Samson was one of the judges of Israel, after the death of Moses. He was the strongest man that ever lived. In his time the Philistines were at war with the Israelites. These Philistines were a nation of heathen, who worshipped idols instead of the great God who made us all. Samson in one battle killed a thousand of them with the jaw-bone of an ass. After this, they found out one night that he was in their walled city, called Gaza, and so they fastened the great gates of the city, thinking they could in this way keep him there till morning, and then kill him.

But Samson arose at midnight and took the two great gates of the city, with the bar and the gate posts, and carried them to the top of a high hill, a great way off. In this way he escaped out of the hands of his enemies.