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.

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14 As he approached Lehi,(A) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.(B) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,(C) and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.(D)

16 Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have made donkeys of them.[a](E)
With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have killed a thousand men.”

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.[b](F)

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,(G) “You have given your servant this great victory.(H) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.(I) So the spring(J) was called En Hakkore,[c] and it is still there in Lehi.

20 Samson led[d] Israel for twenty years(K) in the days of the Philistines.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.
  2. Judges 15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.
  3. Judges 15:19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring.
  4. Judges 15:20 Traditionally judged