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
Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter. ​
2
“I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” ​
3
Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.” ​

Samson Burns the Philistine Harvest

4
Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails. ​
5
Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.
6
“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. ​
7
And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”
8
And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam. ​

Judah Delivers Samson to the Philistines

9
Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi. ​
10
“Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.” ​
11
In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he replied. ​
12
But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson replied, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.” ​
13
“No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.

Samson's Victory at Lehi

14
When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands. ​
15
He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men. ​
16
Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them into heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.” ​
17
And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

God Provides Water for Samson

18
And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ​
19
So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, and it remains in Lehi to this day. ​
20
And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. ​

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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