Samson

Samson, in the Old Testament, Hebrew hero and for 20 years 12th judge of the tribes of Israel (see Judges 13-16) before the establishment of hereditary kingship. It is stated that he was the son of Manoah of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan. Manoah's wife was barren, but an angel appeared to her and promised a son and said the boy should be a Nazarite, that is, a person consecrated to the service of God. No razor was to touch the boy's head, and it was through the supernatural strength with which his hair endowed him that Samson performed his great feats, including the strangling of a lion and the slaying of a thousand Philistines (at that time the dominant peoples of Israel) with the jawbone of an ass. Finally he was betrayed in Gaza by a Philistine woman, Delilah, who befriended him and in his sleep had his head shaved and then handed him over to the Philistines. His eyes were put out and he was forced to perform servile labour. Later, at a festival in honour of Dagon, the Philistine deity, Samson was exhibited as a public spectacle (see Judges 16:23-30). By this time, however, his hair had grown back; he exerted his great strength and pulled down the pillars of the temple in which 3,000 Philistines had assembled, burying the multitude and himself in the ruins.

The story, set in the 11th century bc, apparently underwent editorial revision. Its legendary or even mythical character seems obvious to many scholars. The meaning of Samson's name, “man of the Sun”, and the nature of some of his exploits suggest that Samson was originally a hero of the sun cult.

Samson is recalled in the New Testament for his faith (see Hebrews 11:32-34). He is the subject of the tragic poem Samson Agonistes (1671) by John Milton and of the oratorio Samson (1743) by George Frideric Handel.