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Samson is identified with Bedan (I Sam. xii. 11); he was called "Bedan" because he was descended from the tribe of Dan, "Bedan" being explained as "Ben Dan" (R. H. 25a). On the maternal side, however, he was a descendant of the tribe of Judah; for his mother, whose name was Zelelponit (B. B. 91a) or Hazelelponit (Num. R. x. 13), was a member of that clan (comp. I Chron. iv. 3).
The name "Samson" is derived from "shemesh" (= "sun"), so that Samson bore the name of God, who is also "a sun and shield" (Ps. lxxxiv. 12 [A. V. 11]); and as God protected Israel, so did Samson watch over it in his generation, judging the people even as did God. Samson's strength was divinely derived (Soṭah 10a); and he further resembled God in requiring neither aid nor help (Gen. R. xcviii. 18).
In the blessings which Jacob pronounced on the tribe of Dan (Gen. xlix. 16-17) he had in mind Samson (Soṭah 9b), whom he regarded even as the Messiah (Gen. R. l.c. § 19). Jacob compared him to a serpent (Gen. ib.) because, like the serpent, Samson's power lay entirely in his head—that is, in his hair—while he was also revengeful like the serpent; and as the latter kills by its venom even after it is dead, so Samson, in the hour of his death, slew more men than during all his life; and he also lived solitarily like the serpent (Gen. R. l.c. §§ 18-19).
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