What is Samson?
{{otheruses}}'''Samson''' was the last of the Judges of the ancient [[Children of Israel]] mentioned in the [[Tanakh]] (the [[Hebrew Bible]]) and the [[Talmud]]. He is described in the [[Book of Judges]] chapters 13 to 16. The Book of Samson also appears in [[Josephus]]'s ''Antiquities of the Jews'', written in the last ten years of the [[1st century|1st Century]], as well as in works slightly earlier. Samson has been the subject of [[Rabbi|rabbinic]], [[Islamic]],<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/muslim-samson-medieval-modern-and-scholarly-interpretations/B85B244274623E4D1A1C6D9C965D1740 | doi=10.1017/S0041977X08000529 | title=The Muslim Samson: Medieval, modern and scholarly interpretations | journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | date=June 2008 | volume=71 | issue=2 | pages=239–253 | last1=Rippin | first1=Andrew }}</ref> and [[Christianity|Christian]] commentary. Medieval [[Muslims]] often incorporated the biblical figure of Samson into the [[Qur'an|Qur'anic]] prophetic world.<ref>https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/muslim-samson-medieval-modern-and-scholarly-interpretations/B85B244274623E4D1A1C6D9C965D1740</ref> Samson is known for being given great strength by God to use against those who do not like him and to do great things that regular people cannot do: killing a [[lion]] with his bare hands, defeating a whole [[army]] with only a [[donkey]]'s [[jawbone]] to fight with, and making a [[temple]] fall down. He is believed to have been buried in [[Tel Thora]] in [[Israel]] above the [[Sore valley]]. There stand two large [[Gravestone|gravestones]] of Samson and his father [[Manoah]]. Nearby stands Manoah’s altar (Judges 13:19-24). It is between the cities of [[Zora]] and [[Osthol]]. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Samson's father Manoah, and his wife had been trying to have a baby for many years when an [[angel