A Philistine Wife, a Prostitute, and Delilah: Samson’s (Divine?) Path to Vengeance

Soon after Samson had grown up, the רוּחַ יְ־הֹוָה, “zeal for YHWH,” starts to move him (Judg 13:25).^[1] In his debut, he goes to Timnah (14:1), and against his parents’ wishes, selects an unnamed Philistine woman as bride:

^{שופטים יד:ג} וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ הַאֵין בִּבְנוֹת אַחֶיךָ וּבְכׇל עַמִּי אִשָּׁה כִּי אַתָּה הוֹלֵךְ לָקַחַת אִשָּׁה מִפְּלִשְׁתִּים הָעֲרֵלִים וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְשׁוֹן אֶל אָבִיו אוֹתָהּ קַח לִי כִּי הִיא יָשְׁרָה בְעֵינָי.

^{Judg 14:3} His father—his mother as well—told him, “Can there not be one woman among those kin to you—among all my people—that you would seek to take a wife from foreskinned Philistines?” “Get that one for me,” Samson told his father, “for she is the one that pleases me.”

The phrase that Samson uses, יָשְׁרָה בְעֵינָי, lit. “pleasing in my eyes,” does not generally allude to sexual desire, but mostly to attraction to objects or people that please. In Judges, however, it also becomes associated with Israel’s dysfunction:

^{שופטים יז:ו} בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם אֵין מֶלֶךְ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו יַעֲשֶׂה.

^{Judg 17:6} In those days, there was no king in Israel; anyone could do whatever felt right (cf. 21:25).

Samson’s parents do not know that their son’s choice of a bride is under God’s control. In an aside, however, we are made privy to the reason why:

^{שופטים יד:ד} וְאָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ לֹא יָדְעוּ כִּי מֵיְ־הֹוָה הִיא כִּי תֹאֲנָה הוּא מְבַקֵּשׁ מִפְּלִשְׁתִּים וּבָעֵת הַהִיא פְּלִשְׁתִּים מֹשְׁלִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.

^{Judg 14:4} Now his father and mother had no idea that this was from YHWH, for he was prodding a reaction from the Philistines.^[2] In those days, the Philistines were ruling over Israel.^[3]

The parents arrange the marriage; but after falling out with the wedding party over a wager, Samson leaves the celebration in anger, likely never having consummated the marriage with his bride (vv. 10–19).^[4] Samson later returns to Timnah to do so, thereby making her his wife:

^{שופטים טו:א} וַיְהִי מִיָּמִים בִּימֵי קְצִיר חִטִּים וַיִּפְקֹד שִׁמְשׁוֹן אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ בִּגְדִי עִזִּים וַיֹּאמֶר אָבֹאָה אֶל אִשְׁתִּי הֶחָדְרָה וְלֹא נְתָנוֹ אָבִיהָ לָבוֹא.

^{Judg 15:1} Sometime during the wheat harvest, taking a young goat, Samson sought to visit his wife.^[5] He said, “I would come to my wife, in her chamber.” But her father would not permit him to enter.

He soon learns, however, that her father has married her to another man:

^{שופטים טו:ב} וַיֹּאמֶר אָבִיהָ אָמֹר אָמַרְתִּי כִּי שָׂנֹא שְׂנֵאתָהּ וָאֶתְּנֶנָּה לְמֵרֵעֶךָ הֲלֹא אֲחוֹתָהּ הַקְּטַנָּה טוֹבָה מִמֶּנָּה תְּהִי נָא לְךָ תַּחְתֶּיהָ.

^{Judg 15:2} Said her father, “I have declared that you must surely have loathed her and therefore have given her to your companion. Is her younger sister not more attractive than her? Please, let her be her substitute.”

Rejecting the father’s attempt to make amends by offering a substitute bride, Samson instead declares his intention to avenge himself for the breach of agreement:

^{שופטים טו:ג} וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם שִׁמְשׁוֹן נִקֵּיתִי הַפַּעַם מִפְּלִשְׁתִּים כִּי עֹשֶׂה אֲנִי עִמָּם רָעָה.

