Judges 15

Judges 15 is the third chapter of the Samson narrative, which spans chapters 13–16 of the book of Judges. At the end of Judges 14, Samson's wife from Timnath was given to his companion. This chapter traces the cycle of retaliation that grew out of that event.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 At the time of wheat harvest, Samson goes to visit his wife, but his father-in-law refuses to let him in. The father-in-law explains that he has given her to Samson's companion and urges him to take her younger sister instead.
• Verses 4–5 Samson ties together the tails of three hundred foxes, fastens firebrands to them, and burns the Philistines' shocks, standing grain, and olive groves.
• Verses 6–8 The Philistines burn the woman and her father to death. Samson strikes them with a great slaughter and then stays in a cleft of the rock Etam.
• Verses 9–13 When the Philistines encamp at Lehi, three thousand men of Judah go down to Samson. They bind him with two new cords and hand him over to the Philistines.
• Verses 14–17 The Spirit of the LORD comes upon him, and the cords fall from his arms like flax burnt with fire. Samson kills a thousand men with a fresh jawbone of a donkey and names the place Ramath-lehi.
• Verses 18–20 Overcome by thirst, Samson cries out to the LORD, and God causes water to spring from a hollow place in Lehi. The spring is named En-hakkore, and Samson judges Israel for twenty years.

Key Verses

• Judges 15:14 "The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him": a recurring expression in the Samson narrative indicating that Samson's strength comes from the Spirit of God.
• Judges 15:18 "Now shall I die for thirst": Samson's first prayer recorded in the text.
• Judges 15:20 "He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years": a summary of the length of Samson's career as judge.

Characters and Places

• Samson: a judge who was a Nazarite from birth.
• Samson's wife and father-in-law: inhabitants of Timnath.
• The Philistines: according to verse 11, the people who ruled over Israel at the time.
• The men of Judah: mindful of Philistine domination, they bind Samson and hand him over.
• The rock Etam: the place where Samson took refuge.
• Lehi (Ramath-lehi): the place where Samson fought with the jawbone. Ramath-lehi is interpreted as "hill of the jawbone."
• En-hakkore: a spring at Lehi, commonly interpreted as "spring of him who called."

Points for Reflection

• Samson explains his actions in terms of personal retaliation: "As they did unto me, so have I done unto them" (v. 11). Judges 14:4, by contrast, links these events to the LORD's purpose of moving against the Philistines. As a result, some readings focus on Samson's flaws, while others emphasize that God works through weak people.
• Some commentaries discuss Samson's taking hold of the jawbone of a dead donkey in light of the Nazarite regulations. The text itself, however, passes no judgment on this.
• Some scholars hold that the Hebrew word translated "fox" may refer to jackals.
• The scene in which the men of Judah hand over a judge of their own people to the enemy is often read as illustrating Israel's condition during the period of the judges.
• In the New Testament, Samson is named in Hebrews 11:32, part of the so-called faith chapter.

In the Korean Church

En-hakkore (vv. 18–19) is frequently cited in sermons on the theme that God answers those who cry out to him in prayer. In Sunday school, the chapter is taught as one episode in the Samson narrative.