The entire Samson account is framed by two paradoxes: “birth from a barren wife” (13:1–25) and “death from a disabled warrior” (16:23–31).2 Furthermore, it is marked by Samson’s relationships with four women: mother (Manoah’s wife), wife (the Timnite), prostitute (the Gazite), and antagonist (Delilah). Ironically, only the last of these—the treacherous, destructive woman who brings about his downfall, the one he “loves”—is named.
