Judge · OT
Samson
The Nazirite strongman whose victories over the Philistines were undone — and finally redeemed — by his own weaknesses.
Samson, son of Manoah from the tribe of Dan, was set apart from birth as a Nazirite — no wine, no cutting of his hair, no contact with the dead — and given supernatural strength to begin Israel's deliverance from the Philistines (Judges 13).
His story in Judges 14–16 is a string of feats: tearing a lion apart with his hands, killing thirty Philistines at Ashkelon, burning their grain fields with foxes and torches, slaying a thousand men with a donkey's jawbone, carrying off the gates of Gaza. It is also a string of moral collapses — a foreign wife, a prostitute in Gaza, and finally Delilah, who coaxed from him the secret of his strength.
Blinded, shaved, and grinding grain in a Philistine prison, Samson prayed once more. At the temple of Dagon, with his hair grown back, he pushed apart the two central pillars and killed more in his death than in his life. Hebrews 11 names him among those who 'through faith subdued kingdoms.'
Key moments
Birth foretold
An angel commissions him as a Nazirite from the womb (Judges 13).
Tearing the lion
First display of supernatural strength (Judges 14:5-6).
The jawbone of a donkey
Slays a thousand Philistines at Lehi (Judges 15:15).
Delilah's betrayal
His hair is cut and his strength leaves him (Judges 16:19).
Death at the temple of Dagon
Pulls down the pillars on himself and the Philistine lords (Judges 16:30).
Key verses
"for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
Read in context →
"And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith."
Read in context →
"And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man."
Read in context →
"And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."
Read in context →
"And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets:"
Read in context →
Frequently asked
Was Samson's strength in his hair?
Samson's hair was the visible sign of his Nazirite vow; the strength came from the Spirit of the Lord (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14). When the vow was broken by Delilah's razor, Judges 16:20 says plainly, 'he didn't know that Yahweh had departed from him.'
Related people