Judges 15
International Standard Version
Samson Burns the Philistine Harvest
15 A while later during the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife, bringing along a young goat, and told his father-in-law,[a] “I’m going into my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t give permission for him[b] to go.
2 Her father said, “Because I honestly thought that you hated her deeply, I gave her in marriage to your best man.[c] Isn’t her younger sister better than she? Please then, let her be yours instead.”
3 Samson replied to them, “This time I’ll be blameless when I do something evil to the Philistines.” 4 So Samson went out, caught 300 foxes, grabbed some torches,[d] tied[e] the foxes together in pairs at their tails,[f] and fastened a torch[g] between each pair of tails. 5 Then he ignited the torches, set the foxes loose into the Philistines’ unharvested grain, and burned up both the harvested shocks and the standing grain, along with their vineyards and olive groves.
6 Then the Philistines demanded, “Who did this?”
Someone said, “Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because his father-in-law[h] took Samson’s[i] wife and gave her to the best man at Samson’s wedding.”[j] In retaliation, the Philistines came up and burned her and her father to death.
7 Samson replied to them, “Because you did this, I’m not going to stop until I get my revenge against you!” 8 So he attacked them ruthlessly[k] in a massive slaughter, then left to live in the caves of Etam. 9 In response, the Philistines went up, encamped in the territory of[l] Judah, and raided[m] Lehi.
10 The leading[n] 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.[o]
Samson Kills 1,000 Philistines
14 When Samson[p] 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—[q]
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.”[r]
18 Aferward, he became thirsty, called out to the Lord, and told him, “So, you provided this great deliverance at the hands[s] 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,”[t] which is in Lehi to this day. 20 Samson[u] governed Israel for twenty years during the Philistine domination.
Footnotes
- Judges 15:1 The Heb. lacks to his father-in-law
- Judges 15:1 The Heb. lacks permission for him
- Judges 15:2 Lit. your acquaintance; cf. Judg 14:20; 15:7
- Judges 15:4 Or firebrands
- Judges 15:4 Lit. turned
- Judges 15:4 Lit. foxes tail to tail
- Judges 15:4 Or firebrand
- Judges 15:6 Lit. because he
- Judges 15:6 Lit. his
- Judges 15:6 Lit. to his acquaintance; cf. Judg 14:20, 15:2
- Judges 15:8 Lit. them hip and thigh
- 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
English Standard Version
Samson Defeats the Philistines
15 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with (A)a young goat. 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, (B)so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” 4 So Samson went and caught 300 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 set fire to the stacked grain 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 (C)and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and (D)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 on you, and after that I will quit.” 8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the (E)cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and (F)made a raid on (G)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 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that (H)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 attack me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two (I)new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. (J)Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that 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 a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, (K)and with it he struck 1,000 men. 16 And Samson said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of a donkey
have I struck down a thousand men.”
17 As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place (L)was called Ramath-lehi.[a]
18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, (M)“You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your 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 (N)at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, (O)his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore;[b] it is at Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel (P)in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 15:17 Ramath-lehi means the hill of the jawbone
- Judges 15:19 En-hakkore means the spring of him who called
Judges 15
New King James Version
Samson Defeats the Philistines
15 After a while, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a (A)young goat. And he said, “Let me go in to my wife, into her room.” But her father would not permit him to go in.
2 Her father said, “I really thought that you thoroughly (B)hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, take her instead.”
3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them!” 4 Then Samson went and caught three hundred foxes; and he took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 When he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.
6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?”
And they answered, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” (C)So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
7 Samson said to them, “Since you would do a thing like this, I will surely take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.” 8 So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of (D)Etam.
9 Now the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and deployed themselves (E)against Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?”
So they answered, “We have come up to [a]arrest 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, “Do you not know that the Philistines (F)rule over us? What is this you have done to us?”
And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”
12 But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.”
Then Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.”
13 So they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.” And they bound him with two (G)new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then (H)the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds [b]broke loose from his hands. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and (I)killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said:
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men!”
17 And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place [c]Ramath Lehi.
18 Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said, (J)“You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split the hollow place that is in [d]Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and (K)his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name [e]En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And (L)he judged Israel (M)twenty years (N)in the days of the Philistines.
Footnotes
- Judges 15:10 Lit. bind
- Judges 15:14 Lit. were melted
- Judges 15:17 Lit. Jawbone Height
- Judges 15:19 Lit. Jawbone, Judg. 15:14
- Judges 15:19 Lit. Spring of the Caller
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
