Judges 15:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They said to him, "No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

NIV: "Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.

NASB: So they said to him, 'No, but we will bind you tightly and give you into their hands; but we certainly will not kill you.' Then they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

CSB: "No," they said, "we won’t kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them." So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock.

NLT: We will only tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines,' they replied. 'We won’t kill you.' So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

KJV: And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

NKJV: So they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.” And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

Samson is in hiding from the Philistines (Judges 15:8). He knows they will be coming for him after what he has done to their people. Not only has he destroyed crops and killed men (Judges 14:19; 15:5), but Samson is also an Israelite. A rebellious member of a conquered nation cannot go unpunished. They have come to even the score with him once and for all (Judges 15:9–12).

To accomplish this, Philistine soldiers have threatened to attack the people of Judah if they don't give Samson to them (Judges 15:9–10). A huge group of Israelite men have come to tie Samson up and present him as a captive for the Philistines. They have no interest in going to battle to save Samson, or to free their nation. Samson has agreed to be tied up only if the men of Judah swear not to harm him (Judges 15:11–12).

The men of Judah agree. They promise not to kill Samson. They will hand him over to the Philistines alive and unhurt. Samson allows them to tie him tightly with new ropes. The writer of Judges wants it understood that this was no trick. Samson wasn't tied with old, frayed, brittle ropes. They didn't use ropes Samson provided. The men of Judah weren't helping him by tying him loosely. He was securely bound, using the strongest available method.

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).