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.

Samson's Wife Given to Another

1
But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat; and he said, “I will go in to my wife into the room.” But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in. ​
2
Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her, instead.” ​
3
Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I harm them.” ​

Samson Burns the Philistine Harvest

4
Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between every two tails. ​
5
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 olive groves.
6
Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” They said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion.” The Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. ​
7
Samson said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.”
8
He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and lived 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
The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.” ​
11
Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” ​
12
They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not fall on me yourselves.” ​
13
They spoke to him, saying, “No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

Samson's Victory at Lehi

14
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. ​
15
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand, and took it, and struck a thousand men with it. ​
16
Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.” ​
17
When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi.

God Provides Water for Samson

18
He was very thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” ​
19
But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: therefore its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day. ​
20
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.

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate
Settings

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options