Judges 15:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi.

NIV: The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.

NASB: Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah, and spread out in Lehi.

CSB: The Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and raided Lehi.

NLT: The Philistines retaliated by setting up camp in Judah and spreading out near the town of Lehi.

KJV: Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

NKJV: Now the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and deployed themselves against Lehi.

In a series of escalating acts of revenge, Samson has brutalized the Philistines in and around Timnah. They may or may not know that he killed thirty men in the fortified city of Ashkelon (Judges 14:19). They certainly know he burned the wheat crops and olive groves around the town of Timnah (Judges 15:5). They've experienced some unspecified, vicious retaliation since then (Judges 15:8).

Now the Philistine army has been called into action. That those sent are "encamped" implies a formal military operation. Their goal is to capture Samson and end him. They set up an army base in the territory of Judah near a place called Lehi. It's unclear if Lehi was a specific a town at that time or if the name was given later. The word Lehi means "jawbone," and a jawbone will feature heavily in what happens next (Judges 15:15).

Samson is hiding somewhere near the border between the territories of the tribes of Judah and Dan. It is the people of Judah, though, who find the Philistine army suddenly encamped to do battle against them.

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).

Accessed 5/5/2024 11:08:45 AM