Samson

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

A judge (leader, hero) of Israel

• Judges 16:31 Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.

A Danite, son of Manoah; miraculous birth of; a Nazarite from his mother' s womb; the mother forbidden to drink wine or strong drink, or to eat any ceremonially unclean thing during gestation

• Judges 13:2–7 Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children. The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now please be caref…
• Judges 13:24–25 So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Desires a Philistine woman for his wife; kills a lion

• Judges 14:1–7 One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman. So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.” But his father and mother replied, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or amo…

His marriage feast and the riddle propounded

• Judges 14:8–19 When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey. So he scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. And when he returned to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he…

Kills thirty Philistines

• Judges 14:19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house,

Wife of, estranged

• Judges 14:20 and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.
• Judges 15:1–2 Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter. “I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you.…

Is avenged for the estrangement of his wife

• Judges 15:3–8 Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.” Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails. Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the st…

His great strength

• Judges 15:7–14 And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.” And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam. Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near…
• Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

Kills one-thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey

• Judges 15:13–17 “No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. T…

Miraculously supplied with water

• Judges 15:18–19 And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength retu…

Cohabits with Delilah, a prostitute; her machinations with the Philistines to overcome him

• Judges 16:1–20 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her. When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we…

Is blinded by the Philistines and confined to hard labor in prison; pulls down the pillars of the temple, meets his death, and kills a multitude of his enemies

• Judges 16:21–31 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved. Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer…
• Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,