The Story of Samson — The Strongest Man Who Never Saw It Coming

The story of Samson is usually told in two pictures: a strongman and a haircut. But read Judges 13 to 16 slowly and you find a question almost nobody asks: of everything his enemies could take, why did they take his eyes first? This video tells the whole story of Samson in full — the angel's promise to a barren woman, a Nazirite vow he never chose, the lion in the vineyard, the riddle about the eater, three hundred foxes, three thousand of his own people tying him with new ropes, the jawbone at Lehi, the gates of Gaza carried up a hill, Delilah, the razor, the mill, and two prayers in the dark that have one thing in common. And the one word the angel chose — begin, not finish — that points past Samson to someone else. CHAPTERS: 0:00 — The blind man in the prison house 1:16 — Why the eyes? The question to keep 1:31 — Forty years under the Philistines 2:32 — God sends a deliverer anyway 3:12 — "He shall begin to deliver Israel" 4:56 — Manoah's wife runs home 5:17 — Manoah doubts (Josephus) 6:29 — The Nazirite vow he never chose 7:49 — Peli: the name too large to be spoken 9:05 — The woman who reasoned better than her husband 9:35 — Samson means "sun" 10:03 — "She is right in my eyes" (Timnah) 11:22 — God uses the crack, not the gift 11:37 — The lion in the vineyard 11:59 — Honey in the bones: the first crack in the vow 12:47 — The wedding feast 13:23 — Ha-okhel: "out of the eater came something to eat" 14:02 — The bride's tears and thirty garments 15:54 — Count the cracks: three vows, one left 17:33 — The father-in-law at the door 18:19 — Three hundred foxes 19:44 — The cleft of the rock at Etam 20:20 — Three thousand of his own people 21:06 — Bound with two new ropes 21:59 — The jawbone at Lehi 22:50 — Dying of thirst: Samson's first prayer 24:13 — Gaza: "he saw" 24:53 — The gates of Gaza carried toward Hebron 25:42 — Delilah in the valley of Sorek 26:15 — Four tries and a game 27:11 — "A Nazirite to God from my mother's womb" 27:54 — The razor 28:24 — "He did not know that the LORD had left him" 29:26 — Why the eyes? The answer 30:20 — The mill in the prison house 31:03 — The hair begins to grow again 31:18 — The feast of Dagon 32:23 — Between the two pillars 32:42 — "Remember me": Samson's second prayer 34:18 — His brothers came down to carry him home 35:16 — "Begin": who finished Samson's work 36:10 — Samson began. Jesus finished. 37:28 — A mother, a porch light and a spare key 38:34 — Three things to take home LINKS & RESOURCES: ↳ Scripture in this video: Judges 13–16; Numbers 6:1–21; 1 Samuel 7:12–13; 1 Samuel 13:19–22; 2 Samuel 5:17–25; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:11; John 19:30; Hebrews 2:14; Hebrews 11:32–34; 1 Corinthians 15:54. ↳ Hebrew words: nazir (set apart, related to "crown"), peli (wonderful, secret), yashar b'einav (right in his eyes), ha-okhel (the eater), En-hakkore (the spring of the one who called). ↳ Extra-biblical sources: Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 5.8; the rabbinic reading that Samson "followed his eyes"; Philistine temple finds at Ekron and Tell Qasile. ↳ Related videos: • The Binding of Isaac — Why Only One of Them Came Down the Mountain:    • The Binding of Isaac — Why Only One of The...   • The Book of Judges Explained — The Pattern That Almost Destroyed Israel:    • The Book of Judges Explained — The Pattern...   • Every Betrayal in the Bible — And What It Cost the People Who Did It:    • Every Betrayal in the Bible — And What It ...   • Gideon and the 300 — Why God Sent 31,700 Soldiers Home:    • Gideon and the 300 — Why God Sent 31,700 S...   • The Story of David and Absalom — The Kiss That Came Too Late:    • The Story of David and Absalom — The Kiss ...   ↳ Subscribe for a new Bible story every week:    / @verseandtruth   #BibleStories #Samson #BibleExplained