Judges 15:14-20

Samson Slays a Thousand Philistines Judges 15:14-20

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.
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
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.

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 Ramath-lehi.
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?

19 And God clave a 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 En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

13.

Why did Samson use a jawbone of an ass? Judges 15:15

The men of Israel were probably without weapons. Such was their condition in the days of Saul. Samson had killed the lion with his bare hands; but when he confronted the hosts of the Philistines, he used the first object available to him. Some believe his weapon was the kind of a tool which the men of Israel used in cutting grain. Instances are known of their placing sharpened flint stones in the ridges of jawbones and using them as scythes to cut their grain. Samson may have had such a fearful weapon available to him.

14.

What is the meaning of the name Ramath-lehi? Judges 15:17

The literal meaning of Ramath-lehi is the jawbone height. Samson gave this name to the place where he met and defeated the Philistines, For this reason, it is probable that the name Lehi was given to the place where he fled only after this encounter. The author of the book of Judges used the name naturally as the name by which the spot was known when the book was written.

15.

What is the meaning of the name En-hakkore? Judges 15:19

The fountain which was caused to spring forth in Lehi was named En-hakkore, which means the crier's well which is at Lehi. The place was still known when the book was written. Such a wonderful provision for Samson is reminiscent of that which was made for the Israelites at Horeb and in Kadesh (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8; Numbers 20:11). Samson was very near exhaustion after he had slain a thousand of the Philistines in the different places suggested by the reference to heaps upon heaps (Judges 15:16). God miraculously supplied water in the place of the jaw, Lehi; and Samson was revived.

16.

Why were the days of Samson's judgeship called the days of the Philistines? Judges 15:20

Samson judged while the Philistines oppressed Israel. His rule was twenty years out of this period. This reference indicates clearly how the oppression may have overlapped the times of the judgeships of the various leaders in Israel. For this reason, it is better not to add up all of the chronological notes, but to use only the years of the judgeships in order to determine the entire span of the period covered by the book of Judges.