Donald Trump is an outlandish story, but not a myth. The depravity of Rome is an outlandish story, but not a myth. "Outlandish" doesn't mark something as untrue.
I would guess the problem you have with the story is Samson's strength. Let's honestly examine some elements you consider outlandish.
Judges 14.6. He killed a lion with his bare hands. ABC news, 2019: Colorado runner kills cougar with bare hands after it attacks him.
https://abc7.com/mountain-lion-cougar-puma-panther/5122361/Judges 14.19. He killed 30 men by himself. The text doesn't say he did it all at the same time or even on the same day. Mass murderers, bullies, street fighters, and soldiers attest that this is possible, though horrific.
Judges 15.4. He caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together, and sent them burning the fields. Again, it doesn't say this happened all in one day. The word translated by the NIV as “fox” is believed to be a more generic term that could also refer to jackals. It is likely that jackals are used here just from the practical standpoint. Foxes hunt alone while jackals hunt in packs. Trapping this large a number of foxes would require not only great amounts of time, but also cover a large range of territory. Getting this many jackals would be a more manageable task in that whole packs could be captured at once.
Judges 15.7. He killed a lot of people. So the guy's a brute. Is this unbelievable? It's believable, but horrible. What a jerk he was.
Judges 15.15. He killed 1000 men. The same word that means “a thousand” (lph) with different vowels means “clan.” He didn’t necessarily kill a thousand men, but he may have decimated the large group (squadron?) that came after him. Same situation as in 14.19. If Samson was a warrior and a killer, this is feasible.
Judges 16.30. He pushed the pillars of the building apart and the building collapsed. The verb used in v. 30 suggests a twisting motion from which we can infer that Samson turned the pillars off their stone bases thus removing the support of the roof and causing its collapse.
So you see, I don't need a rigid presupposition of inerrancy to see that the story is plausible. I just need an open mind, some research, and common sense.
Donald Trump is an outlandish story, but not a myth. The depravity of Rome is an outlandish story, but not a myth. "Outlandish" doesn't mark something as untrue.
I would guess the problem you have with the story is Samson's strength. Let's honestly examine some elements you consider outlandish.
Judges 14.6. He killed a lion with his bare hands. ABC news, 2019: Colorado runner kills cougar with bare hands after it attacks him. [url]https://abc7.com/mountain-lion-cougar-puma-panther/5122361/[/url]
Judges 14.19. He killed 30 men by himself. The text doesn't say he did it all at the same time or even on the same day. Mass murderers, bullies, street fighters, and soldiers attest that this is possible, though horrific.
Judges 15.4. He caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together, and sent them burning the fields. Again, it doesn't say this happened all in one day. The word translated by the NIV as “fox” is believed to be a more generic term that could also refer to jackals. It is likely that jackals are used here just from the practical standpoint. Foxes hunt alone while jackals hunt in packs. Trapping this large a number of foxes would require not only great amounts of time, but also cover a large range of territory. Getting this many jackals would be a more manageable task in that whole packs could be captured at once.
Judges 15.7. He killed a lot of people. So the guy's a brute. Is this unbelievable? It's believable, but horrible. What a jerk he was.
Judges 15.15. He killed 1000 men. The same word that means “a thousand” (lph) with different vowels means “clan.” He didn’t necessarily kill a thousand men, but he may have decimated the large group (squadron?) that came after him. Same situation as in 14.19. If Samson was a warrior and a killer, this is feasible.
Judges 16.30. He pushed the pillars of the building apart and the building collapsed. The verb used in v. 30 suggests a twisting motion from which we can infer that Samson turned the pillars off their stone bases thus removing the support of the roof and causing its collapse.
So you see, I don't need a rigid presupposition of inerrancy to see that the story is plausible. I just need an open mind, some research, and common sense.