2/17/22, 2:00 AM The Story of Samson and Delilah in the Bible - As told in Judges 13-16 and the Talmud

s 13-16 and the Talmud - Jewish History

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‫ב"ה‬

The Story of Samson and Delilah in the Bible

As told in Judges 13-16 and the Talmud
By Shlomo Chaim Kesselman

The mighty Samson (Shimshon, in

Hebrew) was a judge
who led and rescued
the people of Israel from Philistine
oppression. A nazarite from birth, Samson
was endowed by
G‑d with herculean strength, which he used to fight the
Philistines who were occupying the Land of Israel. Samson
led the people for 20
years until he was betrayed by his wife,
Delilah, and captured by the Philistines.
Blinded and
mocked by his captors, Samson’s life ended when he
knocked down the pillars supporting the
building he had
been taken to, killing himself and the thousands of Philistines
inside.

Historical Background
After Moses’ successor, Joshua, passed away,
he was followed by a series of Jewish leaders known as the shoftim, “judges.”
The period of the judges lasted for
approximately 350 years, from 2516-2871 (1245-890 BCE). Samson was the seventh
judge, and ruled his people for 20 years, from 2811-2831 (951-931 BCE).

The story of Samson is recorded in the book of

Judges, chapters 13-16. And although little is recorded regarding his role
leading
the Jews, the verses recount many stories of his great strength and his various
skirmishes with the Philistines. Note
that the Philistines have no connection
to the current day Palestinians.

Birth
of a Leader
From the tribe of Dan, Samson was born to his
parents,
Moanoah and Zealphonis, in
their old age, after they had
been childless for many years. One day, in the
small town of
Zorah, an angel appeared to them and declared that
Zealphonis
would give birth to a son who would grow up to
save the Jews from the marauding
Philistines. The angel told
the couple that the boy was special, and that from
his birth
he was to be dedicated to G‑d as a nazirite for his entire life.
He
was not to consume any wine or other grape byproduct,
and no razor was to ever
touch his hair.

In due course, Zealphonis conceived and gave

birth. She
named him Shimshon (Samson), from the term shemesh u’magen, "wall and protector," or from the word shemesh, “sun.” His
name foreshadowed
the man he would become: a mighty sun who would shield and protect his people.1

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Samson’s Youth
Even in his early youth, Samson displayed
remarkable
physical strength. One day, as he wandered through the
woods, a lion
pounced on him. Feeling the spirit of G‑d
resting upon him and strengthening
him, Samson slew the
lion with his bare hands. Realizing that he had been
endowed with this strength in order to help his people,
Samson sought an
occasion to engage the Jews’ enemy, the
Philistines.

The Philistines were a nation of marauders

living in the west
of the Holy Land. They were constantly harassing and
pillaging the Jews. For 40 years,2
the Jews suffered terribly
under the heavy Philistine hand until, finally,
Samson took a stand.

Samson was too modest to undertake leadership

of a Jewish army. He also did not want to provoke the Philistines into further
terrorization of his Jewish brethren. He decided that he would avenge them
himself by engaging in personal conflicts,
intimidating them and preventing
them from harassing the Jews. He began seeking ways to get into close contact
with the
Philistines.

The Wedding and the Riddle

The first occasion for him to confront the
Philistines arrived
when, one day, on one of his frequent roaming expeditions,
he arrived in Timnah, a Philistine village. There he saw a
Philistine maiden
whom he decided to take as a wife.
Although his parents attempted to dissuade
him, Samson
resolved to marry her (after she converted).3

At the wedding feast, Samson saw an

opportunity to put his
plan into action. He challenged 30 Philistine guests to
answer a riddle he would pose to them. If they could guess
the answer, he would
give them a each a suit of clothes, and
if they could not, they would give him
30 suits. The
Philistines agreed. Samson presented his riddle, and the Philistines
were unable to answer it.4
On his way to Timnah, Samson
had passed
the spot where he slew the lion, and he noticed that a swarm of bees had turned
the carcass into their hive.
Samson scooped out some honey, ate, and went on
his way. As a result, he posed the following riddle: "From the eater came
out food, and out
of the strong came out sweetness. What is it? The eater refers to a lion, the
predator of all predators, and the
sweetness refers to honey. Thus on the seventh day, when the Philistines
came to Samson they answered him "What is
sweeter than honey and what is
stronger than a lion?"

