Samson

File:Eustache Le Sueur - The Sacrifice of Manoah, 1640-1650.jpg

The Sacrifice of Manoah (1640–1650) by Eustache Le Sueur

According to the account in the Book of Judges, Samson lived during a time of repeated conflict between Israel and Philistia, when God was disciplining the Israelites by giving them "into the hand of the Philistines".<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> Manoah was an Israelite from Zorah, descended from the Danites,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> and his wife had been unable to conceive.<ref name= "cha">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="ppp"/> The Angel of the Lord appears to Manoah's wife and proclaims that the couple would soon have a son who would begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines.<ref name="qqq">Template:Wwbible</ref>

The Angel of the Lord states that Manoah's wife was to abstain<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> from all alcoholic drinks, unclean foods, and her promised child was not to shave or cut his hair. He was to be a Nazirite from birth. In ancient Israel, those wanting to be especially dedicated to God for a time could take a Nazirite vow which included abstaining from wine and spirits, not cutting hair or shaving, and other requirements.<ref name="cha"/><ref name= "ppp"/><ref name="qqq"/> Manoah's wife believes the Angel of the Lord; her husband was not present, so he prays and asks God to send the messenger once again to teach them how to raise the boy who is going to be born.

After the Angel of the Lord returns, Manoah asks him his name, but he says, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Manoah then prepares a sacrifice, but the Angel of the Lord will only allow it to be for God. He touches it with his staff, miraculously engulfing it in flames, and then ascends into the sky in the fire. This is such dramatic evidence of the nature of the Messenger that Manoah fears for his life, since it was said that no one could live after seeing God. However, his wife convinces him that, if God planned to slay them, he would never have revealed such things to them. In due time, their son Samson is born, and he is raised according to the angel's instructions.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name="qqq"/>

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Marriage to a Philistine

Template:See also When he is a young adult, Samson leaves the hills of his people to see the cities of Philistia. He falls in love with a Philistine woman from Timnah, whom he decides to marry, ignoring the objections of his parents over the fact that she is not an Israelite.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name= "qqq"/><ref name="wqa">Template:Bibleverse</ref> In the development of the narrative, the intended marriage is shown to be part of God's plan to strike at the Philistines.<ref name="qqq"/>

According to the biblical account, Samson is repeatedly seized by the "Spirit of the Lord", who blesses him with immense strength. The first instance of this is seen when Samson is on his way to ask for the Philistine woman's hand in marriage, when he is attacked by a lion. He simply grabs it and rips it apart, as the spirit of God divinely empowers him. However, Samson keeps it a secret, not even mentioning the miracle to his parents.<ref name= "qqq" /><ref>Judges 14:6, Bible hub.</ref><ref name= "chb">Template:Cite book</ref> He arrives at the Philistine's house and becomes betrothed to her. He returns home, then comes back to Timnah some time later for the wedding. On his way, Samson sees that bees have nested in the carcass of the lion and made honey.<ref name= "qqq"/><ref name="chb"/> He eats a handful of the honey and gives some to his parents.<ref name="qqq"/>

At the wedding feast, Samson tells a riddle to his thirty groomsmen (all Philistines). If they can solve it, he will give them thirty pieces of fine linen and garments, but if they cannot they must give him thirty pieces of fine linen and garments.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name= "qqq" /> The riddle is a veiled account of two encounters with the lion, at which only he was present:<ref name="qqq" /><ref name= "chb"/>

<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref></poem>

The Philistines are infuriated by the riddle.<ref name="qqq"/> The thirty groomsmen tell Samson's new wife that they will burn her and her father's household if she did not discover the answer to the riddle and tell it to them.<ref name= "qqq" /><ref name="chb" /> At the urgent and tearful imploring of his bride, Samson gives her the solution, and she passes it on to the thirty groomsmen.<ref name="ppp" /><ref name= "qqq"/>

File:Tissot Samson Slays a Thousand Men.jpg

Samson Slays a Thousand Men with the Jawbone of an Ass (Template:Circa–1902) by James Tissot

Before sunset on the seventh day, they say to him, <poem style="margin-left: 2em;">What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?</poem> Samson replies, <poem style="margin-left: 2em;">If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref></poem>

Samson then travels to Ashkelon (a distance of roughly 30 miles) where he strikes down thirty Philistines for their garments; he then returns and gives those garments to his thirty groomsmen.<ref name= "ppp" /><ref name= "chb"/><ref name= "ooo">Template:Wwbible</ref> In a rage, Samson returns to his father's house. The family of his bride instead give her to one of the groomsmen as wife.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name= "chb" /> Some time later, Samson returns to Timnah to visit his wife, unaware that she is now married to one of his former groomsmen. But her father refuses to allow Samson to see her, offering to give Samson a younger sister instead.<ref name= "ppp" />

Samson goes out, gathers 300 foxes, and ties them together in pairs by their tails. He then attaches a burning torch to each pair of foxes' tails and turns them loose in the grain fields and olive groves of the Philistines.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> The Philistines learn why Samson burned their crops and burn Samson's wife and father-in-law to death in retribution.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name="chc">Template:Cite book</ref>

