Judges 15

Samson's Revenge and Exploits

¹But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I will go in to my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in.

²Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.”

³Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in the case of the Philistines when I harm them.”

⁴Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails.

⁵When he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves.

⁶Then 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 burned her and her father with fire.

⁷Samson said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.”

⁸He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock.

⁹Then the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

¹⁰The 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 has done to us.”

¹¹Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in Etam’s rock, 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 I have done to them.”

¹²They 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 attack me yourselves.”

¹³They spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will bind you securely and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then the LORD’s Spirit came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burned with fire; and his bands dropped from off his hands.

¹⁵He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, put out his hand, took it, and struck a thousand men with it.

¹⁶Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.”

¹⁷When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi.

¹⁸He was very thirsty, and called on the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

¹⁹But 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 its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day.

²⁰He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Previous Judges 14

Next Judges 16

Samson's personal vendetta against the Philistines escalates into a cycle of increasingly violent retribution. When denied access to his wife, Samson burns Philistine crops with foxes and torches, prompting the Philistines to kill his wife and father-in-law. This leads to further revenge by Samson, culminating in his famous victory at Lehi where he kills a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone after the Spirit of the Lord empowers him.

Context

This chapter continues the Samson narrative from chapter 14, showing how his personal conflicts with the Philistines develop into his role as Israel's deliverer.

Key Themes

Outline

1-3
Samson's Marriage Dispute Samson is denied access to his wife, who has been given to another man.
4-6
The Foxes and Fire Samson retaliates by burning Philistine crops using three hundred foxes with torches.
7-8
Escalating Violence The Philistines kill Samson's wife and father-in-law, prompting Samson's brutal counter-attack.
9-13
Judah's Betrayal The men of Judah bind Samson to hand him over to the Philistines to avoid conflict.
14-17
Victory at Lehi Empowered by God's Spirit, Samson breaks free and kills a thousand Philistines with a jawbone.
18-19
Divine Provision God provides water for the thirsty Samson after his great victory.

Samson's Revenge and Exploits

15:1–15:20

narrative narration wrathful

Samson seeks revenge against the Philistines for taking his wife, burning their crops and killing many. When the men of Judah try to hand him over, he breaks free and defeats a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone.

person_contrast

Samson's escalating cycle of personal vengeance transforms into divine deliverance when the Spirit empowers him to defeat a thousand Philistines with a jawbone.

Insight Character Study

Samson's escalating cycle of personal vengeance transforms into divine deliverance when the Spirit empowers him to defeat a thousand Philistines with a jawbone.

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

Judges 15:3 2 references

Lexicals 2

Judges 16:20 Lexical

She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times,…

Judges 15

Samson's Revenge and Exploits

Samson's Revenge and Exploits

Insights

Cross-References

Judges 15:3 2 references

Judges 15:4 1 reference

Judges 15:5 1 reference

Judges 15:6 2 references

Judges 15:11 2 references

Judges 15:12 4 references

Judges 15:13 2 references

Judges 15:14 2 references

Judges 15:18 3 references

Interlinear

Historical Context