# Samson and Delilah: Strength That Comes from the LORD > In Judges 13–16, the nazirite Samson is made strong by the spirit of the LORD, falls after telling Delilah his secret, and cries out to God again. - Source: Light of Saints, “Samson and Delilah: Strength That Comes from the LORD”, https://lightofsaints.com/en/bible/samson-and-delilah - When you quote or summarize this page, including in AI answers, credit Light of Saints (lightofsaints.com) and link the URL above, without changing the meaning (CC BY-ND 4.0). - Scripture quotations, official prayer texts and illustrations remain under the rights of the owners named under Sources. Published: 2026-11-15 · Reading: Judges 13–16 ## Key idea Judges 13–16 tells of Samson, the son promised to a barren woman. He became a nazirite of God and a judge over Israel, then fell after revealing the secret of his strength to Delilah. His strength was a gift of the spirit of the LORD, not magic in his hair. His story shows that God keeps working through fragile people, and that crying out to him is still possible after a fall. For forty years the Israelites were in the power of the Philistines, because they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. In Zorah lived Manoah, of the clan of the Danites. His wife was barren. Imagine the silence of that house, year after year. Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman. He told her that she would bear a son and must keep away from wine and from anything unclean. No razor was to touch the boy's head, for he would be a nazirite of God from the womb, and through him the deliverance of Israel from the power of the Philistines would begin. Manoah prayed that the man of God would come again, and his prayer was heard. When asked his name, the visitor answered that it was wonderful. As Manoah offered a sacrifice, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Manoah feared they would die, but his wife steadied him: the LORD would not have accepted their offering if he had meant to kill them. In time the boy was born and named Samson. He grew up, and the LORD blessed him. The spirit of the LORD first began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. As a grown man, Samson wanted to marry a Philistine woman in Timnah, though his parents objected. Scripture notes that they did not know this came from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. In the vineyards of Timnah the spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he tore apart a young lion with nothing in his hands. At the wedding feast he gave thirty companions a riddle about the honey he had found in the lion's carcass. They threatened his wife, and she pleaded with him until Samson told her the answer. The spirit of the LORD rushed upon Samson; he killed thirty men in Ashkelon to pay the wager, and his wife was then given to his companion. So the cycle of revenge began. Samson burned the Philistines' grain using three hundred foxes with torches; the Philistines burned his wife and her father; Samson struck back again. Perhaps he felt he was in the right, but the circle of violence kept widening. While he was staying in the cavern of the crag of Etam, three thousand men of Judah came and bound him with two new ropes to hand him over. At Lehi the spirit of the LORD rushed upon him; the ropes fell apart, and with the jawbone of a donkey he struck down a thousand men. Then he grew very thirsty and called out to the LORD, and God split the hollow at Lehi so that water came out. Samson judged Israel for twenty years. Once in Gaza, after he visited a prostitute, the men of the city lay in wait for him at the gate. At midnight he got up, pulled out both doors of the city gate together with the posts and the bar, and carried them to the top of the ridge opposite Hebron. ## Samson and Delilah in the Wadi Sorek After this Samson fell in love with a woman in the Wadi Sorek named Delilah. The lords of the Philistines each promised Delilah eleven hundred shekels of silver if she could coax Samson into revealing the secret of his strength. Three times Delilah asked, and three times Samson gave a false answer: bowstrings, new ropes, then weaving his locks into the loom. Each time Delilah cried out that the Philistines were upon him, and each time Samson broke free. Imagine the men lying in wait in that room, holding their breath. Then Delilah said that Samson did not truly love her, because his heart was not with her. Day after day she pleaded and pressed him, until he could bear it no longer. > So he took her completely into his confidence and told her, "No razor has touched my head, for I have been consecrated to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I shall be as weak as any other man." (Jgs 16:17) > > — New American Bible: Jgs 13:1–16:31 Delilah summoned the lords of the Philistines, and they came bringing the money. While Samson slept on her lap, a man shaved off his seven locks. Delilah cried out again, and Samson woke, sure he would shake himself free as before. He did not know that the LORD had left him. The Philistines seized Samson, gouged out his eyes, and set him to grinding grain in the prison at Gaza, bound with bronze fetters. Perhaps there he remembered everything he had lost. Then Scripture adds one short sentence: “But the hair of his head began to grow as soon as it was