Judges 13
Samson is one of the more colourful characters in the Bible, he is famous for his long hair,being a bit of an idiot, falling for the wrong woman, and was the inspiration for the motto of Lyons golden syrup.
Israel has fallen into sin again and have been suffering oppression from the Philistines for 40 years.
Samson's parents had trouble having children, until they get a visit from an angel, who tell them that they will have a child, but the child would be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He is never allowed to drink alcohol or shave or cut his hair.
In fact the angel appeared to Samson's mother first and when she told her husband about it, he asked to meet the angel too, which he does.
Judges 14
Samson fell in either love (or possibly lust) with a Philistine woman from Timnah. He went to his parents to arrange teh marriage.
It is fair to say that his parents were not totally in favour of the match and tried to persuade him out of it, but God was using it to get an excuse to confront the Philistines.
As he was going to Timnah a lion came out and Samson killed it.
When he was going to get married he came across the lion carcass again and he found bees had made a nest inside the lion carcas.
At the party Samson makes a riddle that if they can solve he will give them 30 linen suits.
The riddle was "Out of the eater, something to eat. Out of the strong somtehing sweet"
The King James version of the Bible is the motto for Lyons Syrup - Out of the strong, came forth sweetness.
They could not solve the riddle for 3 days and on the fourth day they got Samson's wife to nag Samson into getting the secret. To be fair, they threaten to kill her and her entire family.
She went to Samson "You hate me, you don't love me, if you did you would tell me the meaning of the riddle".
Samson said that since he has not told his parents, why should he tell her?
After 3 days of this Samson has had enough and he tells his wife the riddle.
He went from Timnah to Askelon, killed 30 men and took their clothes to meet his bet. and then returned to his parents home.
His wife married his best man in the end.
Judges 15
At harvest time Samson decided to pay his wife a visit - only to find that she had married his best man
Samson does not take the fact that his wife (after all they spent about 1 week together of which 3 days were her nagging him) has not remained pining after him, Samsons vows revenge.
He captured a lot of foxes, tied their tails together with a lit torch and released them into the fields ready for harvest.
This was the inspiration for the Rudyard Kipling poem "Fox Hunting"
When the Philistines find out who caused the damage, they killed his wife and father in law for having caused the trouble.
Samson vows revenge (again) kills a lot of Philistines and holes out in a cave.
The Philistines invade Israel trying to get Samson.
The men of Judah tie Samson up (with his consent) and deliver him to the Philistines.
When they hand over Samson, he breaks the ropes, grabs the jawbone of an ass and kills 1000 men.
Samson seems to be somewhere between Conan the Barbarian and the crossword king!
Judges 16
Samson paid a visit to a brothel in Gaza - the men of the town hear about it and plan to arrest Samson at dawn. Samson gets up at midnight rips the town gates out of the wall, and then carries them to the top of the nearest hill and makes his escape.
He then meets another woman named Delilah - another name to conjure with!
The town leaders decide that Delilah can sort out the secret of Samson's remarkable strength.
So Delilah went and nagged Samson until he gave her a plausible explanation- tie him up with 7 new bowstrings and he will become weak.
Delilah tied up Samson - and then called out the Philistines.
Samson broke the strings, and killed the men
Delilah said that Samson had made a fool of her.
Samson told her that if she tied his hair into a loom and pinned it he would be helpless.
Delilah then pulls the same trick again, puts his hair in a loom and then calls out the men.
Samson kills the men again and again Delilah nags Samson until he told the truth. Shave his head and he will become weak.
You would think that Samson had a bit of a brain but eventually he relents and tells Delilah the truth - you would think after the last 2 incidents that Samson would be a bit more careful, but there you go
This time the men capture Samson and put out his eyes. and make him a slave grinding corn.
Several years later the Philistines bring out the mighty Samson in chains for entertainment at a festival to Dagon their god.
Samson literally bought the house down - in revenge for his eyes. In his death Samson killed more Philistines than the rest of his life.
Samson led Israel for 20 years.
Though he does come across as a bit of a moody teenager with no moral compass but tremendous strength.
