Judges 15:9-20
Legacy Standard Bible
9 Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and spread out in Lehi. 10 So the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson in order 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 (A)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 I have done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you so that we may give you into the hand of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not [a]kill me.” 13 So they said to [b]him, “No, but we will bind you fast and give you into their hands; yet surely we will not put you to death.” Then 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 (B)the Spirit of Yahweh [c]came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds [d]dropped from his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he sent forth his hand and took it and struck down (C)1,000 men with it. 16 Then Samson said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
[e]Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down 1,000 men.”
17 Now it happened that when he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place [f]Ramath-lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty, and he (D)called to Yahweh and said, “You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your slave, but now [g]shall I die of thirst [h]and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out of it. Then he drank, (E)and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he named it [i]En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And (F)he judged Israel twenty years in (G)the days of the Philistines.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 15:12 Lit fall upon me
- Judges 15:13 Lit him, saying
- Judges 15:14 Lit succeeded, rushed upon
- Judges 15:14 Lit were melted
- Judges 15:16 Lit Heap, two heaps; Heb is same root as donkey
- Judges 15:17 Lit the high place of the jawbone
- Judges 15:18 Or I shall...uncircumcised
- Judges 15:18 Or or
- Judges 15:19 Lit the spring of him who called
Judges 15:9-20
New English Translation
9 The Philistines went up and invaded[a] Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle[b] in Lehi. 10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking[c] us?” The Philistines[d] said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 11 So 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me[e] you will not kill[f] me.” 13 They said to him, “We promise![g] We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. 14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s Spirit empowered[h] him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in[i] fire, and they[j] melted away from his hands. 15 He happened to see[k] a solid[l] jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it[m] and struck down[n] 1,000 men. 16 Samson then said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps;[o]
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down[p] and named that place Ramath Lehi.[q]
18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant[r] this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of these uncircumcised Philistines?”[s] 19 So God split open the basin[t] at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength[u] was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring[v] En Hakkore.[w] It remains in Lehi to this very day. 20 Samson led[x] Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.[y]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 15:9 tn Or “camped in.”
- Judges 15:9 tn Or “spread out.” The Niphal of נָטָשׁ (natash) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
- Judges 15:10 tn Or “come up against.”
- Judges 15:10 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 15:12 tn Or “swear to me.”
- Judges 15:12 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
- Judges 15:13 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
- Judges 15:14 tn Heb “rushed on.”
- Judges 15:14 tn Heb “burned with.”
- Judges 15:14 tn Heb “his bonds.”
- Judges 15:15 tn Heb “he found.”
- Judges 15:15 tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.
- Judges 15:15 tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”
- Judges 15:15 tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 15:16 tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).
- Judges 15:17 tn Heb “from his hand.”
- Judges 15:17 sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”
- Judges 15:18 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
- Judges 15:18 tn Heb “the hand of uncircumcised.” “Hand” often represents power or control. “The uncircumcised [ones]” is used as a pejorative and in the context refers to the Philistines.
- Judges 15:19 tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.
- Judges 15:19 tn Heb “spirit.”
- Judges 15:19 tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 15:19 sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”
- Judges 15:20 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 15:20 tn Heb “in the days of the Philistines.”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.