^{Judg 15:3} Samson told them, “I am blameless against the Philistines this time, for I am set to do them harm.”

He then sets fire to the Philistines’ grain fields, vineyards, and olive groves (15:5).

We have only Samson’s reaction on listening to his bride’s father, yet the Mesopotamia laws of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (ca. 1930 B.C.E.) help spell out the reason for Samson’s perceived grievance:

^{LL §29} If a son-in-law enters the household of his father-in-law and performs the bridewealth presentation, but later they evict him and give his wife to his comrade, they shall restore to him twofold the bridewealth which he brought.^[6]

A Sex Worker in Gaza

Following a failed attempt by the Philistines to capture Samson (15:9–20), sometime later, he travels to Gaza, dozens of miles away from his home. Once again, the woman he meets remains nameless, as was the case of his mother and his potential bride from Timnah, sharpening the divergence with the next woman he will meet (Delilah).

^{שופטים טו:א} וַיֵּלֶךְ שִׁמְשׁוֹן עַזָּתָה וַיַּרְא שָׁם אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה וַיָּבֹא אֵלֶיהָ.

^{Judg 16:1} Then Samson went down to Gaza. He saw there a prostitute and slept with her.

The Gazans learn that Samson is in the city, and they plot to kill him (v. 2). Aware of their schemes, he escapes in the middle of the night and renders the city defenseless by hoisting the city gate and its moorings onto his back:^[7]

^{שופטים טו:ג} וַיִּשְׁכַּב שִׁמְשׁוֹן עַד חֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיָּקׇם בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיֶּאֱחֹז בְּדַלְתוֹת שַׁעַר הָעִיר וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַמְּזֻזוֹת וַיִּסָּעֵם עִם הַבְּרִיחַ וַיָּשֶׂם עַל כְּתֵפָיו וַיַּעֲלֵם אֶל רֹאשׁ הָהָר אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי חֶבְרוֹן.

^{Judg 16:3} Samson slumbered until midnight. Rising at midnight, he gripped the door panels of the city gate as well as the two doorposts. Tearing them loose with the bar still in place, he set them on his shoulders and hauled them up toward the peak of the hill, the one facing Hebron.

Surprising is that there is no reference here to any infusion of divine spirit (as at 14:6, 19; 15:14), when this feat of Samson is at least equal in prowess to his earlier encounters with the Philistines. Omitting God from this episode, who heretofore had controlled Samson’s actions, gives the false impression (to him as much as to us) that he can succeed when left to his own devices.^[8] The next scenes will show Samson faltering before recognizing that he cannot escape his fate.

Delilah, a Courtesan in Wadi Sorek

Lastly, Samson meets Delilah, a woman who lives on the border between the Hebrew and Philistine territories. Pointedly, the narrator describes him as being in love: ^[9]

^{שופטים טו:ד} וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי כֵן וַיֶּאֱהַב אִשָּׁה בְּנַחַל שֹׂרֵק וּשְׁמָהּ דְּלִילָה.

^{Judg 16:4} It happened sometime later that [Samson] loved a woman in Wadi Sorek; her name was Delilah.

Delilah is the only figure besides Samson to bear a name in this narrative.^[10] She appears unheralded and exits once her role is complete.^[11] Unlike the woman whom Samson visited in Gaza (16:1), Delilah is not described as a sex worker (זוֹנָה).

Here, she is linked to no one, male or female, parents, husband, or son, thus suggesting an independence from male protection. She entertains admirers like Samson for longer stretches than might a hustling sex worker. She easily connects with the Philistine rulers and owns a home large enough to hide Philistine ambushers who will bind Samson (16:9). These details suggest that Delilah is a courtesan, an independent woman whose long-term clientele included the wealthy, powerful, and influential.^[12]

The narrative reenacts the respective aims of Samson and Delilah—she covets shekels; he craves reciprocal love. Their relationship has apparently been going on long enough for the Philistine leaders to learn of it. They also knew Delilah well enough to know that a substantial bribe—roughly twenty‑eight pounds of silver from each—will induce her to ferret out and betray the secret of Samson’s extraordinary strength:

