Samson and Delilah Poster

Many who know the story of Samson believe his strength came from his long hair, but the Book of Judges specifically mentions his “seven locks.” In Chapter 16, beginning in verse 13, we read: 13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies 15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. Samson telling Delilah the secret of how to rob him of his great strength, especially after she tested it on him every time that he pretended to tell her before, makes us doubt his common sense. We can therefore assume there is more to the story. In researching it for this painting, it was discovered that the myth of Samson was never supposed to be taken literally. It is a story to help ancient people predict the climate and plan their activities throughout the year. The first clue that Samson is a metaphor for the sun is his original Hebrew name: Shimshon, meaning Bright Sun. The second clue is in his hair—the seven locks. The sun gods Helios and Apollo both were described as having seven rays of light radiating from their heads, and if we follow the adventures of Samson, his path definitely matches that of the sun. For example, when Samson is in his prime, he slays a lion with his bare hands (Judges chapter 14) while on his way to marry a woman in Timnah. The constellation Leo the Lion is found in the summer, immediately prior to the sign of Virgo. The sun passes through Leo on the way to the crossing point of the September equinox, when the nights grow longer than the days, and as the sun begins to arc downward towards its weakest point on the annual wheel, there appears the figure of a woman, the constellation Virgo, sitting with an elongated lap. The name of the woman in the myth was Delilah, and she was a daughter of Samson’s enemies, the Philistines, who at that time subjugated the tribe of Dan. The hero of the Danites was blinded, taken prisoner, and made a slave, which is why he disappears for several months during the winter, but his hair began to grow again, slowly (Judges 16:22). In some versions of the story, Delilah came down into his dungeon to see him, several months later, after feeling remorse for betraying him, When he seized her and lifted her to break her back over his knee, she called out that his strength had returned. Seeing hope of revenge, he asked her to lead him out of the dungeon and to the temple of Dagon, the Philistines’ pagan god. He allowed the Philistines gathered there to taunt and make sport of him for a bit, and eventually told Delilah to lead him to the two principal columns of the temple. There, he bade her escape while she could, but she instead hid behind one of the columns, choosing to stay and die with him. Praying to the Lord to give him strength, he pushed the columns apart, and the roof came crashing down atop them all, and in dying, Samson killed more of his enemies than he ever had while alive.