Judges Chapter 15 — Samson’s Victory at Lehi
Samson takes revenge on the Philistines by burning their crops and later defeats a thousand men using only the jawbone of a donkey.
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.”
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?”
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?”
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?”
12They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.”
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.*“Ramath” means “hill” and “Lehi” means “jawbone”.
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.
WEB Translation
Notable Verses
Judges 15:14
“When 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.”
This verse highlights that Samson's supernatural strength was a direct result of the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him.
Judges 15:16
“Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.””
This poetic victory song commemorates Samson's improbable defeat of an entire army with a simple tool.
Judges 15:18
“He 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?””
It shows Samson's reliance on God even after a great physical victory, acknowledging God as the true source of his deliverance.
Chapter Summary
In Judges chapter 15, Samson returns during the wheat harvest to visit his wife, but her father has given her to another man. In retaliation, Samson catches three hundred foxes, ties torches to their tails, and releases them into the Philistine grain fields and olive groves, causing widespread destruction. The Philistines retaliate by burning Samson's wife and father-in-law to death. Samson then strikes the Philistines with a great slaughter before retreating to a cave in the rock of Etam. The Philistines move against Judah, and three thousand men of Judah, fearing their rulers, go to bind Samson and hand him over. Samson agrees to be bound with new ropes, but when he reaches Lehi, the Spirit of the LORD comes upon him. He breaks the ropes and kills a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Afterward, God miraculously provides water from a hollow place in Lehi to revive the exhausted Samson, who continues to judge Israel for twenty years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Samson burned the fields because his father-in-law had given his wife to his companion. He used three hundred foxes with torches tied to their tails to destroy the standing grain, shocks, and olive groves in an act of revenge.
Samson killed a thousand Philistine men using the fresh jawbone of a donkey. This occurred after he broke free from the ropes that the men of Judah had used to bind him.
En Hakkore means 'the spring of him who called.' It was the name given to the place where God miraculously split a hollow in Lehi to provide water for Samson after he cried out in thirst.
Study Note
The location names 'Ramath Lehi' (Hill of the Jawbone) and 'En Hakkore' (Spring of the Caller) serve as historical markers of Samson's victory and God's provision.
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