Some, perhaps even many, believers think that Solomon died and went to hell because they hold that the Bible never says that he repented of his great sinfulness. I have previously argued that for many biblical reasons Solomon did not perish eternally.
This post provides yet another reason to believe that Solomon is not in hell. A comparison of the biblical data about Samson versus Solomon shows that it is not true that Samson is in heaven but Solomon is in hell.
No Record of Samson’s Repenting of His Sins
Scripture records plainly that Samson sinned repeatedly, including defiling himself by eating honey from the carcass of a dead lion (Judg. 14:8-9), going into a harlot (Judg. 16:1-3), and taking his own revenge (Judg. 16:28-30). No mention is made of his repenting of any of these sins before he died.
Samson is mentioned by Name in Hebrews 11
Even though the inspired record of Samson’s life records his sinning repeatedly, does not ever mention that he repented, and says that “the Lord was departed from him” (Judges 16:20), Samson is mentioned by name in Hebrews 11 as a man of faith. We can be certain, therefore, that Samson was a believer and that he went to heaven when he died even though we have no record of his repenting of his sins as a believer before he died.
A Comparison of the Scriptural Records Concerning Samson and Solomon
Like Samson, Scripture records much about the sinfulness of Solomon (1 Kings 11) and does not directly and unambiguously record that he repented of his sins (cf., however, Ecclesiastes, which may be an inspired record of his repentance). Because Samson went to heaven when he died even though Scripture does not record that he repented of his sins, the lack of mention of Solomon’s repenting before he died does not prove that he died and went to hell because he never repented.
Conclusion
Based on the above comparison of the available biblical data concerning Samson and Solomon, we have no basis for holding that Samson is in heaven but Solomon is in hell. For that reason and for at least nine other biblical reasons, we can be certain that Solomon did not perish eternally.
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