Samson’s parents were visited by an Angel who told them that they were going to have a boy and that he was to be a Nazerite, which means he was set apart for God from birth. It also meant he could not ever cut his hair. He fell in love with a Philistine girl and they got married. On the way to visit his to-be wife, God gave him great strength and he was able to kill a lion. From this time on, as long as Samson never cut his hair, Samson would have great strength. On the way to the wedding, he passed by the lion, where bees made a nest in the carcass and he ate the honeycomb. He then gave a riddle to the gusts at his feast, which is as follows:
And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet” And they could not in three days tell what the riddle was. -Judges 14:14
Then the men, after those three days, went to his wife and threatened to kill her if she did not find out the answer to the riddle. In the end, she got the answer from him and gave it to the men to save her life. Then, Samson was angered because he did not have the cloaks for the debt and so he went, killed 30 Philistines, and gave the gusts the clothes. Then he stormed out of the feast and went home. After a few days, he went back to visit his wife, but her father said she married his best man. So then, Samson, in his anger, set fire to the Philistines fields. The Philistines saw this, and burnt down Samson’s father-in-law’s house with Samson’s wife in it. Then Samson killed these men because of it and went home. Then, the army of the Philistines went to fight and kill Samson. The men of Judah bound him and handed him over to the Philistines. Samson then broke the ropes and caught up the jawbone of a donkey and used it to slay at least a thousand Philistines. Then he governed Israel for 20 years.
After that, he fell in love with Delilah. The Philistine lords wanted her to find out the secret of Samson’s strength. After a few attempts, she gets the answer. Soldiers cut his hair (making him lose his strength and ability to fight back), blind him, and put him to work grinding flower. When a feast comes they bring Samson out to the temple of their god. Then, God gives Samson strength one last time, pushing the pillars and destroying the building, and killing many, many, Philistines.