Samson visited Philistine territory, stopping at Gaza, where he fell victim to lust and sinned with a harlot (Judg. 16:1-3). Rising at midnight, and finding the city surrounded by waiting Philistines, he inflicted marked humiliation on Gaza by breaking away defensive gates and carrying them to a nearby hill on his return to Hebron. Not long after, Samson once more submitted to lust, becoming infatuated with a woman of the Philistines named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley not far from his place of birth, Zorah. Given promise of massive reward by the Philistine leaders, Delilah sought to entice Samson to reveal the secret of his strength. He gave her false answers three times but finally told her the truth regarding his uncut hair. She cut it off while he slept, and the Philistines were able to put out his eyes and make him labor sightless in their prison in Gaza.
When his hair had grown again, Samson had his last revenge. Taken to entertain assembled Philistines in the temple of Dagon, he called upon God for a return of his strength, and he was enabled to dislodge two central supporting columns of the temple from their bases, destroying the building and killing more of the enemy at the time of his own death than in all his prior years. In one fell swoop, Samson eliminated the entire Philistine leadership. This was a major setback in their conflict with Israel. It was a turning point. From this time on, the Israelites started to gain the upper hand. But did it really happen? Could one man pull down an entire temple? Archaeology has discovered some interesting facts.
Archaeologists have uncovered two Philistine temples. One at Tel Qasile, in northern Tel Aviv, and one in Tel Miqne, ancient Ekron, 21 miles south of Tel Aviv.
Both temples share a unique design; two central pillars supported the roof. The pillars were made of wood and rested on stone support bases. With the pillars being about six feet apart, a strong man could dislodge them from their stone bases and bring the entire structure down. The archaeological findings match the Biblical story perfectly and attest to the plausibility of the account.
