SAMSON – A BRIEF TRAGEDY

And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him – Judges 13:24

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life – Judges 16:30

Moses and Samson! What a contrast in their strength, vocation, talent, character, destiny and influence on life and literature… One was the man of brain, learned in all the wisdom of Egypt. The other was the man of brawn, up to all the tricks and sports of a giant. Moses’ life was one long epic; Samson’s a brief tragedy. Moses was the man of God; Samson the man of the people. One was an Apollo; the other a Hercules…
Samson died with a prayer for vengeance on his lips; Moses, with a prophecy for Israel. Moses wrote the Pentateuch; Samson gave us a riddle. Moses lived one hundred and twenty years, founded a nation and his laws remain their legacy for thirty centuries. Samson’s brief career ended in a local catastrophe without permanent success or memorial…
So different are these two characters! Yet one thing they had in common – the same faith, but not the same faithfulness – SAMUEL M. ZWEMER

…It is characteristic of Bible biography that failures and vices are reported as honestly and objectively as virtues and successes. The men are real characters, not plastic saints. Life’s lessons are learned from failures as well as from successes. It is this realism which renders the Bible eternally contemporary and relevant…

Samson lived at a time when a large invasion of the Palestinian sea coast was in progress. Intruders from the Aegean Sea had been repulsed in their endeavours to enter Egypt and had settled in what was known as the Philistine plain. His home was in Shephelah on the borders of that plain. The proximity of the Philistines provided the occasion for his might exploits, but also afforded the temptations which led to his collapse.

Few young men commence life with a more favourable augury than Samson. With John the Baptist he had the distinction of having his birth divinely announced (Judg. 13:3-5). He was blessed with devout parents who were unwilling to take God’s gift of a son apart from His purpose (Judg.13:8). From the number of companions at his wedding-feast, it may be inferred that his family were of some wealth and importance (Judg.14:10-11)…

…Manoah was a man of faith as well as of prayer. They would not plan the boy’s life to please themselves, but to fulfil the will of God. Such parentage surely presaged a future bright with promise. A deliverer was badly needed for Israel in this dark hour of her history, and Samson’s parents doubtless cherished the hope that their son would fill this role. But not all godly parents are spared from sorrow in the lives of their children. The babe of his parents’ dreams became the man of their despair.”