Samson

Etymology

From 'shemesh' (שֶׁמֶשׁ), meaning sun. The diminutive suffix '-on' makes it 'little sun' or 'sun-like.' His birth in the vicinity of Beth-Shemesh ('house of the sun') reinforces the connection.

Who they were

Samson is the Bible's most tragic hero — a man of enormous potential, supernatural strength, and catastrophic weakness. Set apart as a Nazirite before birth (no wine, no razor, no contact with the dead), he was empowered by the Spirit of God to perform extraordinary feats: tearing apart a lion with bare hands, killing a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone, carrying away the gates of Gaza. But his appetites controlled him. He married a Philistine woman, visited a prostitute in Gaza, and fell in love with Delilah, who discovered the secret of his strength — his uncut hair, the sign of his Nazirite vow. She betrayed him. The Philistines shaved his head, gouged out his eyes, and put him to grinding grain in prison. But his hair grew back. At a great festival to their god Dagon, the Philistines brought the blind Samson out for entertainment. He prayed one final prayer: 'Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more.' He pushed against the pillars of the temple. It collapsed, killing more in his death than in his life. Hebrews lists him among the heroes of faith — a jarring inclusion that insists God's purposes work even through deeply flawed instruments.

Family

Father

Manoah

Character qualities

• Supernatural strength
• Chronic inability to resist temptation
• Final act of sacrificial faith

Key verse

Judges 16:28

Where they appear

Themes

Variants & related forms

Shimshon

Related names