"And she made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man,
and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head:
. . . and his strength went from him."
(Judges 16:19)

Samson and Delilah. It's my favorite Bible story, and one of my favorite movies (the one starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature).

I've read the Bible and gone to movies ever since I was old enough to read and to slap down a dime at the box office. (That's right, back then a kid could get in for ten cents.) So this page is my heartfelt tribute to the story of Samson the Hebrew strongman, with a weakness for women (Philistine women at that), and Delilah, the temptress of Sorek who betrayed him into Philistine hands.

Ron Ecker

Peter Paul Rubens's Samson and Delilah
National Gallery, London

For the story of Samson and Delilah, as retold by yours truly (with comments on the Hollywood epic), see "He Smote Them Hip and Thigh."

For the biblical text, that thou mayest read the original source, seeth Judges 13-16.

For the 14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer's retelling of the tale (translated from the Middle English by yours truly), click here.

For some good heavy reading, see John Milton's 17th-century tragic poem "Samson Agonistes."

For something lighter, see Christian scriptwriter Bob Snook's short, hilarious radio script "Delilah Finds the Secret to Samson's Strength."

Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr
in "Samson and Delilah"

Who were the Philistines?

See the article on the Philistines at the Bible, History and Archaeology website, the entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia, and the Wikipedia entry.

Visit the archeological sites Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath, three of the five major Philistine cities, and read about Dagon, the Philistine god in whose temple Samson took his final revenge.

Hedy Lamarr (1913-2000) as Delilah

More Links

The Samson saga as told by Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, in his Antiquities of the Jews.

The entries on Samson and Delilah in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

A Samson psychological profile.

Scholarly articles by Anton Karl Kozlovic on DeMille's "Samson and Delilah" in Belphégor, Comparative Religion and Culture, McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry, and Women in Judaism. See also "Have Lamb Will Martyr" and "Serpentine Evil and the Garden of Eden."

More archeology of Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath , and pages on Ashdod and Gaza, the five ancient Philistine cities.

The song "Hedy Lamarr" by yours truly.

A history and lyrics of the song "Samson and Delilah" recorded by the Grateful Dead.

Background and synopsis of the opera "Samson et Dalila" by Camille Saint-Saens.

A description of the oratorio "Samson" by George Frideric Handel.

Art by Doré, Mellan, Solomon, and Van Dyck.

Samson Slaying the Lion
Unknown Artist

Rembrandt's The Blinding of Samson
Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

"Let me die with the Philistines"
Samson Destroys the Temple
Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld

Could not once blinding me, cruel, suffice?
When first I look'd on thee, I lost mine eyes.

Richard Crashaw
Divine Epigrams: Samson to His Delilah
1646

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