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Samson was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last of the leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monarchy. He is sometimes considered to be an Israelite version of the popular Near Eastern folk hero also embodied by the Sumerian Enkidu and the Greek Heracles.

The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazirite, and that he was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, including slaying a lion with his bare hands and massacring an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of a donkey. However, if Samson's long hair was cut, then his Nazirite vow would be violated and he would lose his strength.

Samson was betrayed by his lover Delilah, who ordered a servant to cut his hair while he was sleeping and turned him over to his Philistine enemies, who gouged out his eyes and forced him to grind grain in a mill at Gaza. When the Philistines took Samson into their temple of Dagon, Samson asked to rest against one of the support pillars; after being granted permission, he prayed to God and miraculously recovered his strength, allowing him to grasp hold of the columns and tear them down, killing himself and all the Philistines with him. In some Jewish traditions, Samson is believed to have been buried in Tel Tzora in Israel overlooking the Sorek valley.

Samson has been the subject of both rabbinic and Christian commentary, with some Christians viewing him as a type of Jesus, based on similarities between their lives.

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Samson’s name means “like the sun.” He was miraculously conceived after an Angel of the LORD appeared to his barren mother. The Messenger gave an instruction to Samson’s mother about how they should raise the child.

“Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:4-5).

The instruction is clear: Samson would be consecrated and become a Nazirite from birth. It is very clear that Samson should not let a razor come upon his head, drink wine, and eat anything unclean.

The full description of the Nazirite vow is found in Numbers 6. Both men and women can make the Nazirite vow. Nazirites are commanded not just to drink wine, but they also must stay away from grapes or vineyards altogether. This is done to lessen the temptation to sin.

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Though Samson is known to be one of the strongest men recorded in the Bible, he is not short of weaknesses. His greatest weakness is women, and because of this, Samson is always caught in bad situations.

When Samson became an adult, he decided to marry a woman in Timnah (Judges 14:1-2). It is very obvious that Samson is acting carnally. Soon after, his decision to marry outside of his people is proven to be fatal. After a series of events, Samson was betrayed by his wife-to-be, and this had led Samson to initially kill 30 men and then set on fire the standing grain of the Philistines. With this kind of situation, the Philistines sought to exact revenge from Samson, but they failed. Instead, Samson killed 1,000 Philistines and delivered the Israelites from their hands.

We have read the phrase “the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him” multiple times (Judges 14:6, 9; 15:14). This is a phrase that signifies that even though Samson was going against his Nazirite vow, God is still using him to fulfill His purpose.

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When he was a young adult, Samson left the hills of his people to see the cities of Philistia. He fell in love with a Philistine woman from Timnah, whom he decided to marry, ignoring the objections of his parents, who were concerned because the Israelites were forbidden to marry Gentiles. In the development of the narrative, the intended marriage was shown to be part of God's plan to strike at the Philistines.

According to the biblical account, Samson was repeatedly seized by the "Spirit of the Lord," who blessed him with immense strength. The first instance of this is seen when Samson was on his way to ask for the Philistine woman's hand in marriage, when he was attacked by a lion. He simply grabbed it and ripped it apart, as the spirit of God divinely empowered him. However, Samson kept it a secret, not even mentioning the miracle to his parents. He arrived at the Philistine's house and became betrothed to her. He returned home, then came back to Timnah some time later for the wedding. On his way, Samson saw that bees had nested in the carcass of the lion and made honey. He ate a handful of the honey and gave some to his parents.

At the wedding feast, Samson told a riddle to his thirty groomsmen (all Philistines). If they could solve it, he would give them thirty pieces of fine linen and garments, but if they could not solve it, they would give him thirty pieces of fine linen and garments. The riddle was a veiled account of two encounters with the lion, at which only he was present:

Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet.

The Philistines were infuriated by the riddle. The thirty groomsmen told Samson's new wife that they would burn her and her father's household if she did not discover the answer to the riddle and tell it to them. At the urgent and tearful imploring of his bride, Samson told her the solution, and she told it to the thirty groomsmen.

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According to the account in the Book of Judges, Samson lived during a time of repeated conflict between Israel and Philistia, when God was disciplining the Israelites by giving them "into the hand of the Philistines". Manoah was an Israelite from Zorah, descended from the Danites, and his wife had been unable to conceive.The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and proclaimed that the couple would soon have a son who would begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines.

The Angel of the Lord stated that Manoah's wife was to abstain from all alcoholic drinks, and her promised child was not to shave or cut his hair. He was to be a Nazirite from birth. In ancient Israel, those wanting to be especially dedicated to God for a time could take a Nazirite vow which included abstaining from wine and spirits, not cutting hair or shaving, and other requirements.The wife believed the Angel of the Lord; her husband was not present, so he prayed and asked God to send the messenger once again to teach them how to raise the boy who was going to be born.

After the Angel of the Lord returned, Manoah asked him his name, but he said, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."Manoah then prepared a sacrifice, but the Angel of the Lord would only allow it to be for God. He touched it with his staff, miraculously engulfing it in flames, and then ascended into the sky in the fire — and, in doing so, revealed that he was not simply an angel but was God in angelic form. This was such dramatic evidence of the nature of the Messenger that Manoah feared for his life, since it was said that no one could live after seeing God. However, his wife convinced him that, if God planned to slay them, he would never have revealed such things to them. In due time, their son Samson was born, and he was raised according to the provisions.