ight Houseight HouseThe Strength of Samson
We all know that Samson of the bible was very strong. I wonder if we have a real concept of just HOW strong he really was when the power of God was on him. The bible tells us that he once took the gate of a city and carried to a hill top. That in itself may or may not seem all that impressive until we realize what kind of gate we are talking about. In those days, cities built walls around their cities for protection from invading armies. These walls were quiet massive in size as you might imagine. It would stand to reason then that the gates of these walls were large and strong as well. The gate that Samson carried away from the city and placed on a hill top could have easily have been fifteen feet tall and very possibly much larger. The timbers that this gate was constructed of was probably like the timbers we see in use today in railroad bridges or like telephone poles. Either way, I believe this gate was huge and weighed several tons. This was no Rio Grand type of gate! Also consider that in order to “take” the gate, he most likely literally ripped it from the wall to which it was attached.
We’ve also heard the story of how Samson killed a lion. The biggest toughest man today doesn’t stand a chance of winning in a fight with a lion. Any man would be torn to pieces and most likely would not survive an attack from one of these beasts. Samson not only survived and not only killed the lion, but the bible tells us that he tore the lion to pieces! We also read on that later as he was returning from his journey, he found that bees had built a hive in the carcass of the lion he had killed. The bible says that he raided the hive and took the honey. He was not wearing a bee keepers suit. How did he keep from being stung? He most likely DID get stung. I don’t know if his hide was so tough that the bees couldn’t hurt him, or if he simply had a tolerance for pain that is beyond what the common man has today. Either way, it is something to think about and be in awe of.
Samson performed other amazing feats of strength as we know, but I believe these two may be over looked in terms of just how incredible they were.
Carl Light
© Copyright 2006 Carl Light (Copy as is with reference to source with permission)
