Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 15:14

[And] when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that [were] upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

14. See on Jdg 14:19.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The cords … became as flax … – i. e. were as weak against his strength as half-burned flax which yields to the least pressure.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 14. When he came unto Lehi] This was the name of the place to which they brought him, either to put him to death, or keep him in perpetual confinement.

Shouted against him] His capture was a matter of public rejoicing.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The Philistines shouted against him, for joy and triumph, because they had now their great enemy, as they supposed, in their hands.

His bands loosed, Heb. were melted, i.e. were dissolved, as things are which are melted in the fire.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And when he came unto Lehi,…. The place which was afterwards so called, from what happened there at this time, and where the Philistines were spread, Jud 15:9 this, according to Bunting k, was six miles from Etam:

the Philistines shouted against him: for joy that they had got him into their hands, and in the circumstances he was, being bound, so that they had nothing to fear from him:

and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him: as it at times did, and had done before; the Targum is,

“the Spirit of might from the Lord,”

which gave him courage and resolution of mind, and great strength of body, even while he was speaking, as a token of the wonders God more than he had at other times:

and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire; as easily parted as the flax when fire takes it, which is consumed at once:

and his bonds loosed off from his hands; by which it appears that both arms and hands were bound with the cords; his arms were pinioned close to his body, as well as his hands were tied together; and these, as in the original, “melted away” l, like wax before the fire, or snow before the sun, so easily were these bands separated from him; this may be an emblem of Christ’s loosing himself from the cords of death, Ac 2:24.

k Travels, p. 116. l “diffuxerunt”, Tigurine version; “liquefacta sunt”, Piscator.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Incident with the Jawbone, vs. 14-20

The Judahites were ‘ready to give Samson up, but the Lord had yet much for him to do. When the Philistines saw the three thousand Judahites coming into their camp and the hated Samson bound helpless in their midst they were overjoyed. Their gleeful shouting must have strongly stirred the torrid emotions of Samson, and the Spirit of the Lord came on him again, imparting miraculous strength to him. Flexing his muscles the new ropes with which Samson was bound fell from him like binding twine which has been burned. Looking around for a weapon Samson’s eye fell on the still green jawbone of a recently dead ass. It was still heavy and afforded a good grip for a club. Wielding it right and left, front and rear Samson’s strength enabled him to destroy a thousand of the Philistines. He sang a little song about his feat. Curiosity makes one wonder what the men from Judah were doing during this time. In the days of Barak and Gideon they would have rallied to the fray, but there is no evidence that they moved themselves to help him at all.

When the battle was over Samson was suddenly exhausted. He threw away the jawbone, and the place of the battle took its name Ramath-lehi, meaning “lifting up the jawbone”, from the incident. Perhaps the Lord let Samson become so tired and extremely thirsty to remind him of the source of his strength, and to bring him to call on the Lord, (Psa 39:7). Samson did pray to the Lord, acknowledging that the Lord had given him this great deliverance, but it seemed only that he should die of thirst and yet fall into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines. So the Lord opened a spring in a hollow place in Lehi (the translation “jaw” leaves the wrong impression, that the water flowed out of the jawbone), and the spring was still there when the writer of Judges was inspired to put down the record. The spring received the name, Enhakkore, meaning “spring of the crier.”

Though Samson could not deliver the Israelites from the Philistines he did become their acknowledged judge. He was God’s man over them for twenty years, all during the time of the Philistine oppression. Israel must never have repented and prayed to the Lord for deliverance.

Note these lessons from chapter 15; 1) there can be no compatibility between the Lord’s people and the unsaved; 2) the saved often have to stand alone and are even betrayed by those who should be their brethren; 3) yet, the Lord abides with the faithful and gives them victory in spite of what others may do to His people.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Samson Slays a Thousand Philistines Jdg. 15:14-20

14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16 And Samson said,

With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,
with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

17 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 Ramath-lehi.
18 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?

19 And God clave a hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

13.

Why did Samson use a jawbone of an ass? Jdg. 15:15

The men of Israel were probably without weapons. Such was their condition in the days of Saul. Samson had killed the lion with his bare hands; but when he confronted the hosts of the Philistines, he used the first object available to him. Some believe his weapon was the kind of a tool which the men of Israel used in cutting grain. Instances are known of their placing sharpened flint stones in the ridges of jawbones and using them as scythes to cut their grain. Samson may have had such a fearful weapon available to him.

14.

