The Righteous Samson the Nazirite, Judge of Israel
Life
Samson is an Old Testament judge of Israel, remembered for the extraordinary strength by which he resisted the Philistines during the period of the Judges. According to the Book of Judges, he was a Nazirite from birth, set apart by a vow that forbade the cutting of his hair, and the narrative ties his strength to the keeping of that consecration. He judged Israel for twenty years.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is numbered among the Holy Forefathers, the Old Testament ancestors and righteous figures commemorated in the weeks before the Nativity of Christ. His commemoration falls on December 14, and he is also remembered with the other Forefathers on the Sunday before the Nativity. The Epistle to the Hebrews names Samson among those commended for faith, which is the basis for his inclusion among the righteous of the old covenant.
BirthAnnounced birth and Nazirite consecrationAccording to the Book of Judges, Samson was born to Manoah of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan, and his previously barren wife. An angel of the Lord announced the birth and declared that the child would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. He was to be a Nazirite from birth, abstaining from wine and unclean food, with no razor ever touching his head.
AdulthoodFeats of strength against the PhilistinesThe narrative recounts that the Spirit of the Lord repeatedly empowered Samson with great strength. He killed a lion barehanded on the way to Timnah and later found honey in its carcass; at his wedding feast he posed a riddle about the lion and honey to thirty Philistine companions. After the Philistines burned his wife and her father, he loosed three hundred foxes with burning torches into their grain fields and, on another occasion, struck down a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.
Later lifeDelilah and captureSamson came to love Delilah in the valley of Sorek. Philistine officials paid her to discover the source of his strength, and after several false answers he disclosed that no razor had come upon his head because of his Nazirite consecration. While he slept his hair was cut and his strength left him; the Philistines seized him, put out his eyes, and imprisoned him at Gaza, where he was set to grind grain.
DeathThe temple of Dagon at GazaDuring a festival in the temple of Dagon at Gaza, with a large crowd assembled including the Philistine rulers, Samson — whose hair had begun to grow again — asked to lean against the supporting pillars. The account relates that he prayed for strength, pushed the pillars apart, and brought the temple down, killing more of the Philistines in his death than he had during his life. His family recovered his body and buried him near the tomb of his father Manoah.
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The Nazirite Vow
A Nazirite, as described in the Book of Numbers, was an Israelite consecrated by a vow that imposed three principal obligations: abstaining from wine, strong drink, and grape products; refraining from cutting the hair of the head; and avoiding ritual impurity from contact with the dead. While most Nazirite vows were taken voluntarily for a fixed period, Samson belonged to a small group of figures set apart for life, his consecration established by a maternal vow before his birth. The biblical account links the keeping of this vow, and especially the uncut hair, to the strength by which he opposed the Philistines.
Among the Holy Forefathers
The Sunday of the Holy Forefathers and the Sunday before the Nativity commemorate the Old Testament ancestors and righteous figures who lived before and under the Law and who form, in Orthodox understanding, the spiritual lineage leading to the incarnation of Christ. Patriarchs, prophets, judges, and other righteous of the old covenant are named together in these commemorations. Samson is reckoned among the judges so remembered, and his inclusion among those commended for faith reflects the verse of the Epistle to the Hebrews that names him with Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.