In revenge, Samson slaughters many Philistines, saying, "I have done to them what they did to me."<ref name="ppp"/> Samson then takes refuge in a cave in the rock of Etam.<ref name= "ppp">Template:Cite JewishEncyclopedia</ref><ref name="iii" /> An army of Philistines go to the tribe of Judah and demand that 3,000 men of Judah deliver them Samson.<ref name= "ppp" /><ref name="iii" /> With Samson's consent, given on the condition that the Judahites would not kill him themselves, they tie him with two new ropes and are about to hand him over to the Philistines when he breaks free of the ropes.<ref name= "chc" /><ref name="iii" /> Using the jawbone of an ass, he slays 1,000 Philistines.<ref name="chc"/><ref name="iii" /><ref name="igb">Template:Cite book</ref>

File:José Echenagusía - Samson and Delilah - Google Art Project.jpg

Samson and Delilah (1887) by Jose Etxenagusia

Delilah

Later, Samson travels to Gaza, where he sees a prostitute (Template:Langx) and visits her.<ref name="iii">Template:Bibleverse</ref> His enemies wait at the gate of the city to ambush him, but he tears the gate from its very hinges and frame and carries it to "the hill that is in front of Hebron".<ref name="iii"/>

He then falls in love with Delilah in the valley of Sorek.<ref name="ooo"/><ref name="chc"/><ref name= "iii"/><ref name="chd"/> The Philistines approach Delilah and induce her with 1,100 silver coins to find the secret of Samson's strength so that they can capture their enemy,<ref name="iii"/> but Samson refuses to reveal the secret and teases her, telling her that he will lose his strength if he is bound with fresh bowstrings.<ref name="iii"/> She does so while he sleeps, but when he wakes up he snaps the strings.<ref name="iii"/> She persists, and he tells her that he can be bound with new ropes. She ties him up with new ropes while he sleeps, and he snaps them, too.<ref name="iii"/> She asks again, and he says that he can be bound if his locks are woven into a weaver's loom.<ref name="iii"/> She weaves them into a loom, but he simply destroys the entire loom and carries it off when he wakes.<ref name="iii"/>

Delilah, however, persists and Samson finally capitulates and tells Delilah that God supplies his power because of his consecration to God as a Nazirite, symbolized by the fact that a razor has never touched his head and that if his hair is cut off the vow would be broken and he would lose his strength.<ref>Judges 16:17</ref><ref>Judges 16:16 (ESV)</ref><ref name="chd">Template:Cite book</ref> Delilah then woos him to sleep "in her lap" and calls for a servant to cut his hair.<ref name="ooo"/> Samson loses his strength and he is captured by the Philistines, who blind him by gouging out his eyes.<ref name="ooo"/> They then take him to Gaza, imprison him, and put him to work turning a large millstone and grinding grain.<ref name="iii"/>

Death

File:Lovis Corinth - Der geblendete Simson - Google Art Project.jpg

One day, the Philistine leaders assemble in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon, one of their most important deities, for having delivered Samson into their hands.<ref name="iii"/><ref name= "eej">Template:Wwbible</ref> They summon Samson so that people can watch him perform for them. The temple is so crowded that people are even climbing onto the roof to watchTemplate:Sndand all the rulers of the entire government of Philistia have gathered there too, some 3,000 people in all.<ref name="chd"/><ref name="eej" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Samson is led into the temple, and he asks his captors to let him lean against the supporting pillars to rest. However, while in prison his hair had begun to grow again.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> He prays for strength and God gives him strength to break the pillars, causing the temple to collapse, killing him and the people inside.<ref>Template:Bibleverse, JPS (1917)</ref>

After his death, Samson's family recovered his body from the rubble and buried him near the tomb of his father Manoah.<ref name="eej"/> A tomb structure which some attribute to Samson and his father stands on the top of the mountain in Tel Tzora,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> although a separate tradition passed down by the traveler Isaac Chelo in 1334 alleges that Samson was buried at the monument known as al-Jārib in Sheikh Abū Mezār, a village (now ruin) located near Tel Beit Shemesh.<ref name="Ben-Yosef">Template:Cite book</ref> Near the village there used to be shown a hewn rock, known as Qal'at al-mafrazah, on whose top and sides are quarried different impressions and thought to be the altar built by Manoah.<ref name="Ben-Yosef"/> At the conclusion of Judges 16, it is said that Samson had "judged" Israel for twenty years.<ref name="iii" />

Interpretations

Archaeology

In August 2012, archaeologists from Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of a circular stone seal, approximately Template:Convert in diameter, which was found on the floor of a house at Beth Shemesh and appears to depict a man, possibly long-haired, next to the sketchy depiction of a large animal resembling contemporary images of lions. The seal is dated to the 12th century BCE. According to Haaretz, "excavation directors Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman of Tel Aviv University say they do not suggest that the human figure on the seal is the biblical Samson. Rather, the geographical proximity to the area where Samson lived, and the time period of the seal, show that a story was being told at the time of a hero who fought a lion, and that the story eventually found its way into the biblical text and onto the seal".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>"Ancient seal may add substance to the legend of Samson", at sciencedaily.com, 13 August 2012. Accessed 25 April 2024.</ref><ref name= NW>Template:Cite web</ref> The human figure appears to be unarmed, which would correspond to the Samson story.<ref>Wiener (2012), see "Update": comment by Dale W. Manor, Field Director of Beth-Shemesh excavations.</ref>

