Samson and Delilah

Scripture Reference:
Judges 16:4-22

Suggested Emphasis: Good friends encourage us to be good but bad friends pressure us to do bad things.

Memory Verse: “Do not be fooled: ‘Bad friends will ruin good habits.’” 1 Corinthians 15:33, ICB

Story Overview:

Although the Lord chose Samson, Samson did not always choose God! He fell in love with a Philistine woman named Delilah, who did not believe in God. The Philistine rulers paid Delilah to find the secret of Samson’s strength. Delilah begged Samson to tell her his secret and finally revealed that his strength was in his long hair. Delilah told the Philistine leaders, and they cut Samson’s hair, made him blind, and put him in prison to do hard work.

Background Study:

Click here for The Book of Judges: The Big Picture.

It seems Samson did not learn from his mistakes! The story that follows seems almost incredible unless you have seen the way Satan uses the tool of lust to bring down those of even the strongest character.

Samson fell in love with another woman. Her name was Delilah. The Philistines were still trying to find a way to destroy Samson, so they used Delilah. They offered her money to find out the secret of Samson’s strength. We don’t know if Delilah agreed because of fear (remember how Samson’s wife was killed? Judges 15:6) or simply greed. Whatever the reason, Delilah tried her best to find out the secret of Samson’s strength.

First, Samson told Delilah that his strength would be gone if his hands were tied with fresh thongs of leather. During the night, Delilah tied Samson’s hands. The Philistines hid in the room so that they could be there to capture Samson. When Delilah woke him, he jumped up and snapped the thongs of leather.

Trying to make Samson feel guilty, she enticed him once again to tell him his secret. Once again, Samson told her a false reason. Delilah did exactly as Samson had told her. She tied him with new ropes. Once again, the Philistines hid in the room. Delilah woke Samson, and he snapped the ropes.

Once again, Delilah tried to entice Samson. He told her his strength would be gone if his hair was woven into a loom. Delilah did this, and when she woke him, he jumped up and pulled the loom apart.

Now, Delilah used her best tricks. She used the “L” word. If Samson loved her, then he would tell her. She continued to nag him. You would think Samson would remember what happened when his wife had nagged him into telling him the answer to his riddle (Judges 14:16-17).

Delilah was hard to resist. Finally, Samson told her everything. He revealed that his long hair was a symbol of his dedication to God. If he forgot his dedication and allowed his hair to be cut, God would no longer provide him with tremendous strength.

Delilah called all of the Philistine leaders back to her house. After Samson was asleep, Delilah told one of the men to shave off Samson’s seven braids. Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” His vow was broken; God no longer gave him special strength. The Philistines captured Samson.

After all of the taunts Samson had sent their way, the Philistines wanted to make sure that he was taken care of. They wanted him to be a symbol of Israelite humiliation. They gouged out his eyes and shackled him. He was put to work doing the menial task of grinding in a mill.

For more about Samson, see: Samson and Delilah and The Death of Samson

Way to Introduce the Story:

Ask everyone in the room to name their best friend(s). Talk about what things we do with friends. Discuss how friends can help us be good or bad. Perhaps share an experience from your childhood when someone tried to get you to do something wrong or when you were the one leading friends astray. “Did you know that Samson did not learn how to make good friends? Samson kept choosing friends that got him into trouble. He even chose bad girlfriends. Let’s find out what happens to Samson in today’s story.”
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The Story:

After time had passed, Samson fell in love with another woman. Her name was Delilah.

The Philistines still hated Samson. They did not understand how he could be so strong. They wanted to know the secret of his strength so they could capture him. When the Philistines heard about Samson and Delilah, they decided to use Delilah to find out Samson’s secret. They went to Delilah and offered her lots of money. They told her they would give her the money if she could trick Samson into telling the secret of his strength.

That night, Delilah begged Samson to tell her about his strength, “Samson, please tell me how you can be captured.” Samson decided to trick Delilah. He told her that if someone tied him with leather strings, his strength would be gone, and he could be captured.

During the night, while Samson was sleeping, the Philistines came and hid in the room. Delilah tied him with the leather strings just like he had said.

Delilah called out, “Wake up Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

Samson immediately jumped up and snapped all of the leather strings off. Samson had tricked Delilah! Delilah did not like that. She knew that the Philistines would not like that either.

The next time Delilah asks Samson to tell her the secret of his strength, he tells her that the secret is new ropes. His strength would be gone if he were tied with new ropes that had never been used. Anyone could capture him.

