Samson is the biblical judge of ancient Israel, described in Judges 13 to 16 as the last of the judges before the monarchy. Born to Manoah and his wife in the tribe of Dan, he was dedicated as a Nazirite from birth and judged Israel for twenty years during Philistine oppression.

He is best known for the strength the Bible credits to God, and for his relationship with Delilah, the Philistine woman who learned the secret of his uncut hair and betrayed him. Many of his deeds, from a lion killed with bare hands to a battle fought with a donkey's jawbone, are told as a folk-hero's story, and his