The Blinded Samson (1912) by Lovis Corinth

Rabbinic literature

File:Samson hos filistrene.jpg

Rabbinic literature identifies Samson with Bedan,<ref name="ppp"/> a Judge mentioned by Samuel in his farewell address (Template:Bibleverse) among the Judges who delivered Israel from their enemies.<ref name="bedan"/> However, the name "Bedan" is not found in the Book of Judges.<ref name= "bedan">Template:Cite web</ref> The name "Samson" is derived from the Hebrew word šemeš, which means "sun",<ref name="ppp"/><ref name= VanderToorn /><ref name="Mobley2006" /> so that Samson bore the name of God, who is called "a sun and shield" in Template:Bibleverse;<ref name="ppp"/> and as God protected Israel, so did Samson watch over it in his generation, judging the people even as did God.<ref name="ppp"/> Samson's strength was divinely derived (Talmud, Tractate Sotah 10a).<ref name= "ppp"/><ref>Midrash Genesis Rabbah xcviii. 18</ref>

Jewish legend records that Samson's shoulders were sixty cubits broad.<ref name="ppp"/> Many Talmudic commentaries, however, explain that this is not to be taken literally, for a person that size could not live normally in society; rather, it means that he had the ability to carry a burden 60 cubits wide (approximately 30 meters) on his shoulders.<ref>Ben Yehoyada and Maharal, in commentary to Talmud, tractate "sotah" 10a</ref> He was lame in both feet<ref>Talmud tractate Sotah 10a: "And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Balaam was lame in one of his legs, as it is stated with regard to him: 'And he went, limping [shefi]'. Samson was lame in both of his two legs, as it is stated "a horned snake [shefifon] in the path' (Genesis 49:17)"</ref> but, when the spirit of God came upon him, he could step with one stride from Zorah to Eshtaol, while the hairs of his head arose and clashed against one another so that they could be heard for a like distance.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name = Midrash>Midrash Leviticus Rabbah viii. 2</ref> Samson was said to be so strong that he could uplift two mountains and rub them together like two clods of earth,<ref name = Midrash /><ref>Sotah 9b.</ref> yet his superhuman strength, like Goliath's, brought woe upon its possessor.<ref name="ppp"/><ref>Midrash Eccl. Rabbah i., end</ref>

In licentiousness, he is compared with Amnon and Zimri, both of whom were punished for their sins.<ref name="ppp"/><ref>Leviticus Rabbah. xxiii. 9</ref> Samson's eyes were put out because he had "followed them" too often.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name="Sotah l.c">Sotah l.c.</ref> (As his eyes led him astray by lust, this was the reason he was blinded.)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is said that, in the twenty years during which Samson judged Israel, he never required the least service from an Israelite,<ref>Midrash Numbers Rabbah ix. 25</ref> and he piously refrained from taking the name of God in vain.<ref name="ppp"/> Therefore, as soon as he told Delilah that he was a Nazarite of God, she immediately knew that he had spoken the truth.<ref name="ppp"/><ref name="Sotah l.c"/> When he pulled down the temple of Dagon and killed himself and the Philistines, the structure fell backward so that he was not crushed, his family being thus enabled to find his body and to bury it in the tomb of his father.<ref name="ppp"/><ref>Midrash Genesis Rabbah l.c. § 19</ref>

In the Talmudic period, some seem to have denied that Samson was a historical figure, regarding him instead as a purely mythological personage. This was viewed as heretical by the rabbis of the Talmud, and they attempted to refute this. They named Hazzelelponi as his mother in Numbers Rabbah Naso 10 and in Bava Batra 91a and stated that he had a sister named "Nishyan" or "Nashyan".<ref name="ppp"/>

Christian interpretations

Samson in the Treadmill (1863) by Carl Bloch

Samson's story has also garnered commentary from a Christian perspective; the Epistle to the Hebrews praises him for his faith.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> Ambrose, following the portrayal of Josephus and Pseudo-Philo,<ref name= "Newsome">Template:Cite book</ref> represents Delilah as a Philistine prostitute,<ref name= "Newsome" /> and declares that "men should avoid marriage with those outside the faith, lest, instead of love of one's spouse, there be treachery."<ref name= "Newsome" /> Caesarius of Arles interpreted Samson's death as prefiguring the crucifixion of Jesus,<ref name= "Newsome"/> remarking: "Notice here an image of the cross. Samson extends his hands spread out to the two columns as to the two beams of the cross."<ref name= "Newsome"/> He also equates Delilah with Satan,<ref name="Newsome"/> who tempted Christ.<ref name="Newsome"/>

Following this trend, more recent Christian commentators have viewed Samson as a type of Jesus Christ, based on similarities between Samson's story and the life of Jesus in the New Testament.<ref name=wp>Template:Cite book</ref> Samson's and Jesus' births were both foretold by angels,<ref name=wp/> who predicted that they would save their people.<ref name=wp/> Samson was born to a barren woman,<ref name=wp/> and Jesus was born of a virgin.<ref name=wp/> Samson defeated a lion; Jesus defeated Satan, whom the First Epistle of Peter describes as a "roaring lion looking for someone to devour".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Samson's betrayal by Delilah has also been compared to Jesus' betrayal by Judas Iscariot; both Delilah and Judas were paid in pieces of silver for their respective deeds.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Ebenezer Cobham Brewer notes in his A Guide to Scripture History: The Old Testament that Samson was "blinded, insulted [and] enslaved" prior to his death, and that Jesus was "blindfolded, insulted, and treated as a slave" prior to his crucifixion.<ref name=Brewer>Template:Cite web</ref> Brewer also compares Samson's death among "the wicked" with Christ being crucified between two thieves.<ref name=Brewer/>

