Jdg 15:1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
Visited his wife with a kid - A common present Gen_38:17 And he said, I will send a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Will you give me a pledge until you send it? Luk_15:29 And answering he said to his father, Lo, these many years I have served you, neither did I transgress your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a kid so that I might make merry with my friends. From Samson’s wife being still in her father’s house, it is possible that she was only betrothed, not actually married, to his companion.
But it came to pass within a while after - Or "after days", a year after, the same phrase as in Jdg_14:8 in the time of wheat harvest; which began at Pentecost, as barley harvest did at the passover; this circumstance is mentioned for the sake of the following piece of history:
in the time of wheat harvest--that is, about the end of our April, or the beginning of our May.
I will go with my wife into the chamber - where she was, as women had their chambers and apartments by themselves; this he said within himself, or resolved in his own mind, and perhaps expressed it in her father's hearing, or however moved that way, which plainly indicated his design:
but her father would not suffer him to go in - placed himself perhaps between him and the door, and parleyed with him, and declared he should not go into his daughter's chamber; Samson, through his superior strength, could easily have pushed him away, and broke open the door, but he did not choose to use such violent methods, and patiently heard what he had to say, and submitted.
Jdg 15:2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
I gave her - In marriage. Samson had probably not heard of this before. Samson’s father had paid the dowry for the older sister; her father therefore offers her sister in her room. The fear of Samson probably also influenced him.
Hated her - Because thou didst desert her: but this was no sufficient cause; for he should have endeavored a reconciliation, and not have disposed of another man's wife without his consent. This allegation was a mere sham, a flimsy pretext to excuse his refusal of admittance. The proposal he made of a marriage with her younger sister was but an insult to Samson, and one which it was unlawful for an Israelite to accept (Lev_18:18).
Jdg 15:3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines - Before, when the Philistines injured him he was in covenant with the Timnathites through his marriage and by the rites of hospitality, for which reason he went off to Ashkelon to take his revenge Jdg_14:19. But now the Philistines themselves had broken this bond, and so he was free to take his revenge on the spot.
now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines - signifying, that if he did them an ill thing, they could not justly blame him for it, since they had given him such a provocation as to dispose of his wife to another man; though Samson did not mean to act, nor did he act in the following instances as a private person taking private revenge, but as a public person, and judge of Israel; and took occasion, from the private injuries done him, to avenge the public ones of the children of Israel upon the Philistines; and they might thank themselves for giving the opportunity, which they could not justly condemn him for taking.
Jdg 15:4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
Three hundred foxes – or perhaps “jackals,” which are still very common in Palestine , especially about Joppa and Gaza . 1Sa_13:17 and Jos_15:28; Jos_19:3, are indications of the abundance of foxes or jackals giving names to places, especially in the country of the Philistines. It belongs to Samson’s character, and agrees with the incident about the lion, that he should be an expert hunter.
and turned tail to tail - took two foxes, and tied their tails together with a cord, giving them room enough to run about, as such creatures do, not forward, but in a crooked, flexuous manner, here and there: and so do greater damage to the fields and vineyards into which they came.
took firebrands--torches or matches which would burn slowly, retaining the fire, and blaze fiercely when blown by the wind. He put two jackals together, tail by tail, and fastened tightly a fire match between them. At nightfall he lighted the firebrand and sent each pair successively down from the hills, into the "Shefala," or plain of Philistia, lying on the borders of Dan and Judah, a rich and extensive corn district. The pain caused by the fire would make the animals toss about to a wide extent, kindling one great conflagration. But no one could render assistance to his neighbor: the devastation was so general, the panic would be so great.
Jdg 15:5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
into the standing corn of the Philistines - which being ripe, as it was now wheat harvest, would soon take fire; and taking fire, this would in course cause the foxes to run still further to other parts of standing grain, and set fire to them also; besides, it is reasonable to suppose that Samson did not let them go all at once on one spot, but disposed of them, some here, and some there, to do the greater and more speedy execution:
and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives - for as it was in the time of harvest, in some places the corn was standing, and in other places it was cut down, and put into shocks or heaps; and to these the foxes would naturally run to shelter themselves, and so set fire to them, as well as they would make their way to the vineyards or olive groves; and thus by one means or another they destroyed the corn, the vines, and olives of the Philistines in those parts.
Jdg 15:6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
Burnt her and her father - Burning was the punishment for adultery and kindred crimes among the Jews Gen_38:24; Lev_20:14; Lev_21:9. Samson’s wife brought upon herself the very punishment which she sought to escape by betraying her husband Jdg_14:15.
Burnt her and her father - This was possibly done to appease Samson: as they saw he had been unjustly treated both by his wife and her father; therefore they destroyed them both, that they might cause his wrath to cease from them. And this indeed seems intimated in the following verse: And Samson said - Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you; that is, I am not yet satisfied: ye have done me great wrongs, I must have proportionate redress; then I shall rest satisfied.
