Samson was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monarchy. He is sometimes considered as an Israelite version of the popular Near Eastern folk hero also embodied by the Sumerian Gilgamesh and Enkidu, as well as the Greek Heracles. Samson was given superhuman powers by God in the form of extreme strength.

The judges whose stories are recounted in the Hebrew Bible, primarily in the Book of Judges, were individuals who served as military leaders in Israel in times of crisis, in the period before the monarchy was established.