Islamic literature

File:Chester Beatty T 414 fol 111r Shamshun destroys temple.jpg

Islamic 1585–1590 illustration depicting Shamshun, collapsing a pagan temple by pulling away a column

The Quran and authentic hadith never mentions Samson by name and characteristics specifically. However, there are several non-canonical works of Quran exegesis and scholastic traditions among Islamic literature that mention Samson (Template:Langx), particularly In the study of Tafsir.<ref name="Samson;Islamweb">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Samson;konsultasisyariah">Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Ill, a Hadith scholar and son of Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Idris al-Razi,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> mentioned Samson in his exegesis by quoting the opinion of Mujahid ibn Jabr where he described Samson as "an Israelite who wore armor and struggling in the way of God for 1,000 months".<ref name="Samson;Islamweb" />

Al-Tabari and Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi incorporated the biblical figure of Samson into the Quranic prophetic world.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Al-Tabari in particular has given details in History of the Prophets and Kings by incorporating biblical narratives with the authority of Israʼiliyyat tradition from Wahb ibn Munabbih, that his mother gave birth to him after she made a Nazar (vow) to God. Samson lived nearby a Pagan society, where he actively raided their settlement alone, armed with a camel's jawbone and always obtained spoils of war from his successful raids. This tradition of Tabari was traced from one of his teacher, Muhammad ibn Hamid ar-Razi. This tradition by Muhammad ibn Hamid also recorded by Al-Dhahabi through the records from Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, Al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Tabari, and al-Baghawi. However, al-Dhahabi also reported that the tradition from Muhammad Ibn Hamid were deemed inauthentic or flawed narrator by Hadith experts such as Ya'qub ibn Syaibah and Muhammad al-Bukhari. Furthermore, Ibn Ishaq also criticize the transmitter whose Muhammad ibn Hamid received from, which was Salamah ibn al-Fadl. Ibn Ishaq deemed him as unreliable narrator who were notorious for narrating traditions without stating his sources.<ref>Template:Cite web translation from: Template:Cite web Quote from: Template:Cite book</ref>

Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi featured al-Tabari's narration in his tafsir with more extensive details, where the Nisba (onomastics) of Samson was "Shamsun ibn Masuh". Furthermore, Abu Ishaq added the raids of Samson against the paganic kingdom were happened for the span of 1,000 month and killed "thousands of infidels", where it became a proverb in the saying "better than a thousand months" for the Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Power) which believed by Muslims as a moment of night where every good deeds and faith observance multiplied for more than 1,000 months.<ref name="Walid Fikr; Samson" />

Ibn Kathir has recorded in his Tafsir Ibn Kathir that the interpretation of the Qur'an episode Al-Qadr verses 3-4 was about the lifetime of Samson, who goes to Jihad (religious war) for the span of 1,000 month (83 years).<ref name="Walid Fikr; Samson">Template:Cite web</ref> Badr al-Din al-Ayni mentioned in his work of Umdat al-Qari Hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari exegesis, about the similar episode of the religious war done by Samson in 1,000 month. Meanwhile, Tafsir al-Tha'labi work by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Thalabi also recorded this narration about Samson episode in Al-Qadr chapter interpretation.<ref name="Samson;Islamweb" /> Aahmad al-Thalabi also interpreted that Samson was considered as one of Prophets and messengers in Islam and bestowed honorific Peace Be Upon Him for Samson. Tha'labi traced his interpretation to Wahb ibn Munabbih.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Scholarly

File:Sansón matando al león - Pedro Pablo Rubens.jpg

Samson Slaying the Lion (1628) by Peter Paul Rubens

Comparison with other religious and mythological figures

Some modern academics have interpreted Samson as a solar deity, as a demi-god (such as Hercules or Enkidu, among others) somehow enfolded into Jewish religious lore, or as an archetypical folk hero.<ref>Mobley (2006), p. 5.</ref>

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some comparative mythologists interpreted Samson as a euhemerized solar deity,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Burney1918>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Graves1955>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name= Mobley2006>Template:Cite book</ref> arguing that Samson's name is derived from Hebrew šemeš, meaning "Sun",<ref name="Mobley2006"/><ref name=VanderToorn/> and that his long hair might represent the Sun's rays.<ref name="Mobley2006"/> These solar theorists also pointed out that the legend of Samson is set within the general vicinity of Beth Shemesh, a village whose name means "Temple of the Sun".<ref name= Mobley2006/> They argued that the name Delilah may have been a wordplay with the Hebrew word for night, layla, which "consumes" the day.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Although this hypothesis is still sometimes promoted in scholarly circles,<ref name= Mobley2006/> it has generally fallen out of favor due to the superficiality of supporting evidence.<ref name= Mobley2006/>

