Samson and Delilah: Sunday School Lesson With Sample Questions

The story of Samson and Delilah is one of the best known biblical stories in the Old Testament and is a great Bible story to study in Sunday School. It reads like a classical Hollywood movie script. It has a hero, a villain, a plot, and a sad conclusion with justice prevailing in the end.

Samson lived during the time of the Judges in Israel. There were no kings who ruled, but a series of judges who ran the nation. The time of the judges takes place during a familiar pattern of the nation of Israel. Israel repeatedly turned to other gods in idolatry, God then turns them over to their enemies, they cry out to God, and He delivers them. This pattern is repeated time and again in the Jewish nation’s history. The conclusion is that, without God as their King, they are doomed to failure in ruling themselves. The heart of the problem is plainly revealed in Judges 17:6; “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Did Delilah love Sampson?

Samson was raised up by God to deliver the people of Israel once again for they had turned to idolatry and taken their eyes off the One true God (Judges 13:1); the Lord had turned them over to the Philistines for forty years. In the Bible, forty years is always a number of testing and the Lord tested Israel so that they might seek Him once again. The angel of the Lord appeared to Zorah’s wife, Manoah. She was barren and had no children but the angel of the Lord told her that she would conceive a son so she should drink no wine or strong drink, eat no unclean foods, and should not cut her hair. This son was to be set apart as a Nazirite to be set apart for holy use by God (Numbers 6).

When Sampson had grown into a young man, he went down to Philistine and saw one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her name was Delilah. Immediately he loved her.

Sample Questions for Samson and Delilah Sunday School Lesson

What was wrong with Sampson leaving Israel to find himself a wife? What should have been a warning sign to Sampson? Read Judges 16:1-2.

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Did Delilah love Sampson? What were her reasons for trying to trick him? Read Judges 16:4-6.

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Why didn’t Sampson realize what Delilah was up to? Did Delilah really love Sampson as she had told him? Read Judge 16:15-20.

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Why didn’t Sampson realize that the Lord had left him? Read Judges 16:20-21.

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What was the lesson learned from Sampson’s life and death? Is there an application to believers today in this story?

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Why did God allow Sampson to kill the Philistines? Why did Sampson want to die with them? Read Judges 16:23-25, 28-29.

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Did Sampson die a hero? Read Judges 16:30-31.

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God granted Sampson one last desire; to be strong enough to die a hero. And to punish the Philistines that had taken advantage of him. Sampson must have realized that we was going to die too, but chose to die anyway. Is there any application for our lives that we can gain from this story? Do you see a correlation in a Christian being unequally yoked with those who are not Christians? Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 and see if you can tell why the Apostle Paul included this in his letter to the Corinthian church.

Please add any suggestions to others teaching the Samson and Delilah Sunday School Lesson to the comments.