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Judges 15:9-20
New International Version
Judges 15:9-20
New International Version
9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.(A) 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”
“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”
11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?(B) What have you done to us?”
He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”
12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”
Samson said, “Swear to me(C) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”
13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes(D) and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi,(E) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.(F) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,(G) and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.(H)
16 Then Samson said,
“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.[a](I)
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](J)
18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,(K) “You have given your servant this great victory.(L) 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.(M) So the spring(N) was called En Hakkore,[c] and it is still there in Lehi.
20 Samson led[d] Israel for twenty years(O) in the days of the Philistines.
Footnotes
- Judges 15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.
- Judges 15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.
- Judges 15:19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring.
- Judges 15:20 Traditionally judged
Judges 15:9-20
International Standard Version
Judges 15:9-20
International Standard Version
9 In response, the Philistines went up, encamped in the territory of[a] Judah, and raided[b] Lehi.
10 The leading[c] men of Judah asked, “Why have you invaded us?”
They replied, “We’re here to arrest Samson. Then we’re going to do to him what he did to us.”
11 In response, 3,000 soldiers from the tribe of Judah went down to the caves of the rock of Etam and asked Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines have us in their control? What have you done to us?”
“I did to them what they did to me,” he answered.
12 They responded, “We’ve come here to arrest you and transfer you to the custody of the Philistines.”
Samson told them, “Promise me that you won’t kill me.”
13 So they said, “No, we won’t. But we’re going to tie you up securely and transfer you to their custody. But we won’t kill you.” Then they bound him with two ropes and brought him up from the caves.[d]
Samson Kills 1,000 Philistines
14 When Samson[e] arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that the ropes that bound him were like flax that’s been burned by fire, and his bonds dissolved. 15 He happened upon a jawbone from a putrefying donkey, reached out to grab it, and killed 1,000 men with it. 16 Then Samson declared,
“With a jawbone from the donkey—
here a heap, there a pair of heaps—[f]
with the jawbone of the donkey
I’ve killed 1,000 men.”
17 When he finally finished bragging, he discarded the jawbone and named that place “Jawbone Heights.”[g]
18 Aferward, he became thirsty, called out to the Lord, and told him, “So, you provided this great deliverance at the hands[h] of your servant, but now I’m to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split a hollow place that’s in Lehi, and water sprang out of it. After he had taken a drink, his strength returned, and he revived. That’s why it was named “En-hakkore,”[i] which is in Lehi to this day. 20 Samson[j] governed Israel for twenty years during the Philistine domination.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 15:9 The Heb. lacks the territory of
- Judges 15:9 Or and spread out in
- Judges 15:10 The Heb. lacks leading
- Judges 15:13 Lit. rock
- Judges 15:14 Lit. he
- Judges 15:16 I.e. multiple encounters with the Philistines; MT word heap is a word play on the identically spelled Heb. word donkey
- Judges 15:17 Lit. Ramath-lehi
- Judges 15:18 Lit. hand
- Judges 15:19 MT word En-hakkore means The Spring of the One Who Calls Out
- Judges 15:20 Lit. He
Judges 15:9-20
King James Version
Judges 15:9-20
King James Version
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.
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International Standard Version (ISV) 
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