# Judges 15 đź“–: Samson Strikes the Philistines
[[đź“š Explore the Bible Books]]
[[-Judges Overview]] | [[Judges 14]] | [[Judges 16]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Samson Versus the Philistines
[[#Verse 01.]] Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. He said to her father, “I want to sleep with my bride in her bedroom!” But her father would not let him enter.Â
[[#Verse 02.]] Her father said, “I really thought you absolutely despised her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!”Â
[[#Verse 03.]] Samson said to them, “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!”
[[#Verse 04.]] Samson went and captured 300 jackals and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair.Â
[[#Verse 05.]] He lit the torches and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.Â
[[#Verse 06.]] The Philistines asked, “Who did this?” They were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite took Samson’s bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father.Â
[[#Verse 07.]] Samson said to them, “Because you did this, I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.”Â
[[#Verse 08.]] He struck them down and defeated them. Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
[[#Verse 09.]] The Philistines went up and invaded Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle in Lehi.Â
[[#Verse 10.]] The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking us?” The Philistines said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.”Â
[[#Verse 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.”Â
[[#Verse 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 you will not kill me.”Â
[[#Verse 13.]] They said to him, “We promise! 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.Â
[[#Verse 14.]] When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s Spirit empowered him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in fire, and they melted away from his hands.Â
[[#Verse 15.]] He happened to see a solid jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it and struck down 1,000 men.Â
[[#Verse 16.]] Samson then said, “With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck down a thousand men!”
[[#Verse 17.]] When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down and named that place Ramath Lehi.
[[#Verse 18.]] He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of these uncircumcised Philistines?”Â
[[#Verse 19.]] So God split open the basin at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring En Hakkore. It remains in Lehi to this very day.
[[#Verse 20.]] Samson led Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. The wheat harvest (15:1) came in late spring, around May and June.
2. The word translated "foxes" (15:4) can also mean jackals, which run in packs and would be easier to catch in large numbers.
3. Burning the grain, vineyards, and olive groves (15:5) destroyed the Philistines' main crops.
4. Three thousand men of Judah came to arrest Samson (15:11), far more than ever came to fight beside him.
5. A fresh jawbone of a donkey (15:15) would have been heavy and not yet brittle.
6. Samson's victory song (15:16) is a wordplay, because the Hebrew words for "donkey" and "heap" sound alike (*hamor*).
7. Ramath Lehi means "hill of the jawbone" (15:17).
8. En Hakkore means "spring of the one who called" (15:19).
9. This is the first time Samson is recorded praying (15:18).
10. Samson judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines (15:20).
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the deliverer handed over by His own people. Judah bound Samson and gave him to the Philistines, yet he broke free and won (15:12-14). Jesus was handed over, yet God raised Him in victory (Acts 2:23-24).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. Samson's revenge led to more revenge (15:3-8). How does the cycle of revenge play out in families and communities?
2. The men of Judah preferred living under the Philistines to fighting (15:11). Where are we tempted to make peace with what enslaves us?
3. After the victory, Samson cried out to God in thirst, and God provided water (15:18-19). What does this teach about our need for God after big victories?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verses 11-13: The men of Judah bind Samson and hand him over to the Philistines.
- đź“– verse 14: The Spirit of the Lord empowers Samson, and the ropes fall from his hands.
- đź“– verse 19: God splits open a hollow place and gives Samson water.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[Acts 02#Verse 23.|Acts 2:23-24]] - Jesus was handed over, but God raised Him.
- đź”— [[Romans 12#Verse 19.|Romans 12:19]] - Leave vengeance to God.
- đź”— [[Exodus 17#Verse 06.|Exodus 17:6]] - Water from the rock.
- đź”— [[John 07#Verse 37.|John 7:37-38]] - Jesus offers living water.
- đź”— [[Isaiah 40#Verse 29.|Isaiah 40:29-31]] - The Lord gives strength to the weary.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[Judges 15 - SOAP|Great Trouble is the Ground For Great Victory]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes