Shimshon (Samson) is the name of Israel's most colorful judge, built on the root shemesh ('sun') and appearing 38 times, all within Judges 13-16. His birth narrative echoes the annunciation pattern: the angel of the Lord appears to Manoah's barren wife, announcing a son who will be a Nazirite from the womb (Judg 13:3-5, 24). The stories that follow — the lion at Timnah (14:5-6), the jawbone of a donkey (15:15-17), the gates of Gaza carried to Hebron (16:3), and the final destruction of the Philistine temple (16:28-30) — are among the most dramatic in the Hebrew Bible. His name's solar etymology resonates with the geography: his home territory lies near Beth-shemesh ('house of the sun'). The Septuagint renders it Sampson, and translations uniformly transliterate the name with minor phonological adjustments.