An interpretation far more popular among current scholars holds that Samson is a Hebrew variant of the same international Near Eastern folk hero which inspired the earlier Mesopotamian Enkidu and the later Greek Heracles (and, by extension, his Roman Hercules adaptation).<ref name=Wajdenbaum>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name= Mobley2006/><ref name=VanderToorn/><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> Heracles and Samson both slew a lion bare-handed (the former killed the Nemean lion).<ref name="Mobley2006" /><ref name="VanderToorn" /> Likewise, they were both believed to have once been extremely thirsty and drunk water which poured out from a rock,<ref name="Wajdenbaum" /> and to have torn down the gates of a city.<ref name="Wajdenbaum" /> They were both betrayed by a woman (Heracles by Deianira, Samson by Delilah),<ref name="Mobley2006" /> who led them to their respective dooms.<ref name="Mobley2006" /> Both heroes, champions of their respective peoples, die by their own hands:<ref name="Mobley2006" /> Heracles ends his life on a pyre; whereas Samson makes the Philistine temple collapse upon himself and his enemies.<ref name="Mobley2006" /> In this interpretation, the annunciation of Samson's birth to his mother is a censored account of divine conception.<ref name= Wajdenbaum/>

File:4859viki Fontanna Walka i Zwycięstwo. Foto Barbara Maliszewska.jpg

A monument of Samson in Wrocław, Poland

Samson also strongly resembles Shamgar,<ref name= Mobley2006/> another hero mentioned in the Book of Judges,<ref name= Mobley2006/> who, in Template:Bibleverse, is described as having slain 600 Philistines with an ox-goad.<ref name= Mobley2006/>

Traditional views

These views are disputed by traditional and conservative biblical scholars who consider Samson to be a literal historical figure and thus reject any connections to mythological heroes.<ref name= Mobley2006/> The concept of Samson as a "solar hero" has been described as "an artificial ingenuity".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Joan Comay, co-author of Who's Who in the Bible: The Old Testament and the Apocrypha, The New Testament, believes that the biblical story of Samson is so specific concerning time and place that Samson was undoubtedly a real person who pitted his great strength against the oppressors of Israel.<ref name= eee>Template:Wwbible</ref>

Religious and moral meaning or lack of it

In contrast, James King West considers that the hostilities between the Philistines and Hebrews appear to be of a "purely personal and local sort".<ref name= West1971>Template:Cite book</ref> He also considers that Samson stories have, in contrast to much of Judges, an "almost total lack of a religious or moral tone".<ref name= West1971/>

Conversely, Elon Gilad of Haaretz writes "some biblical stories are flat-out cautions against marrying foreign women, none more than the story of Samson".<ref name= Gilead>Template:Cite news</ref> Gilad notes how Samson's parents disapprove of his desire to marry a Philistine woman and how Samson's relationship with Delilah leads to his demise.<ref name=Gilead/> He contrasts this with what he sees as a more positive portrayal of intermarriage in the Book of Ruth.<ref name=Gilead/>

Death by suicide Template:Anchor

Template:See also Template:Further

Samson did not commit suicide Template:Anchor

Template:Suicide sidebar

Some Christians and Jews claim Samson committed an act of "self sacrifice" rather than suicide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed

Samson's death was a suicide attack Template:Anchor

Template:Main Template:Multiple image

In Arabic language media, the story of Samson's suicide is often described as the first suicide attack.<ref name="alarabiya sam" > Template:Cite news </ref><ref name="first shahid" > Template:Cite news

Note: the Hebrew word used in the headline is "HaShahid" (הראשון lit: The Shahid). The modern Hebrew word is derived from the Arabic word "Shaheed" (شهيد), meaning martyr, but is not used to refer to Jewish martyrs. The loanword in Modern Hebrew has connotations of suicide terrorism. Source: Template:Cite news</ref>

Multiple writers in English have also interpreted Samson's suicide and the associated killing of thousands of Philistines as a suicide attack, portrayed in a positive light by the text, and compared him to those responsible for the September 11 attacks.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Clarify

The story of Samson, as told by John Milton in Samson Agonistes, was one of the examples of "Suicide bombers in Western literature" included in a study by Japanese-born German academic Template:Ill.<ref name="Takeda CJR" > Template:Cite journal Author: Template:Ill (Template:Langx)</ref><ref name="Takeda UoT" > Template:Cite web Template:Webarchive</ref> Takeda's article was published by Contemporary Justice Review.<ref name="Takeda CJR" /> Takeda's other examples were Ajax, The Robbers, and The Just Assassins.<ref name="Takeda CJR" /><ref name="Takeda Book" > Template:Cite book Author: Template:Ill (Template:Langx)</ref> He also covered the same concept in his thesis for doctorate from the University of Tübingen.<ref name="Takeda UoT" /> His conclusion that "suicide bombings are not the expressions of specific cultural peculiarities or exclusively religious fanaticisms. Instead, they represent a strategic option of the desperately weak who strategically disguise themselves under the mask of apparent strength, terror, and invincibility".<ref name="Takeda CJR" /><ref name="Takeda Book" />

