Samson

No explicit prophetic antitype for Samson was verified in Russell-era publications. In 1927, under Rutherford, Samson was described as a prophetic illustration of the great tribulation class, or great multitude, then understood to consist of spirit-begotten Christians who had failed to remain fully faithful. This identification was repeated later in 1927 and developed in the 1928 book Government. In November 1935 the identification was explicitly reversed: Samson no longer represented the great multitude but God's devoted spiritual children who remained faithful unto death, particularly the faithful anointed servant class engaged in the Elijah work and subsequently the remnant. The interpretation connected Samson's captivity with the suppression of the Bible Students' activities in 1918 and his recovered strength with their restoration to activity. This reading continued in 1936. Under Knorr, publications in 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1967 retained the identification of the Samson class with Jehovah's faithful anointed witnesses, applying his captivity and restoration to the events of 1918 and 1919. No further explicit prophetic identification of Samson was verified under Franz (1977–1992) or the Governing Body period (1992–2000).