Did you know that in the Bible, there are persons who display some capabilities similar to those of Captain America and Wolverine? How about those that were depicted by the movie versions of Spartacus and Leonidas? Would you be so shocked to find out that there were men in the holy book who were even more badass than they were? Be shocked no more.
Forget Moses and Samson, they are so overused and overheard already. I'm talking about others who are not getting the attention that we should be giving. Get acquainted with the first super-soldiers and metahumans that existed thousands of years before the first comic book was printed. Who do you think among them is the toughest biblical super-soldier?
Shamgar
Before there were kings in Israel, there were judges – leaders who were tasked to serve justice, protect the people and lead them to overthrow their enemies whenever the need arises.
Before Samson came along, who was the most popular judge in biblical history, there was Shamgar, the first strongman judge who killed 600 men with an ox goad. So how effective can an ox goad be as a weapon? Not very.
According to historians and archeologists, it is usually made of wood and not really meant to be very sharp since it is just used to poke an ox to keep it steady on its plowing task. If a soldier who killed hundreds with a sword or a spear is a great soldier already, then what would you call a judge who killed 600 with a wooden stick?
He is not depicted to be a super-powered entity nor was he backed-up by other valiant warriors. He was just a very brave guy armed with a piece of wood who happens to have a very resilient mind and body.
Asahel
He is a member of 'The Mighty 30' – the very best among the entire army of the Israel medieval times. Compared to his sons and grandsons who became king after him, King David spent more time in the battlefield which made him do lots of killings in his career.
This makes it clear that he does the dirty deed where his offspring did not. But there are those who did the dirtier deeds, and they are the members of King David's 30.
So what does a member of this dirty thirty do? Face legions, armies and human barricades– slicing, dicing and slaying them in the process. In the book of Samuel and Chronicles, Asahel is depicted as a dude who is very swift-footed, like a gazelle in an open field.
Knowing this, we can then think that he is the typical super-agile swashbuckler that we read in comics and see in action movies today.
Benaiah
In Hebrew tradition, the name Benaiah means 'God delivers' or 'the Son of God builds up.' As a member of King David’s Mighty 30, he really lived up to his name's meaning as he was chosen by the king to be one of his most trusted soldiers becoming a commander of a rotating division of the Israeli army during David's reign.
Even up to the regime of David's son Solomon, Benaiah was still a powerful military figure as he was appointed as the commander of the entire kingdom of Israel.
He was a valiant soldier but how can he be categorized as super? It is stated in the book of Chronicles that “he was more honored than any of the thirty.” This could be for his acts that include: defeating great warriors from Moab, one of the super-power countries of their time; killing a lion in a snowy pit; and killing a 7 ½- foot Egyptian with its own spear.
Benaiah was indeed a courageous super-soldier, following the footsteps shown by his king when David killed Goliath.
Eleazar
Like Asahel and Benaiah, who also appears on this list, he is also a member of King David's 30, and not just an ordinary member, but a member of the 'Great 3' – The best and finest of the King's elite.
He was known to be very loyal to David as he breached through the Philistine borders just because his beloved king mentioned something about having a drink in one of their war stopovers.
By successfully breaching the enemy lines without getting detected, Eleazar could be referred to as the ideal super-spy. His great devotion to the king and his stealthy skills were not his most memorable traits though. It was his valiance during the Battle of Ephes Dammim where he stood his ground when most of his comrades flee.
He fought so hard and for so long that according to biblical text, his hand froze and welded to the sword, killing many enemies on the process and saving himself. By picturing it out in mind, he would have been severely wounded but continued to fight anyway.
This signifies great resistance to pain and over-the-top stamina– common identifiers for superhumans.
Abishai
We often hear the statement 'it runs in the blood.' And even in the case of superheroism, it can be proven that the statement is true. Take Abishai, a member of The Mighty 30 and brother to Asahel, the super-agile swashbuckler on this list.
As a loyal comrade to David, he was the only one who accompanied the king when he went over to the camp of King Saul, the king of Israel who wanted to kill his leader.
When a Philistine giant threatened David's life, Abishai did not have a problem killing the monster on behalf of his king. His name in Hebrew tradition means 'father of a gift.'
He did in fact bring victorious gifts to his league as it was indicated that he killed 300 enemies with his spear in a single encounter.
Does that mean he could have singlehandedly bested King Leonidas' band from Sparta had they become his enemies? Sounds interesting don't you think?
Jashobeam
King David had an array of super-soldiers at his disposal who were among the toughest warriors in the biblical times and most probably throughout history, Jashobeam was one of them. Somewhere on this list are other valiant warriors who were members of King David’s Might 30.
Is Jashobeam more special than they are? Yes, because he is their commander and their over-all leader. That makes him the baddest of the bad and the dirtiest of the dirty.
So Asahel was a super-fast fighter?– He had a hand in training the dude. Benaiah killed a 7-foot giant?– That is a result of his well-organized tactics. Eleazar had a seemingly super-human stamina and pain immunity?– That is a manifestation of his drills.
Abishai killed 300 in a single encounter?– That is too little compared to Jashobeam's kill list. Multiply that by two and then add another 200, that is the total number of the enemies he killed. Yes, 800, in case you are not so good in Math.
Abraham
He is known as the 'great patriarch' as he is the grandfather of Jacob, the father of the Jewish nation. How Abraham, a plain merchant got himself into battle started when four kings waged a war among themselves. When his nephew Lot was taken into captivity, he gathered some men of his household to rescue Lot.
That is no surprise considering that he was very wealthy man as what can be read in the Bible. He had a great number of livestock and gold, which should make it easy for him to store some weapons in his own armory somewhere in his wide real estate.
But what is so surprising and intriguing is the fact that Abraham, untrained in the ways of war was able to crush Chedorlaomer the king of Elam (possibly Persia, now Iran) with a group of 318 servants who would most probably, not well-versed with waging wars too.
Was Abraham just a businessman who had a hobby of practicing war games in his spare time? Or was he a natural-born super-soldier? We can never know for sure, except that he did leave a legacy that makes us think he was a warrior who was never meant to be one, but was very good at it anyway.
Elijah
A prophet who did not experience physical death, brought down fire from the sky and was able to outrun a chariot – these are the most impressive facts about Elijah, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. Unlike the rest of the guys on this list, he was not a soldier nor a warrior. He was a loner and a vagrant, but was very brave and determined.
When Ahab, the reigning king of Israel at that time ordered the execution of Elijah and his followers, he went into hiding thinking that he is the only one left on his God-commissioned crusade.
During his exile, he encountered opportunities where he can channel God's power through him: raising a young boy from the dead, magically making a batch of flour appear from a container each time it was opened, and ending a 3-year drought by simply telling it to end, and a lot more.
He was not a true soldier in a literal sense, but he was a spiritual warrior who walked his path alone, yet won special wars in ways no one else could.
Aside from his great feat of bringing down fire from the sky that consumed his altar offering as well as those of his enemies, he did outrun a chariot. Such capabilities make him a hybrid of Jean Grey from the X-men and The Flash from Justice League.
Who do you think among them is the toughest biblical superhero?
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