person · P0062
Shimshon שמשון
Shimshon is a divinely announced Nazirite deliverer whose strength is repeatedly turned against the Philistines. His story is marked by personal conflict, riddles, violent reprisals, and unstable relationships. Captured and blinded after Delilah extracts the secret of his hair, he dies while destroying a Philistine temple.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- שמשון
- Also known as
- Samson
- Era
- bible
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 2830–2860 AM, at the end of the Judges period
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈30 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| An angel announced to Manoah's wife that her son would be a Nazirite from the womb and would begin to save Israel from the Philistines.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| On the way to Timnah, Shimshon tore apart a lion; later he found honey in its carcass and used the incident as the basis of his wedding riddle.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Delilah repeatedly pressed Shimshon until he revealed that his uncut hair marked his Nazirite consecration; after it was shaved, the Philistines seized and blinded him.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| At a Philistine celebration in Gaza, Shimshon prayed for strength, pulled down the supporting pillars, and killed more people in his death than during his life.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Shimshon was born to Manoach, a Danite from Zorah, and Manoach's unnamed wife after a period of infertility.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| His brothers and paternal household buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoach; the text assigns him twenty years as judge.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The traditional placement c. 2830–2860 AM, at the end of the Judges period is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction from his position near the close of Judges and the two notices assigning him twenty years as judge; the cited sources do not state an absolute AM range.
The cited sources establish relative chronology or regnal duration; they do not state the absolute AM range.
|
tradition reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ |