Bible in art · Judges

Samson and Delilah

Jan Lievens · c. 1626–1627 (the museum’s label gives c. 1631)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jan Lievens painted this canvas in Leiden in the late 1620s, when he and the young Rembrandt shared a studio and often painted the same subjects. He signed it with his monogram “IL”; for a time it also carried a false Rembrandt signature.

Three almost life-size figures fill the canvas. Samson, bare to the waist, sleeps with his head in Delilah’s lap. She turns to a frightened Philistine behind her, who holds up a large pair of shears.

From the text

Samson asleep on Delilah’s lap (Judges 16:19)
A man called in to cut his hair (Judges 16:19)
Samson’s long, uncut hair (Judges 16:17)

The artist’s own

Shears instead of a razor — the text says “shave”
Delilah in pearls and a satin dress of the 1620s
A dark, close room with only three figures, lit from one side

Details

The shears

The Philistine holds up a large pair of shears.

Afraid

He stares out wide-eyed, one hand raised.

Delilah

Pearls in her hair, she looks round at the man.

Her hand

Her other hand is raised.

Asleep

Samson sleeps on her lap, his long hair over her arm.

Jan Lievens, Dutch, 1607–1674. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (SK-A-1627) · Oil on canvas · Image: "Public Domain" (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/); object metadata: CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) — Rijksmuseum Linked Art record.

The verses

Judg 16:15–20“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!” Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death, Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.” When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands. And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him. Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.

See it at the museum’s site