You have asked that I give an account of the last days of the traitorous Nazirite , Samson, who has done so much to turn our people against the Hebrews and whose great strength killed many of our own innocent people, even in his final act that brought his own death. He was a man whose temper and vengefulness were as great as his physical strength and not so easily ended. Though a woman among us discovered the secret of his powers and thus vanquished him, yet his wrath could not be conquered so easily. He claimed to be a holy man by his vows, yet I do not see how he could be considered holy by any.
This man came from out of the Shephelah, from the town of Zorah at our border, to plague us. His father was one Manoah, of the northern tribe of Dan, and legend holds that his mother was thought to be barren. Would that this had been true, for we would not have been cursed with this man and could have continued in peace with his people! Yet she was blessed with a son, Samson, and we were cursed with an enemy.
He was not an enemy at first. We must recall that he did wish to marry a woman of our nation, a daughter of the town of Timnah, just across the border from Zorah. He petitioned his parents to arrange such a marriage, but they discouraged his wishes, preferring him to wed one of their own tribe and customs. Indeed, had they not been so narrow-minded in their thoughts, Samson might have cemented his ties with us more closely and remained a friend and kinsman.
That he did defy his parents' wishes and marry the woman is a matter of record, yet he posed such a riddle on his wedding day as to ruin the occasion and begin his lifelong feud with our people. When the party answered his riddle with the help of their kinswoman, Samson's new bride, he slaughtered 30 innocents from Ashkelon to pay his debt, a dishonorable beginning to the marriage and one for which he suffered a righteous justice.
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