Was Samson buff?

Was the Bible’s character Samson buff? Was he a hulking bodybuilder-like individual?

The question may see irrelevant but it seems to me to cut to the core of distinguishing between what the Bible says about him (and others?), on the one hand, and what we make of him (and others?).

Certainly, we seem to tend to picture him as a big, tall, muscular, macho guy with an all around impressive physique. Most illustrations of him—from film to paintings and cartoons—do depict him as such. Yet, how did we end up with this idea of Samson?

The Bible states nothing about his physical appearance other than he wore long hair; until Delilah cut it. His hair bring us to another very, very important point about Samson: it seems to be ubiquitously claimed that Samson’s impressive strength was due to his hair. Was it?

What his physique was like and what his hair had to do with it brings us to the disparity between what the Bible is telling us about him, and his life-story, and what we make of it which turns out to be a mere characterization.

Now, I do not propose to review or write a commentary of the entire book in which Samson appears—Judges ch. 13-16—but only seek to elucidate the questions at hand.

If I saw a hulk-like individual performing feats of strength I may be amazed at their having developed such a physique and strength but the feats would not be surprising as the physique and strength would lend themselves to the feats.

So, what about his hair? Let us consider Samson’s birth:

Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Thus, he wore his hair long because he was to be a Nazirite to God. What is a Nazirite?

When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow (see Numbers Ch. 6).

The regulations go on from there.

Thus, from his birth, Samson was appointed as having a special purpose. His long hair signified this purpose, this mission, this vow. His strength came about due to his having the purpose/mission/vow which was to be a “judge” of Israel. We learn that Samson’s mother “…bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him…”

We learn that Samson fell in love with a woman of the Philistines—much to the chagrin of his parents as he had not chosen a nice Jewish girl (my grandmother asked me if my girlfriend/fiance/spouse was Jewish as did my childhood friends’ Jewish grandma)—and we learn that according to God’s plan Samson was to have done so because he was supposed to get involved with the Philistines and this “was of the LORD—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.” Philistine oppression of Israel was due come to an end.

On one occasion, “a young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand.” In such occasion we see that his physique, his physical strength was not the reason for, not the cause of, his strength.

Likewise, on another occasion we learn that, “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men.”

Another time when Samson was tied up “with two new ropes” awaiting arrest by the Philistines, “the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it.”

We find that the Gazites surrounded the place where Samson was “and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city.” This time Samson, “took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.” It is not specified that he got the strength to do this from the Spirit. Based on context perhaps he did. Perhaps he did not. And perhaps he was buff but again; it would not be particularly impressive if he was.

In any case, his life is as much a story of Israel getting out from under their oppressors as it as a story about a born hero who ends up taking a downward spiral as he compromised again and again and again. This is one of the beauties of the Bible, the Bible’s realism, that it paints even its heroes with warts and all and for millennia lays out their flaws for all to see right along of their triumphs.

We find that Samson “loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him.’” This is how it comes about that she asks Samson and he gives her false answers three times so that when they come to seize him, he overcomes them. When this first occurs it is stated, “So the secret of his strength was not known.” Finally, it is stated—in what one does not know if to say is flowery or all too realistic language—:

…she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man”…[they proceeded to] shave off the seven locks of his head…and his strength left him…he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

Note the combination of factors relating to his hair and his strength: if his head was shaved his strength would leave me; and so his strength did reside, as it were, in his hair. Yet, when his head was shaved, “the LORD had departed from him” and we know that God’s Spirit had given him his strength. But later his hair began to grow again which brings us to the next event.

Let us pause here to note that there was nothing magical about his hair. His hair was tied up with his strength in that it signified, was symbolic of, stood for, was a public sign that, he had a special purpose commensurate with his vow as a Nazirite. When he had compromised again and again and again until his head is shaved it demonstrated that he had finally broken his vows, neglected his divine calling, in a manner of speaking, and thus, having turned away from God, God now turns away from him. His strength left him when the LORD left him and the LORD left him when he reached a point of leaving the LORD, the LORD’s purpose for him.

Samson’s story ends in a tragic victory:

Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:

“Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy!”

When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said:

“Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, The destroyer of our land, And the one who multiplied our dead.”

So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.
Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left.

Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!”

And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life. And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Note that his hair had grown again which signified his renewed vows, as it where, and he calls upon the LORD for strength once more.

Thus, we see that his physique had nothing to do with it, his personal strength that is, and his hair is tied up into the concept of his strength as symbolic of his walking with God, fulfilling God’s purpose, keeping his vow.

I would love to see a play or movie about Samson wherein he is played by an actor who is a scrawny, skinny, little, pencil-neck geek in order to emphasize these points. It was not about physical strength and hair but about walking with the LORD.