habits that in 15G4 he was deprived of his deanerj-, and for some time imprisoned. Notwithstanding his non- conformity, he was presented, in 1508, with the master- ship of Wigston Hosi)ital at Leicester, and had, accord- ing to Wood, a prebend in St. Paul's. He resided at Leicester until his death, April 9, 1589. He married bishop Latimer's niece, by whom he had two sons, John and Nathaniel. Besides editing two Sermons of John Bradford (1574, 8vo), a translation into English of a Sermon of St. Chri/sostom (1550, 8vo), he published several Letters, and a Brief Collection of the Church and Ceremonies thereof {lbd'2, 16mo).
Sam'sou (Heb. Shimshon', '|1C?2d, sunlike, shin- imj ; Sept. and N. T. 'Saj.tipwv, and so Josephus, Ant. V, 8, 4, according to whom, however, the word means " strong :" if the root shemesh has the signification of "awe," which (Jesenius ascribes to it, the name Sam- son would seem naturally to allude to the "awe" and "astonishment" with which the father and mother looked upon the angel who announced Samson's birth [see Judg. xiii, 6, 18-20]), the name of the celebrated champion, deliverer, and judge of Israel, equally re- markable for his supernatural bodily prowess, his mor- al infirmities, and his tragical end (B.C. 1185-05). (In the following account we freely use the articles in Kit- to, Smith, and Winer.)
1. History. — Samson was the son of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan, and was born, B.C. cir. 1200, of a mother whose name is nowhere given in the Scriptures. The circumstances under which his birth was announced by a heavenly messenger gave distinct presage of an ex- traordinarj' character, whose endowments were to be of a nature suited to the providential exigencies in which he was raised up. The burden of the oracle to his mother, who had long been barren, was that the child with wliich she was pregnant was to be a son, who should be a Nazarite from his birth, upon whose head no razor was to come, and who was to prove a signal deliverer to his people. She was directed, accordingly, to conform her own regimen to the tenor of the Naza- ritish law, and strictly abstain from wine and all intox- icating liquor, and from every species of impure food. According to the " prophecy going before upon him," Samson was born in the following year; and his desti- nation to great acliievements began to evince itself at a very early age by the illapses of superhuman strength which came, from time to time, upon him.
As the position of the tribe of Dan — bordering upon the territory of the Philistines — exposed them espe- cially to the predatory incursions of this people, it was plainly the design of Heaven to raise up a deliverer in that region where he was most needed. The Philis- tines, therefore, became very naturally the objects of that retributive course of proceedings in which Satnson was to be the principal actor, and upon which he could only enter by seeking some occasion of exciting hostil- ities that would bring the two peoples into direct colli- sion. Such an occasion was afforded by his meeting with one of the daughters of the Philistines at Tim- nath, whom he besought his parents to procure for him in marriage, assigning as a reason that she "]ileased him well" — Heb. Nil! "'rs'n mTT'^, «S7ie is right in mine eyes ; not heautiful, engaging, attractive, but right relative to an end, purpose, or object (see Gousset, Lexi- con, s. V. "lO^ , and comp. 2 Sam. xvii, 4; 1 Kings ix, 12; 2 Chron. xii, 30; Numb, xxviii, 27). That he en- tertained a genuine affection for the woman, notwith- standing the policy by which he was prompted, we may, doubtless, admit; but that he intended, at the same time, to make this alliance subservient to the great purpose of delivering his country from oppres- sion, and that in this he was acting under the secret control of Providence, would seem to be clear from the words immediately following, when, in reference to the objection of his parents to such a union, it is said that
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they " knew not that it was of the Lord that he sought an occasion against the Philistines." It is liere wurthy of note that the Hebrew, instead of •' aijuiiist. the I'hilis- tines," has '■^ of m from the Philistines," apparently im- plying that the occasion sought should be one that orig- iaated on the side of the Philistines. This occasion he sought under the immediate i)rompting of the Most High, who saw fit, in this indirect manner, to bring- about the accomplishment of his designs of retribution on his enemies. His leading purpose in this seems to have been to bafjie the power of the 2chole Philistine na- tion by the prowess of a single iiidividital. The cham- pion of Israel, therefore, was not appointed so much to be the leader of an army, like the other judges, as to be an army in himself. In order, then, that the contest might be carried on in this way, it was necessary that the entire opposition of the Philistines should be concen- trated, as far as possible, against the person of iSamson. This would array the contending parties in preciselj' such an attitude as to illustrate most signally the pow- er of God in the overthrow of his enemies. But how could this result be brought about except by means of some private quarrel between Samson and the enemy with whom he was to contend? And who shall say that the scheme now projected was not the very best that could have been devised for accomplishing the end which God had in view? To what extent Samson himself foresaw the issue of this transaction, or how far he had a plan distinctly laid, corresponding with the results that ensued, it is difficult to say. The probabil- ity, we think, is that he had rather a general strong im- pression, wrought b}' the Spirit of God, than a definite conception of the train of events that were to transpire. It was, however, a conviction as to the issue sufficiently powerful to warrant both him and his parents in going forward with the measure. They were in some way assured that they were engaged in a proceeding which (iod would overrule to tlie furtherance of his designs of mercy to his people and of judgment to their oppress- ors. From this point commences that career of achieve- ments and prodigies on the part of this Israelitish Her- cules which, passing gradually from the wonderful to the miraculous, rendered him the terror of his enemies aud the wonder of all ages.