^{שופטים טו:ה} וַיַּעֲלוּ אֵלֶיהָ סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהּ פַּתִּי אוֹתוֹ וּרְאִי בַּמֶּה כֹּחוֹ גָדוֹל וּבַמֶּה נוּכַל לוֹ וַאֲסַרְנוּהוּ לְעַנּוֹתוֹ וַאֲנַחְנוּ נִתַּן לָךְ אִישׁ אֶלֶף וּמֵאָה כָּסֶף.

^{Judg 16:5} Rulers of the Philistines came up to her to tell her, “Beguile him and find out what makes his strength so great and what would give us control of him. We will bind him so as to demean him. As for us, each will give you eleven hundred shekels.

Four times does Delilah seek the answer to the Philistines’ question of what will render Samson vulnerable:

^{שופטים טו:ו} וַתֹּאמֶר דְּלִילָה אֶל שִׁמְשׁוֹן הַגִּידָה נָּא לִי בַּמֶּה כֹּחֲךָ גָדוֹל וּבַמֶּה תֵאָסֵר לְעַנּוֹתֶךָ.

^{Judg 16:6} Delilah told Samson, “Tell me what makes your strength so great and how might you be bound so as to demean you.”

Samson first responds that Delilah must bind him with fresh sinews:

^{שופטים טו:ז} וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן אִם יַאַסְרֻנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה יְתָרִים לַחִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא חֹרָבוּ וְחָלִיתִי וְהָיִיתִי כְּאַחַד הָאָדָם.

^{Judg 16:7} “If I were bound with seven fresh sinews that have yet to dry up,” Samson told her, “I would then weaken and become as any other man.”

Binding, both metaphorically and concretely, was a major component of magical acts in antiquity. It had a double purpose that fits into this scenario. First, it permitted the binder to take control of the bound.^[13] This may well have been Delilah’s understanding of what was to unfold once she followed Samson’s instruction.

For Samson, however, the acts of binding and making knots serve a markedly different purpose: they wondrously enhance the amatory experience by inducing passion in a partner. For example, a Mesopotamian woman with an angry husband is advised to perform the following ritual (from Ashur, ca. 1000 B.C.E.), which includes knotting tendons fourteen (so twice seven) times:

You weave together into a single strand the tendons of a gazelle, [hemp,] and red wool; you tie it into fourteen knots. Each time you tie a knot, you recite the incantation. The woman places this cord around her waist, and she will be loved.^[14]

Delilah follows Samson’s instructions, but Samson easily escapes the bindings:

^{שופטים טו:ח} וַיַּעֲלוּ לָהּ סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים שִׁבְעָה יְתָרִים לַחִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא חֹרָבוּ וַתַּאַסְרֵהוּ בָּהֶם. ^טז:ט וְהָאֹרֵב יֹשֵׁב לָהּ בַּחֶדֶר וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו פְּלִשְׁתִּים עָלֶיךָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַיְנַתֵּק אֶת הַיְתָרִים כַּאֲשֶׁר יִנָּתֵק פְּתִיל הַנְּעֹרֶת בַּהֲרִיחוֹ אֵשׁ וְלֹא נוֹדַע כֹּחוֹ.

^{Judg 16:8} The Philistine rulers had seven fresh sinews that had yet to dry up brought up to her, and she bound him with them. ^16:9 With the ambush party lurking by her, in the room, she told him, “Philistines upon you, Samson!” He snapped the sinews as might filaments of flax snap on sniffing fire. His strength remained unexplained.

Samson’s next two responses to Delilah’s repeated queries similarly rehearse the binding moves of ancient love charms: אִם אָסוֹר יַאַסְרוּנִי בַּעֲבֹתִים חֲדָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לֹא נַעֲשָׂה בָהֶם מְלָאכָה “If I were firmly bound by ropes that are new and that were never used on any job...” (v. 11); and אִם תַּאַרְגִי אֶת שֶׁבַע מַחְלְפוֹת רֹאשִׁי עִם הַמַּסָּכֶת “if you would weave the seven braids on my head into the fabric...” (v. 13). In each case, the procedure fails to weaken Samson.

