A man set apart from birth with great strength, who spent most of it on his own appetites.
Set apart
Squandered
Remembered
“But he did not know that the LORD had left him.”
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Introduction
Samson's birth was announced by the angel of the LORD to a woman who could not have children. He was to be a Nazirite from the womb, and no razor would touch his head. He would begin to save Israel from the Philistines. The Spirit of the LORD stirred him while he was still young.
He was strong, clever, and hot-tempered, and he did as he pleased. He demanded a Philistine wife, broke his vows, took revenge after revenge, and went to a prostitute in Gaza. With Delilah he gave away his secret and did not even know the LORD had left him. He died blind and in chains, praying for one last act of strength.
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But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Name means
Likely related to the Hebrew word for sun
Home
Zorah, tribe of Dan
Role
Nazirite and judge of Israel for twenty years
Read in
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Samson's story
Grinding at the mill in Gaza
Beginning
Promised from the womb
The angel announces a son set apart to God, and the Spirit begins to stir him.
Turning point
“Get her for me”
He demands a Philistine wife because she is right in his eyes, and eats honey from a dead lion's carcass. Scripture adds that the LORD was at work against the Philistines.
Turning point
Riddle and revenge
His wedding riddle ends in betrayal, murder, burned fields, and a cycle of vengeance.
Turning point
Jawbone and thirst
His own people hand him over. He strikes down a thousand men, then cries to the LORD for water and is answered.
Low point
Gaza and Delilah
He goes to a prostitute in Gaza, then gives Delilah the secret of his strength after days of pressure.
Low point
Blind at the mill
His hair is cut, the LORD has left him, and the Philistines gouge out his eyes and set him to grinding. His hair begins to grow.
Ending
One last prayer
He prays to be strengthened once more and pulls down the temple, dying with the Philistines.
Starts as a child promised and set apart to God. Ends as a blinded prisoner who dies in one final act of faith and vengeance.
Where Samson lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Samson is wired
The Challenger
Enneagram 8, Enthusiast wing
To be in control, unbound, and never bested by anyone.
This one is debated. Here's why we land here.
At their best, toward 2 Under stress, toward 5
Why we think so
1
Answers force with force. Each wrong done to him leads to a bigger act of revenge. ()
2
Refuses limits. He breaks out of every binding and treats restraint as a game. ()
3
Will not be told. When his parents object to his choice of wife, he simply demands her. ()
The 7 wing shows in his appetite and playfulness: the riddle, the honey, the foxes, the city gates carried off for show. ()
The Helper. Little recorded.
The Investigator. After his revenge he withdraws and lives in the cleft of the rock of Etam. ()
The case for 7
His life follows his desires from one thing to the next with little thought for the cost. Appetite, not control, may be the deeper driver, which would make him a 7 with an 8 wing.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Joshua and Judges.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Forceful and impulsive
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Samson
Physical courage. Quick wit, seen in his riddles. When he finally prays, he prays honestly and depends on God ().
Where Samson struggles
Ruled by appetite and anger. Treated his calling and vows lightly. Driven by personal revenge. Would not learn from repeated betrayal ().
What Samson wanted most
What was right in his own eyes, and payback when he was wronged ().
What Samson feared most
Little recorded. In his final prayer he asks to be avenged for his two eyes ().
Samson's people
The Lord
The LORDSet him apart, empowered him by the Spirit, and answered his prayers even late.
Family
ManoahHis father, who asked the angel how to raise the child.
His motherUnnamed. She received the promise and kept the Nazirite command herself.
His Timnite wifeA Philistine woman he demanded, who betrayed his riddle and was later killed by her own people.
Tension
The men of JudahBound him and handed him over to keep the peace with the Philistines.
Opposed
DelilahTook Philistine silver to learn the secret of his strength.
The lords of the PhilistinesHunted him, blinded him, and died with him in Dagon's temple.
Family of Faith
See where Samson fits
AbrahamJesus
c. 1100–1060 BC (debated). No recorded connection yet.
A deeply flawed deliverer wins his greatest victory in his death, and his failures make us long for a deliverer without sin.
Samson was given a holy calling and wasted most of it, yet God still used him and Hebrews lists him among those who acted by faith. “So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.” () That points to Christ, who defeated his enemies through his death, but where Samson died for his own vengeance, Jesus died innocent and for others ().
Questions to sit with
1
Samson did not know the LORD had left him. What habits in you might be dulling your sense of God's presence?
2
God answered Samson's prayers even near the end. How does that shape the way you pray after failure?
Study Samson with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