shaved off.” (Jgs 16:22) The lords of the Philistines held a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and called for Samson to entertain them. He was made to stand among the pillars of a building packed with people. There he prayed: “Samson cried out to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, remember me! Strengthen me, O God, this last time that for my two eyes I may avenge myself once and for all on the Philistines."” (Jgs 16:28) He grasped the two middle columns and pushed with all his strength. The building collapsed on the lords and on all the people, and Samson died with them. His brothers and his whole family buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of Manoah his father. ## The Age of the Judges The story of Samson belongs to the Book of Judges, at a time when the Philistines ruled over the Israelites. The text says this oppression lasted forty years and links it to Israel doing evil in the sight of the LORD. Even the men of Judah told Samson that the Philistines ruled over them, so they chose to hand him over rather than resist. The passage itself explains the word nazirite. Samson's mother was told to avoid wine, strong drink and anything unclean, while no razor was to touch the boy's head. Samson was a nazirite from the womb, so it was not his own choice but a call from God. His long hair was the sign of that call, not a charm. Samson is also called a judge. The book records that he judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines, and the angel said that through him the deliverance of Israel would only begin. Dagon, who appears at the end of the story, is the god the lords of the Philistines worshiped at their sacrificial feast. ## The Meaning of Strength and an Honest Heart Samson's story is not easy to read. He is full of energy, but also quick to anger and drawn into revenge, and his actions are not an example to copy. Read carefully, his strength comes when the spirit of the LORD rushes upon him and disappears when the LORD leaves him. His hair is not the source, but the sign of his calling as a nazirite of God. In the encyclical Dilexit nos, Pope Francis uses the conversation between Samson and Delilah to explain what the heart means. He teaches that the heart is the place of sincerity, where deceit and disguise have no place. The heart is the part of us that is not appearance or illusion, but what is real and whole. Only when Samson opened his heart did Delilah know he had told her his whole secret. For teenagers and young adults, this story touches real questions: to whom do we open our hearts, and what is at stake in a relationship? The end of Samson's life is not a model of revenge. Yet something is worth noticing: in prison his hair grew back, and from the darkness he cried out to the LORD again, as he once did when thirsty at Lehi. Calling on God remains open, even after a fall. ## Reflection We may never face a lion, but we know what it feels like to open our hearts to the wrong person, or to hide behind appearances. Samson's story shows that we can bring our weakness honestly before God, and that we may still cry out to him, even when it feels as if everything is too late. **Question:** Who are you most honest with about what is in your heart, and have you also brought it to God in prayer? _This story is retold by the Light of Saints editorial team from the Catholic edition of Scripture and the Church sources listed, with the help of AI, and checked by an editor. Some of the atmosphere and the characters' feelings are our portrayal. For the full text, read the passage in Scripture._ ## At a glance - **Reading:** Judges 13–16 - **People:** Samson, Manoah, Manoah's wife, The angel of the LORD, Delilah, The lords of the Philistines - **Places:** Zorah and Eshtaol, Timnah, Lehi, Gaza ## Common questions ### What was the secret of Samson's strength? Samson said his head had never been shaved because he was a nazirite of God from the womb. Scripture shows his strength came when the spirit of the LORD rushed upon him; after his hair was shaved, the text notes that the LORD had left him. ### Who was Delilah in the Bible? Delilah was a woman from the Wadi Sorek whom Samson loved. The lords of the Philistines each promised her eleven hundred shekels of silver to coax Samson into revealing the secret of his strength. ### What does nazirite mean in the story of Samson? In Judges 13, Samson's nazirite calling is marked by the rule that no razor may touch his head, and his mother is told to avoid wine and anything unclean. He was a nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death. ### How did Samson die? After being captured and blinded, Samson called on the LORD during a feast for Dagon at Gaza. The building collapsed and he died with the Philistines inside. His family buried him in the tomb of Manoah, between Zorah and Eshtaol. ### What did Pope Francis say about Samson and Delilah? In Dilexit nos 5, Pope Francis uses the story of Samson and Delilah to explain the heart as the place of sincerity, where deceit and disguise have no place. ## Sources - [New American Bible: Jgs 13:1–16:31](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__P6G.HTM) — Jgs 13:1–16:31 - [Francis, Dilexit nos (24 October 2024)](https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.html) — Published at www.vatican.va