50 Fun Facts About Samson

In which book of the Bible is the story of Samson told?

His story fills chapters 13 to 16, and he is the last of the judges named there.

What does the Hebrew name Samson mean?

It derives from shemesh, 'sun'; the rabbis linked it to God as 'a sun and shield' in the Psalms.

What was the name of Samson's father, an Israelite from Zorah?

His wife had been unable to conceive until an angel announced the birth.

From which tribe of Israel was Samson descended?

Zorah lay in the tribe's territory near the Philistine border.

Samson was dedicated from birth under which special vow?

It meant no wine, no unclean food and never cutting his hair.

Which of these was NOT one of the requirements of the vow described in Numbers 6 that Samson lived under?

At the end of the vow the hair was shorn and burned with a sacrifice.

How did the Angel of the Lord respond when Samson's father asked who he was?

He then ascended into the sky in the flames of Manoah's sacrifice.

From which Philistine town did Samson choose his first wife?

His parents objected that she was not an Israelite.

What animal did Samson tear apart with his bare hands on the way to his wedding?

He kept the feat secret, even from his parents.

What did Samson later find in the carcass of the beast he had killed?

He ate some and gave some to his parents, which became the basis of his wedding riddle.

How many groomsmen did Samson challenge with his riddle at the wedding feast?

The stake was thirty pieces of fine linen and garments each way.

How does the riddle Samson posed to his wedding guests begin?

It continues 'and out of the strong came something sweet'; the guests extorted the answer from his bride.

Where did Samson go to kill the men whose garments paid off the riddle wager?

It was a journey of roughly 30 miles.

How many foxes did Samson tie tail to tail with torches to burn the Philistines' crops?

He turned them loose in the grain fields and olive groves.

What did the Philistines do to Samson's wife and father-in-law in retribution for the torched crops?

Samson replied 'I have done to them what they did to me' and slaughtered many more.

How many men of Judah came to bind Samson and hand him to the Philistines?

They used two new ropes, which he snapped when the Spirit came on him.

With what weapon did Samson kill a thousand Philistines?

Giambologna's marble Samson Slaying a Philistine, now in the V&A, shows him wielding it.

What did Samson tear off and carry to a hill facing Hebron after visiting Gaza?

His enemies had waited at the gate to ambush him.

In which valley did Samson fall in love with Delilah?

Delilah's name has come to stand for a treacherous, seductive woman.

How much silver did the Philistine lords offer Delilah to learn the secret of Samson's strength?

Each of the lords offered the sum.

What was Samson's first false answer about how he could be bound?

He then claimed new ropes, then that his locks be woven into a loom, before finally telling the truth.

What was Samson's third false answer, before he confessed the truth to Delilah?

He simply destroyed the loom and carried it off when he woke.

Who actually cut Samson's hair as he slept in Delilah's lap?

He lost his strength and was captured at once.

What did the Philistines do to Samson after capturing him?

While he turned the millstone, his hair began to grow again.

The temple Samson pulled down was dedicated to which Philistine god?

The lords had gathered to thank the god for delivering their enemy into their hands.

About how many people were in the temple when Samson brought it down?

People had even climbed onto the roof to watch him perform.

For how many years is Samson said to have 'judged' Israel?

After his death his family buried him near his father.

Which Greek hero is Samson often compared with as a Near Eastern strongman archetype?

Gilgamesh and Enkidu are cited as the Mesopotamian equivalents.

According to Jewish legend, how broad were Samson's shoulders?

The Talmud's tractate Sotah says his strength was divinely derived.

With which judge named in Samuel's farewell speech does rabbinic literature identify Samson?

The name Bedan appears nowhere in the biblical account of Samson itself.

Which poet wrote the closet drama Samson Agonistes?

It appeared in 1671; Milton, like his hero, was blind.

With which longer Milton work was Samson Agonistes published?

The title page reads 'To Which Is Added Samson Agonistes'.

Which composer's 1743 oratorio Samson includes the aria 'Let the bright Seraphim'?

He began it right after finishing Messiah in September 1741; the libretto follows Milton.

Which French composer wrote the opera Samson et Dalila?

It is the only one of his operas regularly performed and premiered in Weimar in 1877 in German.

Which Delilah aria from Samson and Delilah is known in English as 'Softly awakes my heart'?

'Printemps qui commence' is her other celebrated number.

Which pair starred in Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 film Samson and Delilah?

It was the highest-grossing film of 1950 and won Oscars for art direction and costumes.

How many Academy Awards did DeMille's Samson and Delilah win?

Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, from five nominations.

Which artist painted The Blinding of Samson in 1636?

It hangs in the Städel in Frankfurt and was a gift to the House of Orange to excuse late commissions.

Which sculptor's marble Samson Slaying a Philistine, c. 1562, entered the V&A in 1954?

It reached the V&A in 1954 after standing at Hovingham Hall in Yorkshire.

Israel's nuclear deterrence doctrine of last resort is nicknamed what after the biblical hero?

Israeli military units have also been named Samson's Foxes.

What did Tel Aviv University archaeologists find at Beth Shemesh in 2012 that recalls the Samson story?

Dated to the 11th to 12th century BCE, it suggests a lion-fighting hero tale circulated in Samson's home region.

Does the Quran mention Samson by name?

Neither the Quran nor authentic hadith names him, though Islamic commentary discusses him.

Some Christian commentators read Samson as a 'type' of whom, based on parallels between their lives?

Brewer compared his death 'among the wicked' with Christ crucified between two thieves.

Where does a tomb structure attributed to Samson and his father stand?

A separate 1334 tradition places his grave near Tel Beit Shemesh.

What punishment did the groomsmen threaten against Samson's bride if she failed to extract the riddle's answer?

She wept for the answer, and Samson gave in on the seventh day.

What did the father of Samson's bride offer him instead of his wife, who had been given to a groomsman?

Samson answered by loosing the burning foxes on the Philistine fields.

In which rock did Samson take refuge in a cave after his revenge on the Philistines?

The men of Judah found him there.

What is the origin of the name Delilah?

She appears in a single chapter of the biblical account.

Which other hero of the Book of Judges, who slew 600 Philistines with an ox-goad, strongly resembles Samson?

Scholars also link Samson to the wider Near Eastern strongman tradition that produced Mesopotamia's Enkidu.

Which Mesopotamian figure do many scholars see as an earlier version of the folk hero behind Samson?

The theory treats Samson as a Hebrew variant of an international strongman archetype that later inspired the Greek Heracles.