Judges 15:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves."

NIV: They said to him, "We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said, "Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves."

NASB: Then they said to him, 'We have come down to bind you so that we may hand you over to the Philistines.' And Samson said to them, 'Swear to me that you will not kill me.'

CSB: They said to him, "We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Then Samson told them, "Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me."

NLT: But the men of Judah told him, 'We have come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.' 'All right,' Samson said. 'But promise that you won’t kill me yourselves.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.”

The men of Judah understood the threat from the Philistines. If they did not manage to capture Samson and hand him over, the Philistines would attack their people. This was a moment of decision: to kneel or stand before their oppressors. The men of Judah didn't think twice. They would not fight. They would give Samson to the Philistines, and they tell him so: We have come to tie you up and hand you over (Judges 15:9–11).

Samson seems prepared to fight his own countrymen but doesn't want to. He will agree to be tied up only if they promise not to harm him themselves. He makes them swear that once he is bound, they will not attack. Given that Samson likely has a reputation for mayhem (Judges 14:19; 15:5, 8), it makes sense that his fellow Israelites would want to avoid fighting him.

Judges 15:9–20 describes the result of a Philistine incursion meant to capture Samson. The Israelites in Judah hand Samson over when he volunteers to have his hands tied with new rope. However, when he sees the Philistine forces, Samson is empowered by God's Spirit. He snaps his restraints and attacks. Using only jawbone of a donkey, he slaughters the enemy troops and shouts out a clever poem about his victory. God then answers Samson's plea for water.

Samson returns to Timnah to visit his bride, after leaving in a rage when she spoiled his unfair riddle. Her father thought Samson had abandoned her, so she was given to another man. Samson responds by tying animals to torches and setting them loose in Philistine wheat fields. He also burns the harvested crops and olive orchards. The Philistines kill Samson's former bride and father-in-law in retaliation. Samson's vengeance ensues. When the men of Judah turn Samson over to a Philistine army the Lord's Spirit empowers him. Samson slaughters the enemy soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey, and God rescues him from thirst with a miraculous spring of water.

Judges 15 describes a cycle of retribution which continues to spiral from the events of the previous chapter. This results in a Philistine army attempting to capture and kill Samson. Instead, God empowers him to kill masses of the enemy with only a donkey's jawbone. This furthers the Lord's intent to disrupt Philistine control over Israel (Judges 13:5). It does not seem to alter Samson's carnal nature, as his weakness for women continues in the following chapter.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).