Judges Chapter 13 verse 24 Holy Bible
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him.
read chapter 13 in ASV
So the woman gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Samson; and he became a man and the blessing of the Lord was on him.
read chapter 13 in BBE
And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.
read chapter 13 in DARBY
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
read chapter 13 in KJV
And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
read chapter 13 in WBT
The woman bore a son, and named him Samson: and the child grew, and Yahweh blessed him.
read chapter 13 in WEB
And the woman beareth a son, and calleth his name Samson, and the youth groweth, and Jehovah doth bless him,
read chapter 13 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 24. - Called his name Samson. No doubt the name was significant of what the child should be (see note to ver. 17), but the etymology and meaning of the name are doubtful. Josephus ('Antiq.,' V. 8:4) says the name means "a strong one," but he does not say in what language, and it does not appear to have such a meaning in any Semitic dialect. It is commonly interpreted to mean like the sun, from shemesh, the common word for the sun; and so Jerome in his 'Onomasticon' expounds it as the sun's strength,' possibly with an allusion to Judges 5:31. Others make it equal shim-shorn, from the Pilpel conjugation of shamem, to devastate. Another possible derivation is from the Chaldee shemash, to minister, specially in sacred things, a root from which the Nestorian, Syriac, and Arabic names for a deacon are derived. If this were the derivation, it would be a reference to his dedication to God as a Nazarite from his mother's womb, the only thing his mother knew about him when she gave him the name.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(24) Samson.--Josephus renders the word "strong" (???????), deriving it from a root (shameem), and perhaps not unwilling to suggest an analogy between Samson and the Greek Hercules. St. Jerome, rendering it "strength of the sun," derives it from shemesh, "sun," and on, "strength." It is more probable that it means "sunny." In Ezra 4:8 we have the name Shimshai, perhaps from the same root. The connection of "the sun" with strength was very natural (Judges 5:31; Psalm 19:5-6). The Rabbis say that he was "named after the name of God, who is called sun and shield of Israel" (Psalm 84:12). The mother gave the name in this instance. (Comp. Genesis 29:32-35; Genesis 35:18; Luke 1:60.) Ewald refers it to an Egyptian root, and makes it mean "servant of God," in reference to his being a Nazarite. . . .
