1 But it came to pass within a while after, 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 concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
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 two tails.
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had 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, Though ye have done this, yet will I 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 top of the rock Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, 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 to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what 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 cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain 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 called that place Ramathlehi.
18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
1 But it came to pass within a while after, H3117 in the time H3117 of wheat H2406 harvest, H7105 that Samson H8123 visited H6485 his wife H802 with a kid; H1423 H5795 and he said, H559 I will go in H935 to my wife H802 into the chamber. H2315 But her father H1 would not suffer H5414 him to go in. H935
2 And her father H1 said, H559 I verily H559 thought H559 that thou hadst utterly H8130 hated H8130 her; therefore I gave H5414 her to thy companion: H4828 is not her younger H6996 sister H269 fairer H2896 than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
3 And Samson H8123 said H559 concerning them, Now H6471 shall I be more blameless H5352 than the Philistines, H6430 though I do H6213 them a displeasure. H7451
4 And Samson H8123 went H3212 and caught H3920 three H7969 hundred H3967 foxes, H7776 and took H3947 firebrands, H3940 and turned H6437 tail H2180 to tail, H2180 and put H7760 a H259 firebrand H3940 in the midst H8432 between two H8147 tails. H2180
5 And when he had set H1197 the brands H3940 on fire, H784 he let them go H7971 into the standing corn H7054 of the Philistines, H6430 and burnt up H1197 both the shocks, H1430 and also the standing corn, H7054 with the vineyards H3754 and olives. H2132
6 Then the Philistines H6430 said, H559 Who hath done H6213 this? And they answered, H559 Samson, H8123 the son in law H2860 of the Timnite, H8554 because he had taken H3947 his wife, H802 and given H5414 her to his companion. H4828 And the Philistines H6430 came up, H5927 and burnt H8313 her and her father H1 with fire. H784
7 And Samson H8123 said H559 unto them, Though H518 ye have done H6213 this, H2063 yet will I be avenged H5358 of you, and after H310 that I will cease. H2308
8 And he smote H5221 them hip H7785 and H5921 thigh H3409 with a great H1419 slaughter: H4347 and he went down H3381 and dwelt H3427 in the top H5585 of the rock H5553 Etam. H5862
9 Then the Philistines H6430 went up, H5927 and pitched H2583 in Judah, H3063 and spread H5203 themselves in Lehi. H3896
10 And the men H376 of Judah H3063 said, H559 Why are ye come up H5927 against us? And they answered, H559 To bind H631 Samson H8123 are we come up, H5927 to do H6213 to him as he hath done H6213 to us.
11 Then three H7969 thousand H505 men H376 of Judah H3063 went H3381 to the top H5585 of the rock H5553 Etam, H5862 and said H559 to Samson, H8123 Knowest H3045 thou not that the Philistines H6430 are rulers H4910 over us? what is this that thou hast done H6213 unto us? And he said H559 unto them, As they did H6213 unto me, so have I done H6213 unto them.
12 And they said H559 unto him, We are come down H3381 to bind H631 thee, that we may deliver H5414 thee into the hand H3027 of the Philistines. H6430 And Samson H8123 said H559 unto them, Swear H7650 unto me, that ye will not fall upon H6293 me yourselves.
13 And they spake H559 unto him, saying, H559 No; but we will bind H631 thee fast, H631 and deliver H5414 thee into their hand: H3027 but surely H4191 we will not kill H4191 thee. And they bound H631 him with two H8147 new H2319 cords, H5688 and brought him up H5927 from the rock. H5553
14 And when he came H935 unto Lehi, H3896 the Philistines H6430 shouted H7321 against H7125 him: and the Spirit H7307 of the LORD H3068 came mightily H6743 upon him, and the cords H5688 that were upon his arms H2220 became as flax H6593 that was burnt H1197 with fire, H784 and his bands H612 loosed H4549 from off his hands. H3027
15 And he found H4672 a new H2961 jawbone H3895 of an ass, H2543 and put forth H7971 his hand, H3027 and took H3947 it, and slew H5221 a thousand H505 men H376 therewith.
