I know I
already answered the question as to whether Samson is a hero (he’s not), but it
bears more explanation as to why. Mostly it comes down to how he goes about
things. Yes he killed a mighty number of Philistines, who were enemies of the
Israelites, but he hardly dented them. It’s not until much, much later when
King David is around that they finally rout the Philistines completely.
The absolute best that can be said
of Samson is that he would have made the Philistines think twice about going
into Israel for fear that there were more like him. But at the same time, they
had never before encountered a single one like Samson, so there was no reason
to fear there would be more.
And we also have to examine Samson’s
qualities as a hero. Abraham and Moses are our two templates, and they both
tick off the same boxes. They are humble. They’re respectful to God. They’re
family men. They pray and communicate with God often. They make a lasting
difference to all of Israel. They were pretty selfless, thinking of serving God
first, never themselves.
Samson, though, is all about
himself. I’m sure he would fit in well on Facebook, posting his riddle about
honey (though he’d probably kill the riddle with a selfie of him eating the
honey out of the lion’s corpse). He has womanized, murdered, stolen, murdered
some more, sought revenge, slept with prostitutes, and just been an absolute
jerk overall. Oh, and he’s complete and total dumbass. Seriously, I think only
Siegfried shows less intelligence than Samson, but it would be a photo-finish.
This story should never be looked
at as one where Samson is a role model. He’s not! He’s breaking commandments
and acting more like a savage than an Israelite. In fact, Samson is probably a
message of what not to be. The warrior hero of the Greeks may work for them,
but it’s a poor fit for an Israelite. Samson can hurt the Philistines, but he
can’t do anything good for the Israelites, nor does he care about anyone other
than himself.
Israelite
heroes have always followed a specific pattern, which is conspicuously absent
from Samson’s character. He just is ineffective because he doesn’t have those
traits. Moses, Abraham, Joseph, and Joshua are all phenomenal Israelite heroes
who don’t abuse the power they have, but use it to help their people.
Samson, if
anything, is a message of how physical strength corrupts. The strongest warrior
is nothing more than a bully who doesn’t even respect God.