I recall the comic books from the 1970s with the goofy advertisements. Along with the Sea Monkeys and X-Ray glasses was a mini-comicstrip advertising an exercise regimen associated with bodybuilder Charles Atlas (aka Angelo Siciliano). His regimen, built around “dynamic tension,” I believe, was promoted to teenage boys. The short comic had a scrawny young man, named Mac, at the beach with his girlfriend. A strong bully accidentally (?) kicks sand in his face. The poor couple could do nothing except complain because the other guy was too strong and made it clear his superiority due to his strength. Cleverly, the comic does not show the girlfriend rejecting him due to his lack of physique, but it is clear that she does lack a bit of respect for him. Mac goes home, follows the exercise regimen of Charles Atlas, and then returns with his girlfriend to show who is NOW the king of the beach. “Kicking sand in one’s face” is not a bit of a trope of physical intimidation and superiority.

In the Bible we have the story of Samson, starting in the Book of Judges, chapter 13. It is actually a sad story. It fits well into this book of the Bible which is full of vignettes that follow the theme of Israel “doing what is right in their own eyes.” The story describes Samson of having the Spirit of God upon him, which is demonstrated by having great strength.

But what did Samson look like. We know he had long hair— eventually styled with seven braids. Beyond that we don’t know very much. Judges 13:24 says that after Samson was born, he grew and the Lord blessed him. That is not very informative.

If you type in “Samson” and “art” you will see a lot of images of Samson that greatly vary. There seems to be three major categories of pictures:

1. Healthy Working Dude. In these images, Samson looks like a typical healthy working guy. He looks strong enough to do some serious farming. He would probably not be like Mac with sand kicked in his face, but doesn’t really look that much like the bully either.
2. Viking Warrior. Think “Vikings” or “The Northman” or Chris Hemsworth as Thor. In these images, Samson, with his long flowing hair, looks pretty ripped— definitely careful on the carbs and spends too much time in the gym. He looks a bit like the Charles Atlas ideal, if Charles did some steroids.
3. The Hulk. In this Samson looks quite a bit like the guys who are part of the World’s Strongest Man competitions. He looks too big and strong to mess with.

Since we don’t know which view is closest to the actual Samson, we have to infer a bit. First, Samson loved food and drink, so I think the Viking Warrior is unlikely. Samson may have looked strong, but he certainly had some body fat on him… maybe like Thor from the Marvel Movies during his depressed overweight stage.

To me the Hulk is a bad take on Samson. The theme in the story is that his strength comes from the Spirit of God, not from physical attributes. And this is not simply theologizing on the part of the writer of Judges. A central part of the plot is the recognition by the Philistines that Samson must have some divine or magical empowerment that makes him so strong.

It seems like the Healthy Working Dude makes the most sense. He may look healthy, but feats of strength as described could only be seen as coming from the gods, not from diet and exercise.

Of course, when one takes it further, one may wonder what if we take it further. What if Samson looked sickly, small, or wimpy? Would his strength better demonstrate that his power comes from God? I think it would. That being said, I think it is risky to assume that because it would, that means that is the way God would of a certainty do it that way. As a counterexample, we can think of the gift of healing. I believe that those who are trained in healing, such as physicians, surgeons, and nurses are more likely to be empowered by God to heal than the typical Christian. An untrained person in the healing arts may demonstrate God’s gifting more effectively. However, I don’t believe that God necessarily prefers to bless those who actively avoid learning and training. Part of the gifting can be the passion of the person to serve and the commitment to train.

Would that same logic apply to great strength? I am not so sure. In a general sense, however, we do need to open our minds to the idea that God may gift paradoxically. As it says in II Corinthians 12:11, regarding the gifts of God,

“All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”