Cultural influences

Cultural traditions

Samson is the emblem of Lungau, Salzburg,<ref name="Lungau">Template:Cite web</ref> and parades in his honor are held annually in ten villages of the Lungau and two villages in the north-west Styria (Austria).<ref name="Lungau"/> During the parade, a young bachelor from the community carries a massive figure made of wood or aluminum said to represent Samson.<ref name="Lungau"/> The tradition, which was first documented in 1635,<ref name="Lungau"/> was entered into the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Austria in 2010.<ref name="Lungau"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Samson's Tomb.jpg

Alleged site of Samson's tomb in the Zorah (Tzora) forest

References to Samson in media and the arts

File:064.The Death of Samson.jpg

As an important biblical character, Samson has been referred to in popular culture and depicted in a vast array of films, artwork, and popular literature. Preserved Smith argued that John Milton's closet drama Samson Agonistes is an allegory for the downfall of the Puritans and the restoration of the English monarchy<ref name="Smith1930">Template:Cite book</ref> in which the blinded and imprisoned Samson represents Milton himself,<ref name="Smith1930"/> the "Chosen People" represent the Puritans,<ref name="Smith1930"/> and the Philistines represent the English Royalists.<ref name="Smith1930"/> The play combines elements of ancient Greek tragedy and biblical narrative.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Samson is portrayed as a hero,<ref name=Lieb1994>Template:Cite book</ref> whose violent actions are mitigated by the righteous cause in whose name they are enacted.<ref name=Lieb1994/> The play casts Delilah as an unrepentant, but sympathetic, deceiver<ref name=Guillory1986>Template:Cite book</ref> and speaks approvingly of the subjugation of women.<ref name=Guillory1986/>

In 1735, George Frideric Handel wrote the oratorio Samson,<ref name="Leneman2000">Template:Cite book</ref> with a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, based on Samson Agonistes.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> The oratorio is almost entirely set inside Samson's prison<ref name="Leneman2000"/> and Delilah only briefly appears in Part II.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> In 1877, Camille Saint-Saëns composed the opera Samson and Delilah with a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire in which the entire story of Samson and Delilah is retold.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> In the libretto, Delilah is portrayed as a seductive femme fatale,<ref name="Leneman2000"/> but the music played during her parts invokes sympathy for her.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> The narrative of Samson and Delilah is retold in indie pop singer Regina Spektor's "Samson" (2002), which includes the lyrics "I cut his hair myself one night / A pair of dull scissors and the yellow light / And he told me that I'd done alright."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The 1949 biblical drama Samson and Delilah, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the titular roles, was widely praised by critics for its cinematography, lead performances, costumes, sets, and innovative special effects.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It became the highest-grossing film of 1950,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Variety, the film portrays Samson as a stereotypical "handsome but dumb hulk of muscle".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Samson has been especially honored in Russian artwork<ref name="Wortman">Template:Cite book</ref> because the Russians defeated the Swedes in the Battle of Poltava on the feast day of St. Sampson, whose name is homophonous with Samson's.<ref name="Wortman"/> The lion slain by Samson was interpreted to represent Sweden, as a result of the lion's placement on the Swedish coat of arms.<ref name="Wortman"/> In 1735, C. B. Rastrelli's bronze statue of Samson slaying the lion was placed in the center of the great cascade of the fountain at Peterhof Palace in Saint Petersburg.<ref name="Wortman"/>

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In Arabic language media, the story of Samson's suicide is often described as the first suicide attack.<ref name="alarabiya sam"/><ref name="first shahid"/>

In Arabic Samson's dying words differ slightly from the usual Biblical quote.<ref name="alarabiya sam" /><ref name="The New Arab" /> In Arabic the expression is phrased differently, as roughly "Against me and my enemies, O Lord!" (Template:Langx).<ref name="alarabiya sam" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The phrase is a proverb in Arabic, about an attacker's desire to harm his enemy even at the cost of the attacker causing his own death.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This expression been used in The New Arab newspaper to describe Russian nuclear strategy.<ref name="The New Arab" >Template:Cite news</ref>

Noam Chomsky and others have said Israel suffers from a "Samson complex" which could lead to the destruction of Israel as well as Israel's opponent.<ref name=balint>Balint, Benjamin, "Eyeless in Israel: Biblical metaphor and the Jewish state," review of Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson, by Benji Segal, The Weekly Standard, October 30, 2006, pages 35–36 </ref>

Military and militant references to Samson Template:Anchor

Illustration of Samson by Gustave Doré, the illustrator of the Bible that was handed to a British prison guard, on 21 April 1947, by an Irgun militant who blew himself up moments later<ref name="MR 27 July 2017" >Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Sheleg 2007" >Template:Cite web — Archive: Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ynet 20 April 07" >Template:Cite web</ref>

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The nuclear research center near Dimona, as viewed from a Corona satellite in the late 1960s. Israel's nuclear strategy is often called the Samson Option.

