Judges 15:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, "You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

NIV: Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

NASB: Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the Lord and said, 'You have handed this great victory over to Your servant, and now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?'

CSB: He became very thirsty and called out to the Lord: "You have accomplished this great victory through your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

NLT: Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord, 'You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?'

KJV: 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?

NKJV: Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to 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 hand of the uncircumcised?”

For the first time in this story, Samson is recorded acknowledging the role of God in his life. Even so, it comes in the form of a backhanded demand. Supernaturally empowered by the Lord, Samson has utterly obliterated the Philistine army sent to kill him. Armed only with a donkey's jawbone, he has piled up the corpses of his enemies (Judges 15:14–16). How long this took to accomplish, Scripture does not say. Once it is over, and Samson cries out a clever, poetic boast (Judges 15:17). Then the limits of his physical body seem to catch up to him.

Athletes in combat sports often endure long, grueling contests before finally attaining victory. It's common, in those moments, for the victor to celebrate wildly, only to collapse seconds later in utter exhaustion. Samson has not merely been in a fight; he's killed an entire army's worth of enemy soldiers. Likely out of breath, dehydrated, exhausted, and battered, he cries out to God for relief. The most pressing feeling is that of thirst—so intense Samson thinks he might die.

This prayer begins by acknowledging that the Lord granted his miraculous rescue. Rather than being taken in and killed, he has instead killed the troops sent against him. And yet, the request comes in the form of an accusing question: after all that, are you going to let me die of thirst, so the Philistines can find my corpse? Even when praying, Samson demonstrates his selfish, abrasive nature (Judges 14:1–4).

There's a strange irony in Samson's mention of uncleanness, regarding the uncircumcised Philistines. As far as Scripture has recorded, Samson has shown little concern for ceremonial uncleanness thus far. He ignored his parents' objection to marrying a woman from these same "uncircumcised" people (Judges 14:1–4). He ate honey from an animal carcass (Judges 14:8–9). His interest in ritual purity seems extremely fickle.

The Lord will not rebuke Samson, yet. He has used Samson to accomplish His purpose of creating war between Israel and the Philistines (Judges 13:5). And it seems He has more work for Samson to do.

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).