Judges15

Samson, finding his wife given to another, retaliated by burning Philistine crops with foxes. In response, the Philistines burned his wife and her father, prompting Samson to inflict a great slaughter upon them. When the men of Judah delivered Samson to the Philistines, the Spirit of the LORD empowered him to slay a thousand men with an ass's jawbone, after which God miraculously provided water for his thirst.
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Samson's Wife Given to Another

1
But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. ​
2
And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. ​
3
And Samson said unto them, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I do them a mischief. ​

Samson Burns the Philistine Harvest

4
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails. ​
5
And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the oliveyards.
6
Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. ​
7
And Samson said unto them, If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam. ​

Judah Delivers Samson to the Philistines

9
Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. ​
10
And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they said, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. ​
11
Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what then is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. ​
12
And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. ​
13
And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

Samson's Victory at Lehi

14
When he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. ​
15
And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith. ​
16
And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men. ​
17
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath-lehi.

God Provides Water for Samson

18
And he was sore athirst, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised. ​
19
But God clave the hollow place that is in Lehi, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore the name thereof was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, unto this day. ​
20
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. ​

Study Notes for Judges 15

Verse 1

Samson’s return during the wheat harvest (a time of plenty) contrasts sharply with the ensuing destruction and violence. His visit with a kid (a small gift) suggests a desire to reconcile, but his father-in-law had already broken the marriage covenant.

Verse 2

The father attempts to justify his action by claiming Samson hated his wife and by offering the younger sister. This highlights the practice of polygyny and the treatment of women as transferable property in this ancient culture.

Verse 3

Samson frames his coming revenge as righteous retaliation, claiming he is now 'blameless.' While his actions are driven by personal grievance, they serve God's ultimate purpose of harassing the Philistine oppressors (Judges 13:5).

Verse 4

The feat of catching 300 foxes (likely jackals, *shualim*) is immense, emphasizing Samson’s legendary power and resourcefulness. Tying them tail-to-tail with a firebrand ensured they ran erratically, maximizing the devastation to the crops.

Verse 6

The Philistines’ brutal retaliation against the father and daughter paradoxically confirms Samson’s earlier justification for revenge and escalates the feud. They destroyed the very people they had used to manipulate Samson.

Verse 8

The phrase 'smote them hip and thigh' is an idiom signifying a massive, unrestrained slaughter, implying that he completely defeated and dismembered them. Samson then retreated to the secure, high ground of the rock Etam.

Verse 9

The Philistine invasion into Judah demonstrates their dominance. They did not pursue Samson directly but put pressure on the tribe of Judah to deliver him, forcing the Israelites to choose between their kinsman and their oppressors.

Verse 10

The men of Judah readily identify themselves as subjects of the Philistines. Their primary concern is maintaining a compliant peace rather than seeking deliverance or standing with their appointed judge.

Verse 11

Three thousand men of Judah came, not to aid Samson, but to rebuke him for disturbing the status quo. This highlights the moral and spiritual decay of the Israelites, who viewed their deliverer as a threat.

Verse 12

Samson, fully aware of the danger posed by his own people, binds them to an oath. This agreement reveals the deep distrust and division existing between the supernaturally empowered judge and the fearful tribe he was meant to save.

Verse 14

The Philistines’ shout of triumph was premature. The immediate arrival of the 'Spirit of the LORD' is the key feature of Samson’s life, manifesting as a sudden, overwhelming physical strength that dissolved his bonds effortlessly.

Verse 15

A jawbone was a common, easily found object, but its use here emphasizes God's ability to achieve victory through the most humble means. The fact that it was 'new' (fresh) suggests it retained the necessary hardness for such a feat.

Verse 16

Samson’s poetic taunt relies on a Hebrew wordplay: 'ass' (*hamor*) sounds similar to 'heap' (*homer*). The boast celebrates not only the staggering number of casualties but also the sheer absurdity of the weapon chosen.

Verse 18

After his immense physical effort, the mighty warrior is humbled by human weakness. His prayer acknowledges that the power for 'this great deliverance' came from God, showing a moment of genuine dependence amidst his usual self-reliance.

Verse 19

God miraculously answers Samson’s prayer, providing water from a cleft in the ground (often associated with the place name Lehi, meaning 'jawbone'). The name Enhakkore, 'spring of the caller,' memorializes this divine provision.

Verse 20

This verse concludes the narrative of this period, confirming that despite Samson’s personal flaws and chaotic methods, his two decades of harassment served the divine purpose of initiating Israel’s deliverance from Philistine oppression.

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