Samson devises variations of magical feats he knows will not harm him, yet believes will ignite Delilah’s passion. We are, therefore, not dealing with a fool too obtuse to discern Delilah’s transparent intent, but with a lovestruck suitor hoping to seduce a hardened sex worker.

Was Samson’s Hair the Source of His Strength?

Delilah’s fourth and final attempt to manipulate Samson into answering her question uses Samson’s declarations of love against him:

^{שופטים טו:טו} וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֵיךְ תֹּאמַר אֲהַבְתִּיךְ וְלִבְּךָ אֵין אִתִּי זֶה שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים הֵתַלְתָּ בִּי וְלֹא הִגַּדְתָּ לִּי בַּמֶּה כֹּחֲךָ גָדוֹל.

^{Judg 16:15} “How could you say ‘I love you,’” she asked him, “when your heart is not with me? This makes three times that you have deceived me, not revealing to me what makes your strength so great.”

Samson, wearied and frustrated, responds.

^{שופטים טו:יז} וַיַּגֶּד לָהּ אֶת כׇּל לִבּוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ מוֹרָה לֹא עָלָה עַל רֹאשִׁי כִּי נְזִיר אֱלֹהִים אֲנִי מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי אִם גֻּלַּחְתִּי וְסָר מִמֶּנִּי כֹחִי וְחָלִיתִי וְהָיִיתִי כְּכׇל הָאָדָם.

^{Judg 16:17} He poured his heart out to her, telling her, “A razor has never touched my head, for I am a Nazir to God from my mother’s womb. If my hair is cut, my strength will desert me. I would weaken then and become as any other man.”^[15]

Despite Samson’s assertion, nothing in the preceding narrative explicitly links uncut hair with strength, nor does any other biblical nazir attain Herculean power by leaving hair unshorn. Samson himself treats his hair cavalierly, showing no concern about its manipulation or possible plucking. Had he associated grooming with strength, he would surely have steered Delilah away from it.

Thus, when Samson lets Delilah maneuver him into revealing the “secret” of cutting his hair, he is not betraying the true source of his power, for he knows it to lie in heaven, in divine infusions of רוּחַ יְ־הֹוָה, as in previous challenges. Rather, Samson is simply proposing yet another method by which to coax Delilah’s ardor.

Indeed, once his braids are clipped and the Philistines pounce to seize him, he can foresee only their eventual thrashing:

^{שופטים טו:כ} וַתֹּאמֶר פְּלִשְׁתִּים עָלֶיךָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַיִּקַץ מִשְּׁנָתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵצֵא כְּפַעַם בְּפַעַם וְאִנָּעֵר וְהוּא לֹא יָדַע כִּי יְ־הֹוָה סָר מֵעָלָיו.

^{Judg 16:20} “She said, “Philistines upon you, Samson!” He woke up from his sleep thinking, “I will break out as time after time and will shake free,” for he did not realize that it was YHWH who was deserting him.

What Samson does not grasp is that God has other designs; as Samson’s hair begins to grow, we are alerted to the restoration of his nazirite status and, with it, divine favor:

^{שופטים טו:כב} וַיָּחֶל שְׂעַר רֹאשׁוֹ לְצַמֵּחַ כַּאֲשֶׁר גֻּלָּח.

^{Judg 16:22} No sooner was he shaved than his head hair began growing.

The Philistines do not want Samson dead yet; rather, they blind him and consign him to the humiliating task of griding grain:^[16]

^{שופטים טו:כא} וַיֹּאחֲזוּהוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיְנַקְּרוּ אֶת עֵינָיו וַיּוֹרִידוּ אוֹתוֹ עַזָּתָה וַיַּאַסְרוּהוּ בַּנְחֻשְׁתַּיִם וַיְהִי טוֹחֵן בְּבֵית האסירים [הָאֲסוּרִים].

