Atlas Biblica

    person

    Samson

    שִׁמְשׁוֹןΣαμψών

    Samson was an Israelite judge known for his God-given strength, which he used to fight against the Philistines.

    verses
    38
    first named
    Judges 13:24
    last named
    Hebrews 11:32
    period
    before Israel's Monarchy
    role
    Judge

    Description

    Who was Samson?

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Samson was an Israelite judge during the period when the Philistines oppressed Israel. His birth was announced by an angel to his parents, Manoah and his wife, who had been barren (Jdg.13.2-5). The angel instructed them to raise Samson as a Nazirite, dedicated to God from birth (Jdg.13.5, 7). As Samson grew, the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him (Jdg.13.24-25). Samson's life was characterized by his immense strength, which he used to fight against the Philistines. He killed a lion with his bare hands (Jdg.14.5-6), struck down thirty men of Ashkelon (Jdg.14.19), and killed a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone (Jdg.15.14-16). However, Samson's weakness was his attraction to foreign women. He fell in love with a Philistine woman named Delilah, who eventually betrayed him by discovering the secret of his strength (Jdg.16.4-20). The Philistines captured Samson, blinded him, and forced him to grind grain in prison (Jdg.16.21). During a Philistine festival, Samson was brought out to entertain them. He prayed to God for strength one last time and pushed against the pillars of the temple, causing it to collapse and kill himself along with many Philistines (Jdg.16.22-30). Despite his flaws, Samson is remembered as a man of faith who delivered Israel from Philistine oppression (Heb.11.32).

    Relations

    Direct connections

    Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.

    How the graph connects Samson10 of 21 entities the graph connects to Samson, in 2 groups: kinship 1, events 9. Kinship, company and ground are stated relations; events counts the acts two entities stand in together and is not a relation. Each mark is sized by how many verses name that entity and labelled with the link and the count, so the grouping and the size are both readable without colour. Distance from the centre carries nothing.ManoahChild of · 14 versesKinshipIsrael2 events · 2,578 versesLORD2 events · 1,004 versesDavid1 event · 964 versesPhilistia15 events · 250 versesSamuel1 event · 121 versesDelivery1 event · 106 versesGaza3 events · 23 versesTimnah3 events · 10 versesZorah2 events · 10 versesEventsSamson

    The 10 best-attested of 21 are drawn. All 21 are listed below.

    Child of

    Spouse of

    Took part in

    Stands in the same events as

    and 17 more, ordered by how many events they share.

    Places

    Where this happens

    The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.

    Where the story of Samson happensAll 10 places the claims about Samson reach, on a map of the world the text moves through, framed to them: Timnah, Gaza, Eshtaol, Etam, Zorah, Ashkelon, Lehi, Mahaneh-dan, Philistia, Sorek_Valley. Each dot is a coordinate from the gazetteer, sized by how many rows put Samson there. The coastline is a modern one, simplified; no border, road or settlement of any period is drawn, and no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.TimnahGazaAshkelonPhilistia
    before Israel's MonarchyAll 10 places the claims about Samson reach

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 38, across 2 books. The name is written 39 times in them.

    1. Judges37 verses

      13:2414:114:314:514:714:1014:1214:1514:1614:2015:115:315:415:615:715:1015:1115:1215:1616:116:216:316:616:716:916:1016:1216:1316:1416:2016:2316:2516:2616:2716:2816:2916:30

    2. Hebrews1 verse

      11:32

    Onward

    Where this page goes

    Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.

    via Samson’s going down and Samson’s seeing of Young Philistine WomanTimnahCanaanite city associated with Judah and Danvia Lords Of Philistines and Delilah’s tying up of Samson and They and Delilah’s tying up of SamsonTying UpTying Up is a concept gathering 7 labelled instances in the text.via Get Woman As Wife and Judah Men’s goingPhilistiaAn ancient people and region in Canaanvia Samson’s tellingTellingTelling is a concept gathering 189 labelled instances in the text.via Dagon DeliveringDagonPhilistine god whose temple was destroyed by Samsonvia Dagon DeliveringDeliveryDelivery is a concept gathering 99 labelled instances in the text.via Get Woman As WifeGettingGetting is a concept gathering 10 labelled instances in the text.via Samson’s going downGoing DownGoing Down is a concept gathering 50 labelled instances in the text.via Samson’s seeing of Young Philistine WomanSeeingSeeing is a concept gathering 247 labelled instances in the text.

    Where they appear

    Chapter by chapter

    Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.

    Sources

    What this rests on