Once again, Delilah waited until he was asleep and tied him with new ropes. The Philistine men hid in the room. Delilah called out, “Wake up Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

Samson immediately jumped up and snapped the ropes. Ropes were not the secret of his strength!

Delilah begged Samson to tell her the real way that he could be captured. Samson told her that if someone wove his hair into a loom, all of his strength would leave him. Delilah tried that, too. She wove his hair into a cloth loom while he was sleeping. When she called out to him: “Samson, the Philistines are upon you”, Samson jumped up and broke the loom into pieces.

Delilah was getting angry. Why wouldn’t Samson tell her his secret? “Samson, if you really loved me, you would tell me how you can be captured. Please tell me. Please, please, please!”

Finally, Samson got tired of Delilah asking him. He wanted Delilah to love him. If he hadn’t told her, maybe she would no longer love him. Maybe she wouldn’t want to be around him. He decided to tell her about the Nazarite Vow. He told her that if he ever cut his hair, then all of his strength would leave him. Anyone could capture him then.

Now Delilah knew that she had the real secret. She told the Philistine men to hide in the room one more time. After Samson was asleep, Delilah got one of the men to sneak over and shave off Samson’s hair. His hair was in seven braids, and the Philistine shaved off all of them.

This time, when Delilah said: “Wake up Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” Samson jumped up but had no strength. He had broken his promise to God and all of his special strength left him.

The Philistines captured Samson and made him a slave in a mill where grain was ground up into flour. They also made him blind. Now, all of the Philistines could come and watch Samson and make fun of him.

Every day, Samson probably wished that he had not listened to Delilah. He knew that he should have done what the Lord said.

Read more about Samson in The Birth of Samson and The Death of Samson.
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Ways to Tell the Story:

This story can be told using a variety of methods. Always remain true to the facts found in the Bible but help children connect to its meaning by using drama, visual aids, voice inflection, student interaction and/or emotion.
Click here for visual aids and story-telling methods.

Click here to download these illustrations and slideshow.
This slideshow covers two separate stories on this website (Samson and Delilah and also the Death of Samson). Be selective. Each teacher is unique, so only use the illustrations that best relate to how YOU tell the story in THIS lesson. Too many illustrations can be confusing, so eliminate any that cover other stories or details you do not wish to emphasise in this lesson.

Review Questions:

Who was Samson’s girlfriend? Delilah
Why did Delilah try to trick Samson? The Philistines gave her money.
What were some of the things that Samson told Delilah that were not the way to capture him? Tie him with leather thongs and new ropes, weave his hair in a loom.
Why did Samson finally tell Delilah that his strength was in his hair? Because she kept begging him.
What did the Philistines do with him when they cut Samson’s hair? Blinded him and put him in prison as a slave.

Song Suggestions:

Hello Hello Song
Books of the Old Testament Song
If You Love Jesus
Refer to the Song Page on this website for more options.

Learning Activities and Crafts:

(How to choose the best learning activities for my teaching situation)

Activities:

Use this simple Judges Review Wheel to explain the cycle of the Judges. Printable instructions for Judges Review Wheel.
Write situations on cards and let the children draw a card and act out the situation. These should be situations where peer pressure plays a part, e.g. “All of my friends want to go see a movie that my parents don’t want me to see”, “my best friend asks me to help him/her steal some lollies (candy) from the shop” etc.
Blow up a balloon, but do not tie it. Explain that this balloon is like us. We might be able to say no the first time someone pressures us, but when they pressure us over and over, we can’t take the pressure and give in. Example: One of your friends says a swear word (blow up the balloon a little more), Then another friend swears when they lose at sport (blow it up some more), then your friends begin to swear at the park (blow it more). When the balloon finally bursts, explain that we can take the pressure for a while, but if we keep hanging around friends who swear, then we finally can’t stand the pressure, and we swear.
Look up songs in the church songbook that mention temptation.
Before class, research photos of people with very long hair and share the findings in class today.
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Crafts:

Make masks from paper plates and act out the story.
Make a miniature-size model of the story. If you teach over a number of weeks, you could add to the model to form a collection that reviews the stories. You can place the models in boxes. One box could display one judge. Samson Box (ideas for all Samson lessons)- Hair, scissors, toy fox, old wine or beer bottle with a big red X on it, Barbie doll, sunglasses (blindness), white cane, paper “temple” crumpled up . . .
Print bookmarks, trading cards or timelines (printable pages).
Visit the Teaching Ideas page for additional activities and crafts.

Other Online Resources:

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