from Timnah, deciding to marry her despite his parents' objections. On his way to ask for her hand, he was attacked by a lion and ripped it apart with his bare hands. At the wedding feast, Samson told a riddle to his thirty groomsmen: "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." The Philistines threatened to burn his bride and her father's household if she did not discover the answer. She extracted the secret from Samson and passed it to the groomsmen. Samson then traveled to Ashkelon, struck down thirty Philistines for their garments, and gave those garments to his groomsmen. In a rage, he returned to his father's house. Later, he gathered 300 foxes, tied them together in pairs by their tails, attached burning torches to each pair, and turned them loose in the grain fields and olive groves of the Philistines. The Philistines burned Samson's wife and father-in-law to death in retribution. In revenge, Samson slaughtered many Philistines, saying, "I have done to them what they did to me." He then took refuge in a cave in the rock of Etam. An army of Philistines demanded that 3,000 men of Judah deliver Samson to them. With Samson's consent, they tied him with two new ropes, but he broke free and killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.

Reader's Guide

Later, Samson fell in love with Delilah in the valley of Sorek. The Philistines induced her with 1,100 pieces of silver to find the secret of his strength. Samson teased her, first saying he would lose his strength if bound with fresh bowstrings, then with new ropes, then if his locks were woven into a weaver's loom—each time he broke free. Finally, he capitulated and told Delilah that God supplied his power because of his consecration as a Nazirite, symbolized by the fact that a razor had never touched his head. Delilah wooed him to sleep "in her lap" and called for a servant to cut his hair. Samson lost his strength, was captured by the Philistines, who blinded him by gouging out his eyes, and put him to work turning a large millstone and grinding grain in Gaza. One day, the Philistine leaders assembled in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon, summoning Samson so that people could watch him perform. The temple was crowded with some 3,000 people, including all the rulers of Philistia. Samson asked his captors to let him lean against the supporting pillars to rest. While in prison his hair had begun to grow again. He prayed for strength, and God gave him strength to break the pillars, causing the temple to collapse, killing him and the people inside. After his death, Samson's family recovered his body from the rubble and buried him near the tomb of his father Manoah.

Did You Know?

• Samson's name means 'man of the sun' in Hebrew.
• He killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.
• The Philistines offered Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver to discover the secret of Samson's strength.
• Samson destroyed a temple of Dagon, killing himself and some 3,000 Philistines.
• He was a Nazirite from birth, which meant he could not cut his hair or drink alcohol.