Samson

Samson is an ancient Biblical name from the Hebrew “Shimshon” (שִׁמְשׁוֹן) probably derived from “shemesh” meaning “sun”. In the Bible, Samson is one of the last of the major Judges who predated the Kings of Israel. His story is told in Judges 13-16 starting with his Nazarite birth to a barren woman. Nazarites (as explained in Numbers 6) take a vow to God; they are considered separate from all others and specifically consecrated to God, and this is basically how Samson came into the world: completely dedicated to God. But Samson is not best known as a Nazarite or one who judged Isreal for twenty years. Rather, Samson is most remembered from the Old Testament story of “Samson and Delilah” (Judges 16:1-20). Nazarites (as explained in Numbers) were not allowed to drink alcohol, come in contact with a dead body, or cut their hair. Samson could only stick to one of these rules (the hair part). Samson was known for his Herculean strength – strong and mighty of proportions that only the Bible can conjure up. Samson roamed the lands eating animal carcasses, killing people with donkey jawbones, antagonizing the Philistines and fornicating with prostitutes. Enter Delilah. Apparently, she had him at “hello” because he quickly divulged to her the secret source of his strength – his hair. Having received a bounty from the Philistines, Delilah arranged for his hair to be cut off while he unwittingly slept on her lap. Mighty like an ox was Samson, but apparently not the sharpest knife in the old Israelite drawer. The manipulative seductress Delilah took advantage of this fact and betrayed her lover Samson. Having lost his hair – and thus his exceptional strength – Samson was captured by the Philistines who gouged his eyes out and brought him in shackles to their temple. After pleading with God for one last dose of mighty strength, Samson tore down the pillars of the Philistine temple killing himself and all 3,000 of his enemy. As a masculine given name among English-speakers in the Middle Ages, usage of Samson was largely influenced by a 6th century Celtic saint known as Saint Samson of Dol. Born in Wales, Samson would eventually go on to found several monasteries in Northern France and become one of the seven founder saints of the Celtic region of Brittany. The Normans reintroduced the name Samson to Great Britain after the Norman Conquest of 1066.