What is the meaning of the name Ramath-lehi? Jdg. 15:17

The literal meaning of Ramath-lehi is the jawbone height. Samson gave this name to the place where he met and defeated the Philistines, For this reason, it is probable that the name Lehi was given to the place where he fled only after this encounter. The author of the book of Judges used the name naturally as the name by which the spot was known when the book was written.

15.

What is the meaning of the name En-hakkore? Jdg. 15:19

The fountain which was caused to spring forth in Lehi was named En-hakkore, which means the criers well which is at Lehi. The place was still known when the book was written. Such a wonderful provision for Samson is reminiscent of that which was made for the Israelites at Horeb and in Kadesh (Exo. 17:6; Num. 20:8; Num. 20:11). Samson was very near exhaustion after he had slain a thousand of the Philistines in the different places suggested by the reference to heaps upon heaps (Jdg. 15:16). God miraculously supplied water in the place of the jaw, Lehi; and Samson was revived.

16.

Why were the days of Samsons judgeship called the days of the Philistines? Jdg. 15:20

Samson judged while the Philistines oppressed Israel. His rule was twenty years out of this period. This reference indicates clearly how the oppression may have overlapped the times of the judgeships of the various leaders in Israel. For this reason, it is better not to add up all of the chronological notes, but to use only the years of the judgeships in order to determine the entire span of the period covered by the book of Judges.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(14) Shouted against him.Rather, cheered as they came to meet him (LXX., ; Vulg., cum vociferantes occurrissent ei). The verb heerioo is an onomatopia, like our hurrah. This was not a war cry, as in 1Sa. 17:20, but a shout of

joy.

The cords that were upon his arms became as flax.It seems clear that the poetical colour and rhythmic structure of the narrative are influenced by some poem which described the deeds of Samson.

That was burnt with fire.In both the LXX. and the Vulg. we find the metaphor, flax when it has smelt the fire.

His bands loosed.Literally, melted, or flowed off, a highly poetic expression. A legend of Hercules in Egypt, who suddenly burst his bonds and slew the Egyptians who were leading him to sacrifice, may possibly have been coloured by this event in the life of Samson. (See Rawlinsons Herodotus, 2, p. 70.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

14. Shouted against him Raised a joyful shout of triumph to meet him as a bound captive and prisoner. They exulted as if their victory was now complete.

The cords his bands “The description rises,” says Keil, “to a poetical parallelism, to depict the triumph which Samson celebrated over the Philistines in the power of the Spirit of Jehovah.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jdg 15:14 a

‘And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him.’

On seeing this ferocious man, who had killed so many of them, bound and helpless, the Philistines let out a shout of triumph and gloating. Now they could exact their revenge. He was theirs for the taking.

Jdg 15:14-15

‘And the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands melted from his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass and put out his hand and took it, and smote a whole military unit of men with it.’

Once again Yahweh acted through him, and he burst the ropes that held him which seemed to melt away in front of them. Then he seized a new jawbone of an ass, its newness ensuring that it was solid and effective, not brittle, and used it as an effective weapon. With it he effectively destroyed a whole large military unit, presumably the one that had come to receive him from the hands of the men of Judah. They were, of course, taken by surprise and probably panicked for he had a fearsome reputation.

So were Samson’s effective actions against the Philistines increasing in magnitude. First thirty men (Jdg 14:19), then ‘a great slaughter’, possibly nearly a hundred (Jdg 15:8), and now ‘a large military unit’, well over a hundred.

But the seizing of the jawbone was a careless act, for as a Nazirite he was under a vow not to come into contact with dead things. Perhaps this was a sign that he was becoming careless with regard to his vow. He was beginning to feel that he was above restriction (contrast Jdg 15:8 where he used his wrestling ability and his bare hands).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

But, if the former view of Samson, represents to us anything typical of Jesus, surely we see yet a brighter and a more striking evidence of it in this. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, he burst asunder the new cords. And when by the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus arose from the dead, how did he burst asunder the newly formed sepulchre, and loose the bands of death, because it was not possible that He should be holden of them. Sweet and precious salvation! by which He hath secured the resurrection of the just.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jdg 15:14 [And] when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that [were] upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

Ver. 14. The Philistines shouted against him. ] But ere long Samson made them change their note, and turn their crowing into crying. Thus the hope of the wicked perisheth – their Hilary-term is very short. “In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare,” – or, a cord, to strangle his joy with, – “but the righteous sing and rejoice.” Pro 29:6

Became as flax. ] Similia funibus ex lino ustulato.

And his bands loosed. ] Heb., Melted; dissoluta dissilierunt.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)