16 And Samson H8123 said, H559 With the jawbone H3895 of an ass, H2543 heaps H2565 upon heaps, H2565 with the jaw H3895 of an ass H2543 have I slain H5221 a thousand H505 men. H376
17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end H3615 of speaking, H1696 that he cast away H7993 the jawbone H3895 out of his hand, H3027 and called H7121 that place H4725 Ramathlehi. H7437
18 And he was sore H3966 athirst, H6770 and called H7121 on the LORD, H3068 and said, H559 Thou hast given H5414 this great H1419 deliverance H8668 into the hand H3027 of thy servant: H5650 and now shall I die H4191 for thirst, H6772 and fall H5307 into the hand H3027 of the uncircumcised? H6189
19 But God H430 clave H1234 an hollow place H4388 that was in the jaw, H3895 and there came H3318 water H4325 thereout; and when he had drunk, H8354 his spirit H7307 came again, H7725 and he revived: H2421 wherefore he called H7121 the name H8034 thereof Enhakkore, H5875 which is in Lehi H3896 unto this day. H3117
20 And he judged H8199 Israel H3478 in the days H3117 of the Philistines H6430 twenty H6242 years. H8141
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1 And it cometh to pass, after `some' days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looketh after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and saith, `I go in unto my wife, to the inner chamber;' and her father hath not permitted him to go in,
2 and her father saith, I certainly said, that thou didst certainly hate her, and I give her to thy companion; is not her sister -- the young one -- better than she? Let her be, I pray thee, to thee, instead of her.'
3 And Samson saith of them, `I am more innocent this time than the Philistines, though I am doing with them evil.'
4 And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst,
5 and kindleth fire in the torches, and sendeth `them' out into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burneth `it' from heap even unto standing corn, even unto vineyard -- olive-yard.
6 And the Philistines say, `Who hath done this?' And they say, `Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken away his wife, and giveth her to his companion;' and the Philistines go up, and burn her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson saith to them, `Though ye do thus, nevertheless I am avenged on you, and afterwards I cease!'
8 And he smiteth them hip and thigh -- a great smiting, and goeth down and dwelleth in the cleft of the rock Etam.
9 And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi,
10 and the men of Judah say, `Why have ye come up against us?' and they say, `To bind Samson we have come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.'
11 And three thousand men of Judah go down unto the cleft of the rock Etam, and say to Samson, `Hast thou now known that the Philistines are rulers over us? and what `is' this thou hast done to us?' And he saith to them, `As they did to me, so I did to them.'
12 And they say to him, `To bind thee we have come down -- to give thee into the hand of the Philistines.' And Samson saith to them, `Swear to me, lest ye fall upon me yourselves.'
13 And they speak to him, saying, No, but we certainly bind thee, and have given thee into their hand, and we certainly do not put thee to death;' and they bind him with two thick bands, new ones, and bring him up from the rock.
14 He hath come unto Lehi -- and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him -- and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and the thick bands which `are' on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are wasted from off his hands,
15 and he findeth a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and putteth forth his hand and taketh it, and smiteth with it -- a thousand men.
16 And Samson saith, `With a jaw-bone of the ass -- an ass upon asses -- with a jaw-bone of the ass I have smitten a thousand men.'
17 And it cometh to pass when he finisheth speaking, that he casteth away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and calleth that place Ramath-Lehi;
18 and he thirsteth exceedingly, and calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Thou -- Thou hast given by the hand of Thy servant this great salvation; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.'
19 And God cleaveth the hollow place which `is' in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinketh, and his spirit cometh back, and he reviveth; therefore hath `one' called its name `The fountain of him who is calling,' which `is' in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judgeth Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
1 After a while, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a kid; and he said, "I will go in to my wife in the chamber." But her father would not allow him to go in.
2 And her father said, "I really thought that you utterly hated her; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Pray take her instead."
3 And Samson said to them, "This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines, when I do them mischief."
4 So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches; and he turned them tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails.
5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.
6 Then the Philistines said, "Who has done this?" And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion." And the Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson said to them, "If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged upon you, and after that I will quit."
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah, and made a raid on Lehi.
10 And 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 did to us."
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" And he said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them."
12 And they said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not fall upon me yourselves."
13 They said to him, "No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands; we will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.
15 And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men.
16 And Samson said, "With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men."
17 When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ra'math-le'hi.
18 And he was very thirsty, and he called on the LORD and said, "Thou hast granted this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and shall I now die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"
19 And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and there came water from it; and when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkor'e; it is at Lehi to this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
1 But it happened 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 wouldn't allow him to go in.
2 Her father said, I most assuredly 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 shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I do them a mischief.