Who hath done this--The author of this outrage, and the cause that provoked such an extraordinary retaliation, soon became known; and the sufferers, enraged by the destruction of their crops, rushing with tumultuous fury to the house of Samson's wife, "burnt her and her father with fire." This was a remarkable retribution. To avoid this menace, she had betrayed her husband; and by that unprincipled conduct, eventually exposed herself to the horrid doom which, at the sacrifice of conjugal fidelity, she had sought to escape [Jdg_14:15].
Jdg 15:7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
And Samson said unto them - After they had burnt his wife and her father in their dwelling house, by which they thought to appease him, being afraid of him:
though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you - not for burning his wife and father-in-law; his sense is, that though they had done this, in order to ingratiate themselves with him, yet he should not stop on this account, but be avenged on them, not for private injuries done to him, or any that had been in connection with him, but for public injuries done to Israel, and their oppression of them: By that act the husbandmen had been the instruments in avenging his private and personal wrongs. But as a judge, divinely appointed to deliver Israel , his work of retribution was not yet accomplished.
Jdg 15:8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
Hip and thigh - A proverbial expression of doubtful origin, meaning all the “great” and “mighty.” It seems to be a phrase, to express a desperate attack, attended with the utmost hurry and confusion: and perhaps intimates, that they all fled before him. A proverbial expression for a merciless slaughter.
He smote them hip and thigh - This also is variously understood; but the general meaning seems plain; he appears to have had no kind of defensive weapon, therefore he was obliged to grapple with them, and, according to the custom of wrestlers, trip up their feet, and then bruise them to death. Some translate heaps upon heaps; others, he smote horsemen and footmen; others, he wounded them from their legs to their thighs, etc., etc. Some think in their running away from him he kicked them down, and then trod them to death: thus his leg or thigh was against their hip; hence the expression.
In the top of the rock - Rather, “the cleft of the rock.” These clefts of the rock were the natural fortresses and hiding places of the land. (Isa_2:21; Isa_57:5. Compare 1Sa_13:6; 1Ki_18:13.)
The top of the rock Etam - It is very likely that this is the same place as that mentioned 1Ch_4:32; it was in the tribe of Simeon, and on the borders of Dan, and probably a fortified place. It is on the border of the Negeb and of the mountains of Judah .
Jdg 15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
Spread themselves - An expression used of the Philistine mode of war 2Sa_5:18, 2Sa_5:22, alluding to the compact way in which they came up the wadys, and then dispersed.
Then the Philistines went up - From Palestine , which lay low on the shore of the Mediterranean sea to the land of Judah , which lay higher.
Lehi - so called by anticipation (see Jdg_15:17).
Jdg 15:10 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.
To bind Samson are we come up - It seems they did not wish to come to an open rupture with the Israelites, provided they would deliver up him who was the cause of their disasters.
Jdg 15:11 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.
the Philistines are rulers over us - The dispirited men of Judah were prepared to give up their champion, in order to conciliate their masters. This shows how hard was the task of the Judge, whose office it was to restore his countrymen to freedom and independence. Instead of recognizing in Samson a deliverer whom the Lord had raised up for them, and crowding round him that they might smite their oppressors with his help and drive them out of the land, the men of Judah were so degraded, that they cast reproach at Samson
the Philistines are rulers over us - and therefore it must be a very unwise thing to disoblige and provoke them, when it lay in their power to oppress them yet more and more, to increase their tribute, and make their burdens heavier, and even take away their lives:
as they did unto me, so have I done to them - they had done him ill, and therefore he did ill to them; they had burnt his wife and her father with fire, and he had slain many of them; at least this was what he thought fit to say in his own vindication; otherwise what he did was not in a way of private revenge, but on account of the injury done to the people of Israel, he taking what was done to them as done to himself, the chief magistrate and judge of Israel.
Three thousand men of Judah went - It appears evidently from this that Samson was strongly posted, and they thought that no less than three thousand men were necessary to reduce him.
Jdg 15:12 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.
That ye will not fall upon me yourselves - He could not bear the thought of contending with and slaying his own countrymen; for there is no doubt that he could have as easily rescued himself from their hands as from those of the Philistines. Which shows he did not fear them, though they were 3000; and that if they attempted to take away his life, he should defend himself, but he chose not to shed the blood of any of them; and rather than they should come into any distress through the Philistines, consented to be bound by them, and delivered into their hands; which he was a type of Christ, who was betrayed by the Jews, and delivered by them into the hands of the Romans; and though he could have delivered himself by his great strength, would not, but suffered himself to be taken and bound, and given into the hands of his enemies, that his own people might go free;
Jdg 15:13 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.
And they spake unto him - They declared they would not fall upon him themselves and slay him; nor would the Jews put Christ to death themselves, though they were virtually his betrayers and murderers, Joh_18:31. Bound him and delivered him as the Jews did Christ, and not only delivered him bound to the high priest, but also to the Roman governor, Mat_27:2.
Jdg 15:14 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.
