Biblical Account

Samson appears in the Old Testament only in Judg 13–16. The account opens by noting that in response to the Israelites’ apostasy, God raised up the formerly seafaring Philistines to oppress Israel for 40 years (Judg 13:1; compare Judg 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6). The account then introduces the solution to the Philistine oppression with the announcement of a birth. The divine messenger appears to a childless couple and declares that they will give birth to a son who will be crucial to the divine scheme to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines (Williams, “Beautiful and the Barren,” 107–19). The angel of Yahweh also assigns the child a permanent Nazirite status, declaring that he should not drink wine, eat unclean foods, or cut his hair. The child’s Nazirite status serves as a crucial literary element as the plot advances (Wong, Compositional Strategy, 89–96).

The narrative concerning Samson revolves around his interaction with three women:

1. a Philistine woman in Timnah, whom Samson marries;

2. a prostitute at Gaza; and

3. the Philistine agent Delilah.

Samson’s first acts against the Philistines take place during and after his wedding to the Timnite woman. During the wedding feast, Samson poses a riddle to his guests (Judg 14:12–14). According to McDaniel, ancient Near Eastern riddles like the one Samson poses “were poetic creations that focused on the resolution of paradox” (McDaniel, “Samson’s Riddle,” 47). Samson’s riddle is similar to unsolvable Greek riddles but lacks the common framework whereby it might be solved (Weitzman, “Samson Story as Border Fiction,” 164–69). The wedding guests compel Samson’s wife to learn the answer to the riddle and relate it to them. Judges 14:18 then records that “Samson’s wife was given to his companion” (ESV). In response, Samson burns the Philistines’ grain and orchards by means of 300 foxes bearing torches. This brutal retaliation sets the tone for Samson’s subsequent interactions with the Philistines.

The Philistines then recruit Delilah to uncover the source of Samson’s strength, suspecting that it is magic. Samson offers false instructions for countering his strength (Margalith, “Samson’s Riddle,” 229–34; Matthews, Judges and Ruth, 160–61). Each of the three instructions he gives—binding him with seven fresh bowstrings, binding him with new ropes, and weaving his hair into a loom—comes closer to the legitimate explanation (Stone, Judges, 414–17). Delilah eventually succeeds in discovering that the key to Samson’s strength was his uncut hair. She subsequently shaves his head, incapacitating him. The Philistines then gouge out his eyes and bind him. The narrative concludes when Samson, having regained his strength after his hair grows out, pulls down a temple roof upon a crowd of Philistines and himself, resulting in his death.

Fleenor and Schneider suggest that Samson may be the father of Micah (Judg 17–18; Fleenor, Judges & Ruth, 249–50; Schneider, Judges, 232). Supporting this suggestion is that both Micah and Samson are from the tribe of Dan, and the amount of silver Micah’s unnamed mother dedicates for his heretical shrine is the same as is paid to Delilah for her betrayal.