Judges 15-16: Samson Epicness

We continue following the incredible feats of Samson, as he impresses us with his incredible strength, rage, and impulsiveness.

For unknown reasons, Samson is denied access to his wife by his father in law. Furthermore, the father in law decided to give his daughter to Samson's friend as a wife. This perturbs Samson. By perturbs, I mean that it sets him into a rage in which he catches 300 foxes and ties torches to their tails and uses them to burn down the Philistines' grain, vineyards, and olive groves. After destroying the fields, the Philistines burn his wife to death which causes Samson to slaughter many of the Philistines. Touche.

Samson gets handed over to the Philistines by the people of Judah, but God fills him with strength as he is delivered into their hands. He breaks the rope binding his hands, grabs the jawbone of a donkey, and kills a thousand men. Forget every pathetic action movie ever made - I want to see THAT!

Samson apparently struggled with women, and was almost ambushed by the people of Gaza while he was with a prostitute. In Samsonite fashion (no, not like the unfashionable luggage) he leaves the city by ripping out the doors of the city gate and carrying them away.

He later falls for another infamous shady lady by the name of Delilah. At the request of the Philistine rulers, Delilah makes several attempts to surmise the source of Samson's superhuman strength. He lies about the source of his strength multiple times, and then thwarts the rulers attempts to seize him. For some reason Samson continues to be with Delilah despite the multiple attempts at betraying him...perhaps she was an excellent cook? Eventually, Samson reveals that as a Nazirite his hair has never been cut, as he promised under oath. After shaving his hair in his sleep the Philistines capture Samson, gouge his eyes out, and eventually use him as entertainment. In a final kamikaze act of vengeance against the Philistines, Samson rips two columns out from the temple and brings the temple crashing down on the people, killing many of his enemies.

Samson led the Israelites for 20 years, and was certainly one of the most interesting rulers in all of history.