Samson and Delilah

This scene represents the biblical story of the Israelite Samson and the Philistine Delilah. Delilah seduced Samson and lured him into revealing the secret of his superhuman strength, which he would lose if his hair were cut. Without his long hair he would be like any other mortal. Rembrandt painted Samson asleep on Delilah’s lap. She grasps Samson’s hair and signals the approaching man with scissors to be quiet.