Samson in rabbinic literature x. 13), was a member of that clan (comp. I Chronicles iv. 3). The name "Samson" is derived from "shemesh" ("sun"), so that Samson bore the name of God, who is also "a sun and shield" (Psalm lxxxiv. 12 [A. V. 11]); and as God protected Israel, so did Samson watch over it in his generation, judging the people even as did God. Samson's strength was divinely derived (Sotah 10a); and he further resembled God in requiring neither aid nor help (Genesis Rabba xcviii. 18). In the blessings which Jacob pronounced on the tribe of Dan (Genesis xlix. 16-17) he
Samson (Handel) triumph over death and time. Micah and the Israelites implore divine assistance as Samson still wishes to die. Dalila, with a group of young women, appears and tells Samson she is sorry for what she did and that she did not realise how serious the consequences would be. She attempts to convince him that she still loves him, but he angrily repudiates her. The Philistine Harapha comes to insult Samson, who challenges him to a duel. Harapha, however, reviles Samson, claiming it is beneath his dignity to fight with a blind man. Samson mocks him as a braggart. Micah proposes