Samson was a Nazarite, which gave him special strength when he kept three conditions, such as not cutting his beard and hair.

The scene depicted follows the cutting of Samson's hair by Delilah, who betrayed him to the Philistines.

This aspect of the plot is repeated in this painting, since Delilah is shown in the background fleeing with a shock of hair and scissors in hand.

This is what Rembrandt conveyed through the combatants, one of whom fearfully enters the scene, another holds Samson to the ground, one ties him up and one gouges out his eyes.

The immediate action of the painting is the climax of the story, the blinding with the penetrating knife and the spurting blood.