Samson

Samson, son of Manoah of the tribe of Dan, was the last of the major judges of Israel, whose birth was announced by the angel of the LORD to his previously barren mother (Judg. 13). He was consecrated as a Nazirite from the womb — the first such designation in Scripture — meaning he was to abstain from wine and strong drink and was never to cut his hair, the outward sign of his consecration to God (Judg. 13:5). His superhuman strength, empowered by the Spirit of the LORD, enabled him to kill a lion with his bare hands (Judg. 14:6), slay thirty Philistines, and defeat a thousand enemies with the jawbone of a donkey (Judg. 15:15). His life was tragically marked by entanglement with Philistine women: his marriage to a woman of Timnath and his infatuation with Delilah proved his undoing. Delilah extracted the secret of his strength, had his hair shaved, and delivered him blinded and bound to the Philistines (Judg. 16:17–21). In a final act of faith, he pulled down the pillars of the temple of Dagon, killing more enemies in his death than in his life (Judg. 16:30). He is listed among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11:32.