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Samson is said to have lived during the period when the Israelites were oppressed by the power of the Philistines. At this time an angel from God appeared to Manoah, an Israelite from the tribe of Dan, in the city of Zorah, and to his wife, who was barren. This angel predicted that they would have a son. In accordance with Nazaritic requirements, she was to abstain from wine and other strong drink, and her promised child was not to have a razor used upon his head. In due time the son was born; he was reared according to the provisions of the Nazariteship.

When he became a young man Samson left the hills of his people to see the cities of the Philistines. While there Samson became infatuated with a Philistine woman of Timnah that, overcoming the objections of his parents, he married her.

The wedding-feast was a seven-day banquet, at which various kinds of entertainment were in vogue. One of the occasions was a riddle contest, misunderstanding the game Samson proposed a riddle that described an account of an incident where only he was present. The Philistines believed it was a true riddle and were annoyed at not being able to solve it. Samson became so certain that they would never get the answer he promised to give two cloaks to every one there is they could solve it.

The Philistines thus convinced Samson's new wife to try and discover the answer. At her urgent and tearful imploring of his bride he tells her the solution, and she told it to the thirty young men. Samson flies into a rage. Unable to meet his promise of the cloaks he leaves town and murders thirty Ashkelonites and takes their cloaks.

When Samson returns to Timnah, however, he finds his father in law has given his bride to Samson's companion, probably his right-hand man. Her father refuses to allow him to see her, and wishes to give Samson her sister. Samson again displays his wrath by setting a group foxThe foxes comprise 23 species of omnivorous canids, found worldwide. Often fox refers to a member of the genus Vulpes especially the red fox, Vulpes vulpes''. Young foxes are called kits''. A group of foxes is a skulk''. General characteristics Foxes tendes alight and leaving the panicked beasts to run through the orchards and farms of the Philistines. Inquiry as to the cause of this destruction leads the Philistines to burn the house of the Timnite and his daughter, who had stirred up Samson's anger.

Samson then smote the Philistines "hip and thigh," and took refuge in the rock of Etam. An army of Philistines went up and demanded from 3,000 men of Judah the deliverance to them of Samson. With Samson's consent they tied him with two new ropes and were about to hand him over to the Philistines when he snapped the ropes asunder. Picking up the jawbone of an ass, he dashed at the Philistines and slew a full thousand. At the conclusion of Judges 15 it is said that "he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines ['sway] twenty years."

Ch. 16 records the disastrous end of Samson. He goes to Gaza where he falls in love with DelilahDelilah or Dlila Standard Hebrew meaning "[One who] weakened or uprooted or impoverished" from the root dal meaning "weak or poor". Also: Dlila Tiberian Hebrew Dlilh Arabic Dalilah , was the "woman in the valley of Sorek" whom Samson loved, and was his do at the Brook of SorekThe Brook of Sorek also called the Valley of Sorek (in Hebrew nachal sorek , mentioned in the Book of Judges 16:4 of the Hebrew Bible, is probably a point on the border between the ancient Philistines and the Tribe of Dan of the ancient Israelites. It was. The Philistines approach Delilah and induce here to try and find the secret of Samson's strength. Eventually she learns that cutting his hairHair is also a musical: see Hair (musical) and Hair (movie Hair is the filamentous outgrowth of the epidermis found in mammals. Hair is a characteristic of all mammals, though in some species hair is absent at certain stages of life. Hairs" are also found will do so. Samson is captured by the Philistines and blinded.

After being blinded Samson is said to have realized the error of his ways and gives up the pursuit of women and finery and spends the rest of his life devoted to spiritualism.