4 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 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 do after this manner, 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.
9 Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 The men of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? They said, To bind Samson are we come up, 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.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of Yahweh 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 forth his hand, and took it, and struck a thousand men therewith.
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 It happened, 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.
18 He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh, 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 the name of it was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day.
20 He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
1 Now a short time after, at the time of the grain-cutting, Samson, taking with him a young goat, went to see his wife; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the bride's room. But her father would not let him go in.
2 And her father said, It seemed to me that you had only hate for her; so I gave her to your friend: but is not her younger sister fairer than she? so please take her in place of the other.
3 Then Samson said to them, This time I will give payment in full to the Philistines, for I am going to do them great evil.
4 So Samson went and got three hundred foxes and some sticks of fire-wood; and he put the foxes tail to tail with a stick between every two tails;
5 Then firing the sticks, he let the foxes loose among the uncut grain of the Philistines, and all the corded stems as well as the living grain and the vine-gardens and the olives went up in flames.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his friend. So the Philistines came up and had her and her father's house burned.
7 And Samson said to them, If you go on like this, truly I will take my full payment from you; and that will be the end of it.
8 And he made an attack on them, driving them in uncontrolled flight, and causing great destruction; then he went away to his safe place in the crack of the rock at Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went and put up their tents in Judah, all round Lehi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why have you come up against us? And they said, We have come up to take Samson, and to do to him as he has done to us.
11 Then three thousand of the men of Judah went down to the crack of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Is it not clear to you that the Philistines are our rulers? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, I only did to them as they did to me.
12 Then they said to him, We have come down to take you and give you up into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Give me your oath that you will not make an attack on me yourselves.
13 And they said, No; we will take you and give you up into their hands, but truly we will not put you to death. So knotting two new cords round him they took him up from the rock.
14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came out, meeting him with loud cries; then the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and the cords on his arms became like grass which has been burned with fire, and the bands came falling off his hands.
15 And taking up the mouth-bone of an ass newly dead, which he saw by chance on the earth, he put to death a thousand men with it.
16 And Samson said, With a red ass's mouth-bone I have made them red with blood, with a red ass's mouth-bone I have sent destruction on a thousand men.
17 And having said these words, he let the mouth-bone go out of his hand; so that place was named Ramath-lehi.
18 After this, he was in great need of water, and crying out to the Lord, he said, You have given this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and now need of water will be my death; and I will be given into the hands of this people who are without circumcision.
19 Then God made a crack in the hollow rock in Lehi and water came out of it; and after drinking, his spirit came back to him and he was strong again; so that place was named En-hakkore; it is in Lehi to this day.
20 And he was judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Judges 15
Commentary on Judges 15 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Further Acts of Samson. - Judges 15:1-8. His Revenge upon the Philistines . - Judges 15:1.
Some time after, Samson visited his wife in the time of the wheat harvest with a kid-a customary present at that time (Genesis 38:17)-and wished to go into the chamber (the women's apartment) to her; but her father would not allow him, and said, “ I thought thou hatedst her, and therefore gave her to thy friend (Judges 14:20): behold her younger sister is fairer than she; let her be thine in her stead. ”
Enraged at this answer, Samson said to them (i.e., to her father and those around him), “ Now am I blameless before the Philistines, if I do evil to them. ” נקּה with מן , to be innocent away from a person, i.e., before him (see Numbers 32:22). Samson regarded the treatment which he had received from his father-in-law as but one effect of the disposition of the Philistines generally towards the Israelites, and therefore resolved to avenge the wrong which he had received from one member of the Philistines upon the whole nation, or at all events upon the whole of the city of Timnath.
He therefore went and caught three hundred shualim , i.e., jackals, animals which resemble foxes and are therefore frequently classed among the foxes even by the common Arabs of the present day (see Niebuhr , Beschr. v. Arab. p. 166). Their European name is derived from the Persian schaghal . These animals, which are still found in great quantities at Joppa, Gaza, and in Galilee, herd together, and may easily be caught (see Rosenmller , Bibl. Althk. iv. 2, pp. 155ff.). He then took torches, turned tail to tail, i.e., coupled the jackals together by their tails, putting a torch between the two tails, set the torches on fire, and made the animals run into the fields of standing corn belonging to the Philistines. Then he burned “ from the shocks of wheat to the standing grain and to the olive gardens, ” i.e., the shocks of wheat as well as the standing corn and the olive plantations. זית מרךּ are joined together in the construct state.