When he came unto Lehi - The place which was afterwards so called, from what happened there at this time, and where the Philistines were spread.
became as flax that was burnt with fire - by which it appears that both arms and hands were bound with the cords; his arms were pinioned close to his body, as well as his hands were tied together; and these, as in the original, "melted away" like wax before the fire, or snow before the sun, so easily were these bands separated from him. This is an emblem of Christ's loosing himself from the cords of death, Act_2:24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. This typified the resurrection of Christ, by the power of the Spirit of holiness. In this he loosed the bands of death, it being impossible he should be held by them. And thus he triumphed over the powers of darkness, which had shouted against him.
the Philistines shouted against him - with joy as they came to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Samson. The description rises up to a poetical parallelism, to depict the triumph which Samson celebrated over the Philistines in the power of the Spirit of Jehovah.
Jdg 15:15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
Slew a thousand men therewith - The Philistines, seized with a panic at seeing Samson suddenly burst his cords and rush at them, offered no resistance, but fell an easy prey to the blows of their mighty foe.
And he found a new jawbone of an ass - That is, the jawbone of an ass lately killed; called in modern terms a green bone, it was moist, and fresh, and so tough and strong, and would bear to strike with, and give hard blows with, when an old jawbone would have been dry and brittle.
and put forth his hand and took it - it lay near him, being so disposed by the providence of God at the time and place where his cords were loosed from him.
A thousand men - The number given, a thousand, is of course a round number signifying a very great multitude, and has been adopted from the song into the historical account.
Jdg 15:16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
And Samson said - There is a play upon the word, three times repeated, which means both “an ass” and also “a heap.” Both words have the same root, from Strong’s H2560 khaw-mar'. A male ass is H2543 kham-ore', kham-ore' while a heap is H2565 kham-o-raw'. The spirit of riddle-making Jdg_14:12, Jdg_14:18 is apparent in this song of. This is an elegant "paronomasia", not easy to be expressed in our language. (A pun or paronomasia is a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect.) Rendered bilchee hachamor, chamor chamorathayim, “With the jaw-bone of an ass, a heap upon two heaps.”
Slain a thousand men - What could be too hard for him to do, on whom the Spirit of the Lord came mightily? It was strange the men of Judah did now at least come in to his assistance. But he was to be a type of him, who trod the wine - press alone.
With the jawbone of an ass - The inadequacy of the weapon plainly shows this to have been a miraculous feat.
Jdg 15:17 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.
called the place Ramath-lehi - Either the “height or hill of Lehi,” or, “of the jaw-bone;” The lifting up or casting away of the jaw-bone. Lehi was the name of the place before, Ramath was now added to it here; he lifted up the jaw-bone against his enemies, and slew them.
called the place Ramathlehi - that is, the casting away the jawbone, one scholar thinks it was an high place where it was thrown, and so signifies the elevation or lifting up of the "jawbone", as the Septuagint version renders it.
Judges 15:17 And it came to pass when he ceased speaking, that he cast the jaw-bone out of his hand; and he called that place the Lifting of the jaw-bone. (Septuagint)
he cast away the jawbone out of his hand - having no further use for it, he threw it away:
Jdg 15:18 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?
And he was sore athirst - The natural consequence of the excessive fatigue he had gone through in this encounter. It was about the time of the wheat-harvest (Jdg_15:1), and therefore hot summer weather.
And he was sore athirst - Possibly it was so ordered in Providence, that he might in this be a type of the Messiah, who on the cross, as he was spoiling principalities and powers, and triumphing over them in it, said, "I thirst", Joh_19:28 After this, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, I thirst.
thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant - he owns the deliverance to be great, as indeed, it was, and that it was of the Lord, and he only his servant and instrument in it: From this prayer we may see that Samson was fully conscious that he was fighting for the cause of the Lord.
Jdg 15:19 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.
An hollow place that was in the jaw - The right translation is, “the hollow place which is in Lehi.” The word translated “hollow place,” means a “mortar” Pro_27:22, and is here evidently a hollow or basin among the cliffs of Lehi, which, from its shape, was called “the mortar.” Because the place was hollow it was capable of containing the water that rose up in it, and thus of becoming a well.
when he had drank, his spirit came again, and he revived - his spirit was sunk and gone, as it were, but upon drinking a draught of this water he was refreshed and cheered, recovered his spirits, and became brisk and lively:
wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore - that is,"the fountain of him that was calling;'' of Samson that called upon God in prayer, and was heard, in memory of which he gave it this name; its name was called the fountain that was given through the prayer of Samson.
wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore - Samson gave this expressive name to the miraculously springing water, to be as a memorial of the goodness of God to him. En-hakkore, the well of him that cried, which kept him in remembrance both of his own distress which caused him to cry, and the favor of Jehovah to him in answer to his cry. Many a spring of comfort God opens to his people, which may fitly be called by the name En-hakkore, and this instance of Samson’s relief should encourage us to trust in God, for when he pleases he can open rivers in high places. Isa_41:17-18 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue fails for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not leave them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
Jdg 15:20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years - While they had the power over the Israelites, who were not entirely delivered out of their hands by Samson, he only began to deliver them, but did not completely do it; though he got many advantages over them, and wrought many salvations and deliverances, yet was not the author of perfect salvation, he was a check upon the Philistines, and protected the Israelites from heavier oppressions, which otherwise they would have come under; and no doubt administered justice and judgment among them, and was an instrument of their reformation, and of preserving them from idolatry; for in such things the work of a judge chiefly lay.