Requesting a few days to come up with the

answer, the Philistines approached Samson's bride. They demanded that she coax
the answer from her husband and deliver it to them, or they would burn down her
father’s house. Samson’s wife pressured
her
husband to tell her the answer to the riddle, and so he did.

When the Philistines came to Samson and

presented the answer, he understood at
once what had transpired. Leaving the city
in anger, Samson went to Ashkelon,
another Philistine town, and killed 30 Philistines. Then he stripped them and
sent their
robes to the men who had won the wager.
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Revenge
Samson returned to Timnah for his wife, but in
his absence,
she had been given to
another man. When he confronted his
father-in-law, he offered Samson her
younger sister instead.
Samson grew incensed to discover that not even one
person
had protested the scandalous act. It was the time of the
wheat harvest,
so Samson rushed into the fields and caught
300 foxes. He tied them in pairs,
and placed burning torches
in their tails. Then he let them loose, and they ran
in all
directions, setting the crops ablaze.

In addition to avenging his own grievance, he

did this to
teach the Philistines a lesson for their frequent pillaging of
the
Land of Israel.

Samson the Tzaddik

The sages of the Talmud teach that Samson was
not simply
a man of brute strength. He was a nazirite, a man whose
entire life
was dedicated to G‑d. His strength was
supernatural, and hinged on his ultimate
commitment to G‑d.
Everything he did he was commanded by G‑d, including his
marriage to Philistine converts. The Talmud describes how
the Divine Presence
would ring before him like a bell,
escorting him wherever he went. He was
incredibly modest,
and in the 20 years of his rule, he never once took
advantage of his position by asking anyone to do anything
for him.5

Some say the Samson was in fact lame in both

legs, and struggled to walk. Yet, when necessary, the spirit of G‑d would rest
on him, and for that moment he would be healed, supernaturally strengthened to
fight the Philistines.6

Remarkable Strength of Samson

The scriptures tell many other stories
involving Samson’s strength. One night, when he had wandered into Gaza, one of
the
chief Philistines cities, his enemies surrounded the walls and barred the
gates, intending to attack and kill him in the morning.
Samson guessed their
evil designs, so he arose at midnight, unhinged the two giant gates, placed
them on his shoulders bar
and all, and carried them far away.

Another time, after the incident with the

foxes, the Philistines tried to mollify Samson's anger by burning the houses of
his
unfaithful wife and her father. But
when Samson heard what they did, he refused to accept their belated repentance.
He
attacked the Philistines and killed a great number of them.

The Philistines amassed a great army and camped

by the Judean town of Lehi, where Samson was hiding out. They sent a
message to
the Jews threatening them to either hand Samson over or be killed

When the frightened men of Judah related to

Samson the Philistines’ threat, he was unperturbed. At Samson's own
suggestion, they bound him
and brought him to the Philistine camp. The joyful Philistines rose to capture
him, but at that

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moment he tore off the

cords as though they were burnt flax. Grabbing the first thing he saw, a
donkey’s jawbone, he killed a
thousand men.

After that spectacular victory, the Jews

realized that Samson was chosen by G‑d to lead them, and they appointed him as
judge over them.

Delilah and Samson’s Downfall

Samson’s downfall ultimately came at the hands
of another
Philistine convert he married, Delilah.

One day, the Philistine lords came to Delilah

and offered her
great wealth if she were to discover the secret to her
husband's strength. If she would aid them in capturing him,
they would reward
her handsomely. Delilah agreed.

Every day, Delilah would torment her husband,

trying to lure
his secret from him. A few times, Samson gave her made up
explanations, but Delilah was relentless.

"If you bind me with seven moist ropes,

then my strength will
dissipate,” Samson told her. “If you bind me with new
ropes that were never used, I will become like an ordinary man.” “If you
place
my hair on a weaving rod, I will become weak.” Each time, Delilah would try the
methods on Samson while he slept.
Each time, she would cry, "Samson, the Philistines are upon
you!" and Samson would rise to his full might, completely
unaffected by
whatever she tried.