The Philistines found out at once, that Samson had done them this injury because his father-in-law, the Timnite, had taken away his wife and given her to his companion. They therefore avenged themselves by burning her and her father-probably by burning his house down to the ground, with its occupants within it-an act of barbarity and cruelty which fully justified Samson's war upon them.
Samson therefore declared to them, “ If ye do such things, truly ( כּי ) when I have avenged myself upon you, then will I cease, ” i.e., I will not cease till I have taken vengeance upon you.
“ Then he smote them hip and thigh ( lit . 'thigh upon hip;' על as in Genesis 32:12), a great slaughter. ” שׁוק , thigh, strengthened by על־ירך , is a second accusative governed by the verb, and added to define the word אותם more minutely, in the sense of “on hip and thigh;” whilst the expression which follows, גדולה מכּה , is added as an adverbial accusative to strengthen the verb ויּך . Smiting hip and thigh is a proverbial expression for a cruel, unsparing slaughter, like the German “cutting arm and leg in two,” or the Arabic “war in thigh fashion” (see Bertheau in loc .). After smiting the Philistines, Samson went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock Etam . There is a town of Etam mentioned in 2 Chronicles 11:6, between Bethlehem and Tekoah, which was fortified by Rehoboam, and stood in all probability to the south of Jerusalem, upon the mountains of Judah. But this Etam , which Robinson (Pal. ii. 168) supposes to be the village of Urtas , a place still inhabited, though lying in ruins, is not to be thought of here, as the Philistines did not go up to the mountains of Judah (Judges 15:9), as Bertheau imagines, but simply came forward and encamped in Judah. The Etam of this verse is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4:32, along with Ain Rimmon and other Simeonitish towns, and is to be sought for on the border of the Negeb and of the mountains of Judah, in the neighbourhood of Khuweilifeh (see V. de Velde , Mem. p. 311). The expression “he went down” suits this place very well, but not the Etam on the mountains of Judah, to which he would have had to go up, and not down, from Timnath.
Samson is delivered up to the Philistines, and smites them with the jaw-bone of an Ass.
Judges 15:9
The Philistines came (“went up,” denoting the advance of an army: see at Joshua 8:1) to avenge themselves for the defeat they had sustained from Samson; and having encamped in Judah, spread themselves out in Lechi ( Lehi ). Lechi ( לחי , in pause לחי , i.e., a jaw), which is probably mentioned again in 2 Samuel 23:11, and, according to Judges 15:17, received the name of Ramath-lechi from Samson himself, cannot be traced with any certainty, as the early church tradition respecting the place is utterly worthless. Van de Velde imagines that it is to be found in the flattened rocky hill el Lechieh , or Lekieh , upon which an ancient fortification has been discovered, in the middle of the road from Tell Khewelfeh to Beersheba , at the south-western approach of the mountains of Judah.
Judges 15:10-12
When the Judaeans learned what was the object of this invasion on the part of the Philistines, three thousand of them went down to the cleft in the rock Etam, to bind Samson and deliver him up to the Philistines. Instead of recognising in Samson a deliverer whom the Lord had raised up for them, and crowding round him that they might smite their oppressors with his help and drive them out of the land, the men of Judah were so degraded, that they cast this reproach at Samson: “ Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? Wherefore hast thou done this (the deed described in Judges 15:8)? We have come down to bind thee, and deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. ” Samson replied, “ Swear to me that ye will not fall upon me yourselves .” פּגע with בּ , to thrust at a person, fall upon him, including in this case, according to Judges 15:13, the intention of killing.
Judges 15:13
When they promised him this, he let them bind him with two new cords and lead him up (into the camp of the Philistines) out of the rock (i.e., the cleft of the rock).
Judges 15:14
But when he came to Lechi, and the Philistines shouted with joy as they came to meet him, the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, “ and the cords on his arms became like two that had been burnt with fire, and his fetters melted from his hands .” The description rises up to a poetical parallelism, to depict the triumph which Samson celebrated over the Philistines in the power of the Spirit of Jehovah.
