The story of Samson is found in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. The "Spirit of the Lord" gave him supernatural strength. An angel appeared to Samson's parents informing them that they would bear a son who would begin the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines. Samson fell in love with a Philistine woman and tore apart the lion of Timnah in order to reach her. Her countrymen threatened her and she betrayed him. Angry, Samson returned to his family but could not stay away. The situation deteriorated into war in which Samson killed a thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass. Later another Philistine woman, Delilah, also betrayed him.

Biblical source: Defeating the lion of Timnah: Judges 14:5-6. Wielding the jawbone: Judges 15:14-17.

Inscribed on the North face: Samson.

East View: Samson with the jaw bone.	North View: Samson fights the Lion of Timnah. Inscribed: SAMSON.
West View: Angel.

DETAILS
Detail of north side: Samson wrestling the lion.	Detail of east side: Samson with the jawbone.	Detail of west side: the angel.

Related capitals:

Old Testament Capitals:
Capital 5: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
Capital 8: David and his musicians
Capital 22: Adam and Eve
Capital 48: Daniel in the Lions Den, Habakkuk
Capital 53: 3 Hebrews in the fiery furnace
Capital 57: Abraham sacrifices Isaac
Capital 61: Daniel in the Lion's Den
Capital 67: Anointing of David
Capital 73: Cain and Abel
Capital 76: David and Goliath

Judges 14:5-10

⁵ Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and he came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him;
⁶ and the spirit of the lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father and mother what he had done.

Judges 15:14-17

¹⁴ When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.
¹⁵ And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men,
¹⁶ And Samson said,
"With the jawbone of an ass,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of an ass
have I slain a thousand men."
¹⁷ When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ra-math-lehi [Hill of the Jawbone].

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version.
Inscriptions based on Robert Favereau, Jean Michaud, and Bernadette Leplant, Corpus des Inscriptions de la France Medievale. Vol. 8, Ariege, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrenees, Tarn-et-Garonne. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1982.