^{Judg 16:21} The Philistines captured him. They gouged his eyes out and brought him down to Gaza. After they bound him in bronze shackles, in prison he became a grinder of grain.

Ritual Execution

In Mediterranean antiquity, defeated antagonists were commonly disfigured, confined, and exhibited publicly before they were killed.^[17] Recall that Israel mutilated and executed the Canaanite Adoni-Bezeq once they captured him:

^{שופטים א:ו} וַיָּנׇס אֲדֹנִי בֶזֶק וַיִּרְדְּפוּ אַחֲרָיו וַיֹּאחֲזוּ אוֹתוֹ וַיְקַצְּצוּ אֶת בְּהֹנוֹת יָדָיו וְרַגְלָיו. ^א:ז ...וַיְבִיאֻהוּ יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וַיָּמׇת שָׁם.

^{Judg 1:6} Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and seizing him, they severed his thumbs and toes. ^1:7 ...They brought him to Jerusalem and there he died.”

Josephus recounts how Roman emperor Titus, in 71 C.E., brought to Rome a top commander from captured Jerusalem and featured him in the closing scene of a triumphal celebration that culminates in a sacrifice to the gods:

^{Jewish Wars 7 2.2 (153–155)} [Simon b. Gioras] had been led in the procession amongst the prisoners of war; then, a noose round his neck, scourged by his guards, he had been taken to that place next to the Forum where Roman law prescribes that condemned criminals be executed. After the announcement came that he had met his end and the universal cheering that followed it, Vespasian and Titus began the sacrifice [to their gods].

A similar fate awaits Samson. Held likely in Gaza, he is to be ritually executed in a Philistine thanksgiving to Dagon, their god:

^{שופטים טו:כג} וְסַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים נֶאֶסְפוּ לִזְבֹּחַ זֶבַח גָּדוֹל לְדָגוֹן אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וּלְשִׂמְחָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ נָתַן אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּיָדֵנוּ אֵת שִׁמְשׁוֹן אוֹיְבֵנוּ. ^טז:כד וַיִּרְאוּ אֹתוֹ הָעָם וַיְהַלְלוּ אֶת אֱלֹהֵיהֶם כִּי אָמְרוּ נָתַן אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְיָדֵנוּ אֶת אוֹיְבֵנוּ וְאֵת מַחֲרִיב אַרְצֵנוּ וַאֲשֶׁר הִרְבָּה אֶת חֲלָלֵינוּ.

^{Judg 16:23} The Philistine rulers convened to offer a Grand Feast for their god Dagon and to celebrate. They declared, “Our God has handed us Samson, our enemy.” ^16:24 As soon as the people looked at him (Dagon), they glorified their god by shouting, “Our God has handed us our enemy, ravager of our land, who multiplied our slain.”

Amid the chants of thousands, sightless Samson is brought forth:

^{שופטים טו:כה} וַיְהִי כי טוב [כְּטוֹב] לִבָּם וַיֹּאמְרוּ קִרְאוּ לְשִׁמְשׁוֹן וִישַׂחֶק לָנוּ וַיִּקְרְאוּ לְשִׁמְשׁוֹן מִבֵּית האסירים הָאֲסוּרִים וַיְצַחֵק לִפְנֵיהֶם וַיַּעֲמִידוּ אוֹתוֹ בֵּין הָעַמּוּדִים.

^{Judg 16:25} Jubilant, they demanded, “Bring out Samson to perform for us.” Fetched from prison, Samson cavorted in their presence. Then they set him among the pillars.

I picture him in a broad open courtyard before a temple façade borne by two closely set pillars, with crowds packed on roof and ground straining to see the condemned man driven to aimlessly prance in mockery:

^{שופטים טו:כז} וְהַבַּיִת מָלֵא הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְשָׁמָּה כֹּל סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וְעַל הַגָּג כִּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה הָרֹאִים בִּשְׂחוֹק שִׁמְשׁוֹן.

