The big picture
Samson returns to find his wife given away, destroys Philistine crops, and answers their deadly revenge with further violence. Judah hands him over, the Spirit empowers him to break his bonds and strike a thousand men, and God supplies water when he cries out in exhaustion.
Scripture beside the summary
Judges · King James Version · 20Judges 15:1-8
Loss and revenge spread from household to harvest
Samson’s father-in-law refuses him access to his wife and offers her sister. Samson uses foxes or jackals and firebrands to burn grain, vineyards, and olives. Philistines then burn the woman and her father, and Samson retaliates again.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 2 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and…” Naming Samson keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
“And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
“And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both…” Naming Philistines keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
“And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.” Naming Samson and Though keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
Judges 15:1-8
King James Version1But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
2And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
3And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
4And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
5And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
6Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
Judges 15:9-20
Judah binds its deliverer, and God preserves him
Three thousand men of Judah tell Samson that the Philistines rule over them and bind him for surrender. The Spirit enables him to break the cords and defeat a thousand men with a fresh jawbone, after which God answers his desperate thirst with water.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 3 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.” Naming Judah and Lehi keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
“And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And…” The promise, blessing, or covenant language needs its named recipient and scope. Those details prevent a personal word in the story from becoming a promise detached from context.
“And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.” The number thousand makes the report concrete. Ask whether it measures time, people, distance, repetition, or completeness before deciding what weight it carries.
“And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD , and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of…” The question slows the passage down. Notice who is being pressed to answer, what the question assumes, and whether the next lines provide a response.
“And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.” The number twenty makes the report concrete. Ask whether it measures time, people, distance, repetition, or completeness before deciding what weight it carries.
Judah’s question reveals accommodation to oppression: “Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us?” They mobilize in great numbers not to resist Philistia but to deliver a fellow Israelite. Samson agrees on the condition that they will not kill him themselves. Israel’s fragmentation is so deep that its strength serves the oppressor’s order.
Judges 15:9-20
King James Version9Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.
12And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13And 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.
14And 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.
15And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17And 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.
18And 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?
19But God clave an 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.
20And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Judges 15:1 begins with “But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into…”
Where the chapter turns
Judges 15:10 forms a natural hinge: “And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.”
The final note
Judges 15:20 leaves the reader with “And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Philistines, Samson, hand, Lehi, bind, burnt help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
What is Abram invited to trust?
God's promise of an heir and innumerable descendants despite his present childlessness.
Why does the delay matter?
The covenant is larger than one lifetime and includes suffering before deliverance.
KJV words made clear
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
- hath
- has
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.