Shimshon and Shlomo

Shavua Tov. The Haftarah from yesterday’s Parsha, told the story of the birth of Shimshon. His parents declared him a Nazir from birth.

The Rambam discusses Shimshon in connection with the laws of conversion. He says in הלכות איסורי ביאה, the following: One must not allow himself to even think that the מושיע, savior of Israel, could have married a non-Jewish while she remained in her non-Jewish status. But the secret of the matter is that both Samson and King Solomon made sure that these women were converted before they were married.

The Rambam goes on to teach the laws of conversion. If they did error, it was only that they created makeshift courts in order to facilitate these conversions.

The main point here is that Shimshon and Shlomo couldn’t possibly have gone down in history as the מושיע in Shimshon’s case, or ידיד ה׳, the beloved of G-d, had they actually married non-Jews.