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Numerous current and historical military units, pieces of military hardware, operations, and strategies have names have reference the story of Samson, from both formal defense forces and irregular militant groups. Some refer to his strength, or stories during his lifetime.<ref name="Lockheed" /><ref name="Margalith" /> However, most military references to Samson refer to his death or Template:Ill from Judges 16:30.<ref name="J16 V30 Hebrew" > From Judges 16:30 – Usually translated as 'Let me die with the Philistines' – Template:Cite web English: 30 And Samson said: 'Let me die with the Philistines'. And he bent with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life. Hebrew: Template:Lang</ref><ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref><ref name="MR 27 July 2017" /><ref name="Samson (en)" > Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ansheim 2002" > Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Margalit" > Template:Cite web – Description: In the close up image, her name is the last on the list, with her Hebrew alias in brackets Template:Langx.</ref>

The Samson Option nuclear strategy

The Samson Option is the name of Israel's nuclear strategy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The strategy was described by Seymour Hersh in his book of the same name.<ref name="NYTimes10-20-91" >Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ALS" >Template:Cite web</ref> Israel's alleged nuclear strategy, the "Samson Option", takes its name from Samson's suicide in Gaza City, the same Biblical story that the Lehi and Irgun militant group used to describe potential and attempted suicide attacks.<ref name="Samson (en)" /><ref name="ansheim 2002" /><ref name="Margalit" /> The story is about an Israelite judge named Samson, who kills himself and the Philistines who captured him by pushing apart the pillars of a Dagon temple, bringing down the roof crushing everyone.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Militant suicide operations

The Lehi militant group used the story of Samson's death, in Judges 16, in discussions about possible and planned suicide attacks, during their Insurgency in Palestine against the British in the Middle East and Europe. In a meeting about ways to assassinate General Evelyn Barker, the British Army commander in Mandatory Palestine, a young woman volunteered to carry out the assassination as a suicide bombing.<ref name="Samson (en)" /><ref name="ansheim 2002" /><ref name="Margalit" /> They refer to it as a "Template:Ill" proposal (Template:Langx) as a reference to the words of Samson in (Judges 16:30), or a "Samson option".<ref name="J16 V30 Hebrew" /><ref name="Samson (en)" /><ref name="ansheim 2002" /><ref name="Margalit" /> On that occasion other members of the group allegedly rejected her offer. She also had a physical disability that might have made her unable to carry out the plan the group had in mind.<ref name="Samson (en)" /><ref name="Margalit" /><ref name="ansheim 2002" /> The Lehi memorialize her among their martyrs and fallen combatants (Template:Langx), but her cause of death is not described.<ref name="ansheim 2002" /><ref name="Margalit" /><ref name="hLLY LHY" >128 Lehi Martyrs

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Lehi militants, and the Irgun commander, did approve a different suicide operation plan in 1947, The only resulting casualties were one militant from each group, both male and both much younger than the women whose offer was rejected.<ref name="MR 27 July 2017" />

Operation Samson

The name Operation Samson or Operation Shimshon (Template:Langx or Mivtza Shimshon) has been used, or discussed but rejected, for multiple military or militant plans.<ref name="Haaretz GJ" /><ref name="Gideon's Chariots" />

1947 Operation Samson

Operation Samson (Template:Langx), was the names of a suicide operation planned by the Lehi militant group in April 1947.<ref name="Haaretz GJ" >Template:Cite web</ref> A Lehi militant and an Irgun militant killed themselves with IEDs made by a second Lehi militant, but the original plan was to kill some of their British opponents in the process.<ref name="Srugim Philistines" >Template:Harvnb: Template:Langx</ref> Shortly before midnight on 21 April 1947, two condemned Zionist militants – Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani – wrote "Mene! Mene! Tekel Upharsin!", from Daniel 5:25, on the walls of their shared death row cell in Jerusalem Central Prison in British-controlled Palestine, shortly before they then blew themselves to pieces.<ref name="hangman defeated" >Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> But when Lehi and Irgun veterans tell the story, they usually quote Samson's dying words from Judges 16:30, "Template:Ill" (Template:Langx).<ref name="writing on the wall" >Template:Cite news</ref>

Damage caused to Jerusalem railway station by a suitcase bomb. One of the militants involved blew himself up in prison 6 months later, after being sentenced to death for the train station bombing.

Damage caused to Jerusalem railway station by a suitcase bomb. One of the militants involved blew himself up in prison 6 months later, after being sentenced to death for the train station bombing.
Plaque at the Jerusalem-Khan railway station about the bombing and the suicide afterwards (Note: 12 April is a misprint, other sources say the night of 21–22 April)

Plaque at the Jerusalem-Khan railway station about the bombing and the suicide afterwards (Note: 12 April is a misprint, other sources say the night of 21–22 April)
Sign for a path named after Moshe Barazani (the Lehi militant), in the Yair Farm settlement (named after Lehi founder Yair Stern), in the West Bank, Palestine

Sign for a path named after Moshe Barazani (the Lehi militant), in the Yair Farm settlement (named after Lehi founder Yair Stern), in the West Bank, Palestine

1967 Operation Samson

Operation Samson was the name of a nuclear weapons plan during the Six-Day War in 1967.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Langx

</ref><ref>Operation Shimshon

</ref> Twenty years later, there was another another plan called Operation Shimshon (Template:Langx).<ref> English sources using the name "Operation Samson"

English sources using the name "Operation Shimshon"

Hebrew sources using the name מבצע שמשון

Ynet – https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4971483,00.html
Kikar HaShabbat (website) – https://www.kikar.co.il/israel-news/skxtpr "Already on the eve of the Six-Day War in June 1967, when Israel feared for its fate, it quickly assembled an improvised nuclear device and threatened to activate it, according to researcher Dr. Avner Cohen. (Haaretz, "Dayan's Dilemma", 6.4.2017) This was the first hint of "Operation Samson"[1] - a scenario in which Israel activates its nuclear weapons as a last resort, in the sense of 'let my soul die with the Philistines'." That footnote explains the name Samson, "[1] 'Samson's Choice' is a code name for the event that Israel decides to use an atomic bomb. The analogy of the authors of the name is, of course, after Samson, the hero-judge (and Messiah of his generation) who pulled down the pillars of the temple of the god Dagon in Gaza, and on the day of his death killed more than in his entire life, as he wrote: 'My soul shall die with the Philistines'."