Samson is one of the more colourful characters in the Bible, he is famous for his long hair,being a bit of an idiot, falling for the wrong woman, and was the inspiration for the motto of Lyons golden syrup.
Israel has fallen into sin again and have been suffering oppression from the Philistines for 40 years.
Samson's parents had trouble having children, until they get a visit from an angel, who tell them that they will have a child, but the child would be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He is never allowed to drink alcohol or shave or cut his hair.
In fact the angel appeared to Samson's mother first and when she told her husband about it, he asked to meet the angel too, which he does.
Judges 14
Samson fell in either love (or possibly lust) with a Philistine woman from Timnah. He went to his parents to arrange teh marriage.
It is fair to say that his parents were not totally in favour of the match and tried to persuade him out of it, but God was using it to get an excuse to confront the Philistines.
As he was going to Timnah a lion came out and Samson killed it.
When he was going to get married he came across the lion carcass again and he found bees had made a nest inside the lion carcas.
At the party Samson makes a riddle that if they can solve he will give them 30 linen suits.
The riddle was "Out of the eater, something to eat. Out of the strong somtehing sweet"
The King James version of the Bible is the motto for Lyons Syrup - Out of the strong, came forth sweetness.
They could not solve the riddle for 3 days and on the fourth day they got Samson's wife to nag Samson into getting the secret. To be fair, they threaten to kill her and her entire family.
She went to Samson "You hate me, you don't love me, if you did you would tell me the meaning of the riddle".
Samson said that since he has not told his parents, why should he tell her?
After 3 days of this Samson has had enough and he tells his wife the riddle.
He went from Timnah to Askelon, killed 30 men and took their clothes to meet his bet. and then returned to his parents home.
His wife married his best man in the end.
Judges 15
At harvest time Samson decided to pay his wife a visit - only to find that she had married his best man
Samson does not take the fact that his wife (after all they spent about 1 week together of which 3 days were her nagging him) has not remained pining after him, Samsons vows revenge.
He captured a lot of foxes, tied their tails together with a lit torch and released them into the fields ready for harvest.
This was the inspiration for the Rudyard Kipling poem "Fox Hunting"
When the Philistines find out who caused the damage, they killed his wife and father in law for having caused the trouble.
Samson vows revenge (again) kills a lot of Philistines and holes out in a cave.
The Philistines invade Israel trying to get Samson.
The men of Judah tie Samson up (with his consent) and deliver him to the Philistines.
When they hand over Samson, he breaks the ropes, grabs the jawbone of an ass and kills 1000 men.
Samson seems to be somewhere between Conan the Barbarian and the crossword king!
Judges 16
Samson paid a visit to a brothel in Gaza - the men of the town hear about it and plan to arrest Samson at dawn. Samson gets up at midnight rips the town gates out of the wall, and then carries them to the top of the nearest hill and makes his escape.
He then meets another woman named Delilah - another name to conjure with!
The town leaders decide that Delilah can sort out the secret of Samson's remarkable strength.
So Delilah went and nagged Samson until he gave her a plausible explanation- tie him up with 7 new bowstrings and he will become weak.
Delilah tied up Samson - and then called out the Philistines.
Samson broke the strings, and killed the men
Delilah said that Samson had made a fool of her.
Samson told her that if she tied his hair into a loom and pinned it he would be helpless.
Delilah then pulls the same trick again, puts his hair in a loom and then calls out the men.
Samson kills the men again and again Delilah nags Samson until he told the truth. Shave his head and he will become weak.
You would think that Samson had a bit of a brain but eventually he relents and tells Delilah the truth - you would think after the last 2 incidents that Samson would be a bit more careful, but there you go
This time the men capture Samson and put out his eyes. and make him a slave grinding corn.
Several years later the Philistines bring out the mighty Samson in chains for entertainment at a festival to Dagon their god.
Samson literally bought the house down - in revenge for his eyes. In his death Samson killed more Philistines than the rest of his life.
Samson led Israel for 20 years.
Though he does come across as a bit of a moody teenager with no moral compass but tremendous strength.
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