Judges 15:15-16
As soon as he was relieved of his bands, he seized upon a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, which he found there, and smote therewith a thousand men. He himself commemorated this victory in a short poetical strain (Judges 15:16): “ With the ass's jaw-bone a heap, two heaps; with the ass's jaw-bone I smote a thousand men. ” The form of the word חמור = חמר is chosen on account of the resemblance to חמור , and is found again at 1 Samuel 16:20. How Samson achieved this victory is not minutely described. But the words “a heap, two heaps,” point to the conclusion that it did not take place in one encounter, but in several. The supernatural strength with which Samson rent asunder the fetters bound upon him, when the Philistines thought they had him safely in their power, filled them with fear and awe as before a superior being, so that they fled, and he pursued them, smiting one heap after another, as he overtook them, with an ass's jaw-bone which he found in the way. The number given, viz., a thousand, is of course a round number signifying a very great multitude, and has been adopted from the song into the historical account.
Judges 15:17
When he had given utterance to his saying, he threw the jaw-bone away, and called the place Ramath-lechi , i.e., the jaw-bone height. This seems to indicate that the name Lechi in Judges 15:9 is used proleptically, and that the place first received its name from this deed of Samson.
The pursuit of the Philistines, however, and the conflict with them, had exhausted Samson, so that he was very thirsty, and feared that he might die from exhaustion; for it was about the time of the wheat-harvest (Judges 15:1), and therefore hot summer weather. Then he called to the Lord, “ Thou hast through ( בּיד ) “ Thy servant given this great deliverance; and now I shall die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised! ” From this prayer we may see that Samson was fully conscious that he was fighting for the cause of the Lord. And the Lord helped him out of this trouble. God split the hollow place at Lechi, so that water came out of it, as at Horeb and Kadesh (Exodus 17:6, and Numbers 20:8, Numbers 20:11). The word מכתּשׁ , which is used in Proverbs 27:22 to signify a mortar, is explained by rabbinical expositors as denoting the socket of the teeth, or the hollow place in which the teeth are fixed, like the Greek ὁλμίσκος , mortariolum , according to Pollux , Onom. ii. c. 4, §21. Accordingly many have understood the statement made here, as meaning that God caused a fountain to flow miraculously out of the socket of a tooth in the jaw-bone which Samson had thrown away, and thus provided for his thirst. This view is the one upon which Luther's rendering, “God split a tooth in the jaw, so that water came out,” is founded, and is has been voluminously defended by Bochart (Hieroz. l. ii. c. 15). But the expression בּלּחי אשׁר , “the maktesh which is at Lechi ,” is opposed to this view, since the tooth-socket in the jaw-bone of the ass would be simply called הלּחי מכתּשׁ or בּלּחי מכתּשׁ ; and so is also the remark that this fountain was still in existence in the historian's own time. And the article proves nothing to the contrary, as many proper names are written with it (see Ewald , §277, c .). Consequently we must follow Josephus (Ant. v. 8), who takes המּכתּשׁ as the name given to the opening of the rock, which was cleft by God to let water flow out. “If a rocky precipice bore the name of jaw-bone ( lechi ) on account of its shape, it was a natural consequence of this figurative epithet, that the name tooth-hollow should be given to a hole or gap in the rock” ( Studer ). Moreover, the same name, Maktesh , occurs again in Zephaniah 1:11, where it is applied to a locality in or near Jerusalem. The hollow place was split by Elohim , although it was to Jehovah that Samson had prayed, to indicate that the miracle was wrought by God as the Creator and Lord of nature. Samson drank, and his spirit returned, so that he revived again. Hence the fountain received the name of En-hakkore , “the crier's well which is at Lechi,” unto this day. According to the accents, the last clause does not belong to בּלּחי (in Lechi), but to וגו קרא (he called, etc.). It received the name given to it unto this day. This implies , of course, that the spring itself was in existence when our book was composed. - In Judges 15:20 the account of the judicial labours of Samson are brought to a close, with the remark that Samson judged Israel in the days of the Philistines, i.e., during their rule, for twenty years. What more is recorded of him in Judg 16 relates to his fall and ruin; and although even in this he avenged himself upon the Philistines, he procured no further deliverance for Israel. It is impossible to draw any critical conclusions from the position in which this remark occurs, as to a plurality of sources for the history of Samson.