📖 Biblical Definition
Samson was the last and most tragic of Israel’s judges (c. 1075 BC) — a Nazirite from the womb (Judges 13:5) gifted with supernatural strength tied to his uncut hair, charged with beginning Israel’s deliverance from Philistine oppression. The narrative of Judges 13-16 records his exploits: tearing a lion, killing thirty Philistines for a riddle’s wager, slaying a thousand with the jawbone of an ass, carrying off the gates of Gaza. But he repeatedly compromised his Nazirite vow through women — culminating in his betrayal by Delilah, his blinding, and his Philistine slavery. The Spirit returned at the end; Samson pulled down Dagon’s temple in his death, killing more Philistines in death than in life. Compromised men can still die well.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Nazirite judge of supernatural strength; flawed deliverer.
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Judge of Israel from Dan, set apart from the womb as a Nazirite (Judg 13). Strength tied to his uncut hair as visible covenant-sign. Repeatedly compromised his vow through Philistine women; betrayed by Delilah, captured, blinded. Restored to strength in his death, pulling down Dagon's temple on himself and the Philistine lords. Listed in Hebrews 11's faith-roll despite his failures.
📖 Key Scripture
Judges 13:5 — "For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
Judges 16:30 — "And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life."
Hebrews 11:32 — "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Sunday-school Samson is the strong-man cartoon; the actual narrative is one of compromised devotion and tragic deliverance.
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Children's Bibles love Samson's strength and skim his sin. The text is honest: he repeatedly broke his Nazirite vow (touching corpses, drinking wine, marrying outside the covenant, sleeping with prostitutes). His strength was real; his consecration was fraying.
Recover the both-and: God uses flawed deliverers. Samson is a type of Christ in death-as-victory but a warning in his living — consecration cannot be casual.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew Shimshon.
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['Hebrew', 'H8123', 'Shimshon', 'Samson']
Usage
"Samson's death was greater than his life."
"Consecration cannot be casual."
"God uses flawed deliverers; flawed living still costs."