^{Judg 16:27} Now the building had become packed by the men and the women. There too were all the Philistine rulers while on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, those watching Samson’s antics.

Samson (and God) Exact Vengeance

Samson knows he will not return to his cell alive. Getting himself placed between the pillars, he pauses in final reflection and appeals to God—not for rescue, but for help to exact retribution:

^{שופטים טו:כח} וַיִּקְרָא שִׁמְשׁוֹן אֶל יְ־הֹוָה וַיֹּאמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱ־הֹוִה זׇכְרֵנִי נָא וְחַזְּקֵנִי נָא אַךְ הַפַּעַם הַזֶּה הָאֱלֹהִים וְאִנָּקְמָה נְקַם אַחַת מִשְּׁתֵי עֵינַי מִפְּלִשְׁתִּים.

^{Judg 16:28} Samson appealed to YHWH, “My Lord YHWH, take notice of me and please strengthen me just this one time, O God, so that with one blow I might avenge myself on the Philistines for both my eyes.”

Earlier at Lehi, after killing many Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, he had nearly perished from thirst until God answered his plea and preserved his life (15:18–20). Now, facing certain death, Samson asks only to avenge the loss of his sight. What he may not fully grasp is that God has yet another purpose for him: Samson will have his revenge by staging the spectacular annihilation of his oppressors, while God will use him to humiliate Dagon, their false god:

^{שופטים טו:כט} וַיִּלְפֹּת שִׁמְשׁוֹן אֶת שְׁנֵי עַמּוּדֵי הַתָּוֶךְ אֲשֶׁר הַבַּיִת נָכוֹן עֲלֵיהֶם וַיִּסָּמֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם אֶחָד בִּימִינוֹ וְאֶחָד בִּשְׂמֹאלוֹ. ^טז:ל וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְשׁוֹן תָּמוֹת נַפְשִׁי עִם פְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיֵּט בְּכֹחַ וַיִּפֹּל הַבַּיִת עַל הַסְּרָנִים וְעַל כׇּל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ וַיִּהְיוּ הַמֵּתִים אֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּמוֹתוֹ רַבִּים מֵאֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּחַיָּיו.

^{Judg 16:29} Samson felt the two central pillars on which rests the building and leaned on them, one with his right hand, the other with his left. ^16:30 Saying, “May I die with the Philistines!” Samson pushed mightily. The building collapsed on the rulers and on all the people within, so that the dead he killed as he died outnumbered those he killed in his lifetime.

Fulfilling a Foretold Purpose

Samson is an agent in God’s contest with false gods; yet his exploits are driven just as much by his own impulses. He is old enough to desire a Philistine wife against his parents’ wishes and to fraternize and spar with his people’s enemies. Shrewd, vengeful, secretive, and unconcerned with the source of his immense strength, he kills a lion, defeats armed Philistines, and exposes a fortified city by removing its gate (Judges 13–16:3). Samson indulges a carnal appetite for paid sex; yet he also pursues love in a courtesan’s boudoir.

The episodes recounting Samson’s relationship with Delilah, his captivity in Gaza, and his transfiguration into a hero of Israel are enclosed in an exceptional repetition of Samson’s twenty‑year tenure—וַיִּשְׁפֹּט אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּימֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה, “He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years (15:20; cf. 16:31). He was reckoned as one of Israel’s judges, yet his vocation is scarcely reflected in the saga itself. In death, however, Samson does fulfill what had been foretold of him in the announcement of his birth:

^{שופטים טג:ה} כִּי הִנָּךְ הָרָה וְיֹלַדְתְּ בֵּן וּמוֹרָה לֹא יַעֲלֶה עַל רֹאשׁוֹ כִּי נְזִיר אֱלֹהִים יִהְיֶה הַנַּעַר מִן הַבָּטֶן וְהוּא יָחֵל לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּד פְּלִשְׁתִּים.

^{Judg 13:5} “Because you are now pregnant and about to bear a son, a razor must not touch his head, for the lad is to be a Nazir to God from the womb. He will begin to rescue Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Several generations later, in David’s time, that mission will be achieved.