Judges 15:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.

NIV: When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.

NASB: When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

CSB: When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and named that place Jawbone Hill.

NLT: When he finished his boasting, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was named Jawbone Hill.

KJV: 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 Ramathlehi.

NKJV: And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi.

Empowered by the Spirit of the Lord, Samson has slaughtered a massive number of Philistines. Unarmed when the battle started, he tore the jawbone from a donkey's carcass. That was his only weapon, yet the battle ends with literal heaps of enemy corpses and Samson still alive (Judges 15:14–16). Samson has already spoken a poem about his victory. Now he tosses the jawbone aside. The significance of this event inspires the name Ramath-lehi, literally meaning "the hill of the jawbone." The prior reference to the Philistine army approaching "Levi" may have been a reference to that later name (Judges 15:9, 14). Samson's utter annihilation of the enemy using a small bone club results in the location being called "Jawbone Hill," or something similar.

Neither Samson's poem nor his initial reaction to the victory acknowledge that God has accomplished this feat through him. Samson doesn't seem prepared to share glory in the moment, even with the true source of the victory. As the frenzy of battle wears off, however, Samson seems to experience two things: a moment of clarity and the limitations of his own body (Judges 15:18–19).

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).