Delilah by Maude Stephany

A fresh new view of the biblical story, where love is the key.

Delilah, a Philistine and soon-to-be priestess of El, is under attack. The Israelites hold her city under siege and the Archangel Raphael appears in her visions, insisting that she must obey the will of the Hebrew God. Summoned to her father’s scriptorium, she learns that she has been promised in marriage to her people’s enemy; Samson.

Amid the Senate’s political posturing and her Uncle Achaziah’s plotting revenge on Samson and the Israelites for killing his sons, Delilah is wed to Samson. She returns with him to his home, but lives in isolation, except for her slave companion, Umi. Samson and Delilah have heated arguments, but when he falls ill, she nurses him to health.

In town, Delilah meets a prophet and begins to question her place in the world and the differences between her own God and the Hebrew God. Could they be the same? Meanwhile, Samson recovers but wishes to live a more private life. Before they can adjust to their new lives, Samson accidentally injures Delilah. That night, Samson comes to Delilah and offers her a knife, asking her to cut his hair as penitence for harming her. They make their peace and consummate their marriage. In darkness, Uncle Achaziah arrives and captures Samson.

Months pass, and Delilah returns to the city of her ancestors. She seeks the Oracle’s advice, but the Oracle has none. In despair, she prays to El, who commands her to find her husband. She goes to the jail and finds Samson shorn and crusted in dirt. Delilah tries to reconcile with him, but he spurns her, thinking she betrayed him to her uncle. She is about to leave when Uncle Achaziah arrives to bear Samson to his trial.

Delilah faces a choice – to support her husband, to protect her people, to listen to her gods, or to follow where her dreams lead her.