</ref> The codename was Shimshon (Hebrew: שמשון Romanized: Shimshon) was used by the Israeli militarily for a plan to donate an improvised nuclear weapon or two in Egypt's Sinai desert during the Six-Day War.<ref>Haaretz: Hebrew and English</ref> Attop Mount Sinai by helicopter or possibly at the border via improvised nuclear truck bombs.

According to US journalist Seymour Hersh, everything was ready for production at this time save an official order to do so. Israel crossed the nuclear threshold on the eve of the Six-Day War in May 1967.<ref name="6daywarstart" >Template:Cite web</ref> Avner Cohen confirmed some of Hersh's story and revealed further details in a 2017 report published by the Wilson Centre think tank.<ref name="Wilson">Template:Cite web</ref> Cohen said that he was attempting to explain the reasons for the outbreak of the Six-Day War.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Wilson" /> In the version told by Hersh, "[Prime Minister Levi] Eshkol, according to a number of Israeli sources, secretly ordered the Dimona [nuclear reactor] scientists to assemble two crude nuclear devices. He placed them under the command of Brigadier General Yitzhak Yaakov, the chief of research and development in Israel's Defense Ministry. One official said the operation was referred to as Spider because the nuclear devices were inelegant contraptions with appendages sticking out. The crude atomic bombs were readied for deployment on trucks that could race to the Egyptian border for detonation in the event Arab forces overwhelmed Israeli defenses".<ref name="6daywarstart" />

The Israelis had a plan to resort to using nuclear weapons if they were at risk of losing the war. They called the plan "Operation Samson" or "Operation Shimshon" (מבצע שמשון Mivtza Shimshon), the Hebrew name for Samson from the Bible. The Samson plan was to conduct a first test on the battlefield in Egypt. The rushed deployment plan was also partly inspired by a worry that Egypt would try to thwart Israeli attempts to develop fully functional weapons by attacking Israel's nuclear research facility. The deployment plan included detonating a nuclear weapon on the top of Mount Sanai as an intimidating show of force. Israelis improvised multiple never-before-tested devices to deploy in the Sinai. General Yitzhak (Yitza) Yaakov was worried that if the plan was used then he and his troops in Egypt would be killed. The plan was not used because Israel managed to avoid losing using only conventional weapons.

In an article titled "Last Secret of the Six-Day War" the New York Times reported that in the days before the 1967 Six-Day War Israel planned to insert a team of paratroopers by helicopter into the Sinai. Their mission was to set up and remotely detonate a nuclear bomb on a mountaintop as a warning to belligerent surrounding states. While outnumbered, Israel effectively eliminated the Egyptian Air Force and occupied the Sinai, winning the war before the test could even be set up. Retired Israeli brigadier general Itzhak Yaakov referred to this operation as the Israeli Samson Option.<ref name="Doomsday Plan" >Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Rejected name for Operation Gideon's Chariots

In May 2025 Operation Samson was suggested, and rejected, as a name for the operation that was named Operation Gideon's Chariots. The reason for rejection was that the plan did not intend that the army would die with the enemy in the way that Samson died with the Philistines he killed.<ref name="Gideon's Chariots" >Rejected name for Operation Gideon's Chariots:

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Military units named after Samson (Shimshon)

Samson's Foxes

Samson's Foxes (Template:Langx) were a military unit formed in 1948, now defunct. The unit's name is derived from the story in Template:Bibleverse where Samson is described as having attached torches to the tails of three hundred foxes, leaving the panicked beasts to run through the fields of the Philistines, burning all in their wake.<ref name="Margalith" >Template:Cite book</ref>

Shualey Shimshon

Shualey Shimshon (Samson's Foxes) is now the name of the 846th Battalion (Patrol Battalion) of the Givati Brigade.

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Samson Unit

The Samson Unit (Template:Langx) was an IDF undercover unit that operated in the Gaza Strip from 1986 until 1996. Their main role was conducting undercover military operations against irregular militants in the Gaza Strip.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The insignia of the Samson Unit (1986–1996) depict Samson pushing apart the pillars of the temple of Dagon in was in Gaza City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Shimshon Battalion 92nd Infantry Battalion of the Kfir Brigade

The Samson Unit's name and insignia were transferred to the Shimshon Battalion, the 92nd Infantry Battalion of the Kfir Brigade (Template:Langx).

Military hardware

Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station

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FV106 Samson

FV106 Samson was a British Army armoured recovery vehicle, one of the CVR(T) family. The main role of this vehicle was to recover the CVR(T) family of vehicles, but could also recover other light tracked vehicles such as the FV430 series.Template:Citation needed

Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules