women like Delilah can ensnare the holiest of Rastamen. Pato Banton sings of this risk in

“Settle Satan”: “Samson was the strongest ever pon’ the land/ Delilah took his hair because of temptation.”527

Samson faced the risk of the loss of his manhood at the hands of dangerous women with whom he was intimate, not only during coitus, but in the aftermath of the act. However, the resulting relationships with Delilah and with his wife from Timnath threatened him further. Rasta readers believe that after engaging with Samson sexually, two of the three dangerous women he encountered make demands of him that disturb the expected male-dominated gender dynamic of pre-monarchic Israel and of Rastafari. By overtly employing their sexuality, all three women shift the power scenario of their relationship with Samson. Delilah and Samson’s wife from Timnath then convey the resulting transferal of power into verbal demands. Delilah and his wife use their intimacy with the Nazirite-warrior to gain his trust and then use the information they acquire from a “conquered” Samson to empower the Philistines as Babylon. This deception and the corresponding reversal of an expected gendered power dynamic is a frequent theme in

Roots reggae. For instance, the Jolly Brothers, reminds listeners that:

Samson was strong and deceived, oh yes/ By a woman, oh yes can’t you see/ Look into yourself my friend, try to get wise/ Don’t let a woman, get you down/ Just be a conscious man, when you fall in love.528

Samson’s tale reminds Rastamen that because they amalgamate the roles of priests and Nazirites, and accept both elect positions as their own, “they shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane” (Leviticus 21:7).529 The ability to channel a man’s lust affords such women the opportunity to beguile and derail brethren from Jah’s path. Steel

Pulse describes what lies beyond a veil of sexuality:

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