There once lived a man named Manoah and his wife was childless. One day an angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her that she would conceive and will bear a son. He told her that this child was special and he would be a Nazirite (a special person who is dedicated and consecrated to God) and that no razor should be used on his head and he will begin to deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines. (Now during his time since the Israelites had been sinning against God they were delivered into the hands of the Philistines for almost 40 years.). As the angel predicted, the woman gave birth to a son named Samson. He grew up as a Nazirite and was the strongest man. God was with him.
When he grew up to be a young man he liked a philistine woman and wanted to marry her. During the marriage feast, he told a riddle to a few Philistines and challenged them to answer within 7 days of the feast. If they win he will pay them 30 linen garments and sets of clothes and if they lose, they will pay the same to Samson. These men forced Samson’s wife to find the answer to the riddle. She pressed on Samson to answer the riddle. Due to her persistent nagging, he finally gave her the answer on the seventh day which she disclosed to her people. When the Philistines gave the correct answer to the riddle Samson got very angry as he was deceived by his wife. He left her in her house and went back to his own home. The girl’s father gave her as wife to another man who attended the wedding.
After a while when Samson cooled down, he returned to his father-in-law’s house and asked him for his wife. When he was told that she had already been given to someone else, Samson got very angry and he made up his mind to harm the philistines. He went and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches, and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. They burned up the grain, their vineyards, and olive groves. He also attacked and slaughtered them viciously. He led Israel for 20 years during the reign of the Philistines. Neither the Philistine army nor anyone else could fight against Samson for he was very strong and could not be subdued.
After a while, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. When the Philistines heard this they went to Delilah and asked her to find out the secret of Samson’s strength and how anyone could overpower him and if she did they would reward her with lots of money.
Greedy for money, Delilah asked Samson to tell her the secret of his great strength and how he could be tied up and subdued. Samson answered her that if anyone ties him up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, he’ll become as weak as any other man. While he was sleeping she tied him up with seven fresh bowstrings. Then she called to him, and said “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame.
Then Delilah told Samson that he had made a fool of her and had lied to her and asked him again how he could be tied and subdued. He said that if anyone ties him securely with new ropes that have never been used, he’ll become as weak as any other man. So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, while the Philistines were hiding in the other room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
Delilah was disappointed and she began to nag him asking him how he could be subdued. He said that if she weaves the seven braids of his head into the fabric on the loom and if she tightens it with a pin, he’ll become as weak as any other man. So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into a fabric, and tightened it with a pin. Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom along with the fabric.
Then Delilah told Samson that since he was not confiding in her he could not be loving her truly. She continued to nag him day after day until he was tired to death. Finally, he told her his secret – that no razor had ever been used on his head because he was a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If his head was shaved, then his strength would leave him, and he would become as weak as any other man. When Delilah knew that he had told her the truth, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines to come back once more. So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the money in their hands. Delilah made Samson sleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair. Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep, but the LORD and his strength had left him. The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to the city of Gaza. They bound him up and put him in a prison where he was made to grind grain. The hair on his head started to grow again after it had been shaved.
The rulers of the Philistines assembled in a temple to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate their victory over Samson. They were all excited and brought Samson out of the prison to entertain them and perform for them. Samson asked the servant who held his hand to take him to the pillars that supported the temple, so that he may lean against them.
The temple was crowded with men and women and all the rulers of the Philistines. There were about three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson perform. Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other Samson pushed the pillars with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. There he died with them.