Tearfully, Delilah told him, "How can you

say 'I love you,' while your heart is not with me? These three times you have
mocked
me, and you have not told me wherein is your strength so great."

Finally, Samson told her the secret of his

strength. "A razor has never come upon my head, for I am a nazirite to G‑d
from my
mother's womb. If I will be shaven, then my strength will leave me, and
I shall become weak and be like any man."

This time, the treacherous Delilah knew that

Samson was telling her the truth. She hastened to summon the Philistine lords
to
her house. When Samson was asleep, one of the men cut his locks off, and
then Delilah cried: "Samson, the Philistines are
upon you!"

Samson jumped up, prepared to defend himself. But the Divine strength he had
possessed had departed from him, and the
men who lay in wait easily overcame
him. The heartless Philistines gouged out his eyes and led him to Gaza in
chains.

The Talmud teaches that Samson was punished in

his eyes because he looked at the Philistine women and desired them.
Although
G‑d desired that he marry them, nevertheless, his personal motives were not
entirely pure, as he also desired them
for himself.7

Death of a Hero
Gathered in the great hall in Gaza, the
Philistines made a great feast to celebrate their victory over Samson. They
sang and
danced and gave thanks to their gods for delivering him into their
hands. Then they sent for the blind Samson to entertain
them. Tormented and cruelly humiliated, he could
not bear their rude jests and idol worship.

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Turning to his guide, he said, "Lead me

to the pillars, so that I may lean upon them and rest for a minute." The
boy obeyed.

Samson, afire with anger and pain, prayed to

G‑d: "O, G‑d, give me strength this once. Let me avenge myself on these
cruel
Philistines that they may know that you are the only G‑d. It matters not
if I die with them!"

Suddenly, he once again felt the spirit of G‑d

in him. Samson stretched out his hands, tearing down the pillars supporting the
building. The next instant, the walls and the roof came crashing down,
destroying the entire building. Every single Philistine,
together with Samson
himself, was killed in the great crash. That day, Samson killed more
Philistines than he had throughout
his entire life.

Later, his body was brought home, and he was buried on the land he had fought
so valiantly to defend. Samson was the
acknowledged judge of the people of
Israel for 20 years.

Legacy
Samson was the fulfillment of Jacob’s blessing
to his son
Dan, Samson’s ancestor: “Dan shall judge his people, as one
of the
tribes of Israel. Dan will be a serpent by the road, a
viper on the path. He
bites the horse’s heels so that the rider
is thrown backward”.8
He was a warrior, his method of attack
similar to a snake who bites at the
heel. He lived among the
Philistines, and attacked them from behind,
crippling them.
Yet, at the same time, as our sages teach, Samson was a
great
judge who led and judged his people as G‑d himself
would, with perfect justice.9

How
Long Did Samson Rule?
Tradition records that Samson ruled for 40
years, although in actuality it was only 20.10 The
reason, explains the Talmud, is
because his influence, both on his own people
and on the Philistines, was so powerful, it was felt for another 20 years after
his
death. His teachings continued to inspire and guide the Jews long after he
passed away, so much so that he is considered to
have actually ruled in those
years. Additionally, the fear he had implanted into the Philistines was so
powerful, his intimidation
so intense, that for 20 years after his death they
were afraid to harm the Jews and left them alone.

FOOTNOTES

1. Sotah 10a. Rashi ad loc. 7. Sotah 9b.

2. Although the verse says 40, some commentaries 8. Genesis 49:16. See Rashbam there for an
alternative
understand that the 40 years mentioned include the 20 explanation.
years of Samson’s rule. See Radak to Judges 13:1. 9. See Sforno Genesis 49:17.
3. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Forbidden
Relationships
13:16. Radak to Judges 13:4.
4. judges 14:14.
5. Sotah 9b-10a.
6. Sotah ibid.

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10. Jerusalem Talmud Sotah 1:8. However Tosafot to

Shabbat 55:b writes that in our
Scriptures it only ever
says twenty. Bamidbar Rabbah 14:9 teaches that since
the verse records that Samson ruled for twenty years
twice, equalling forty,
this teaches us that he ruled twenty
years during his lifetime and twenty years
after his death.

By Shlomo Chaim Kesselman

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