1 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 the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 And 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.
3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
4 And 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.
5 And 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.
6 Then 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.
7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 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.
11 Then 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.
12 And 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.
13 And 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.
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 But 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.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

1But it came to passe within a while after, in the time of wheat haruest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid, and he said, I will goe in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to goe in.

2And her father saide, I verily thought that thou haddest vtterly hated her, therfore I gaue her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer then she? take her, I pray thee, in stead of her.

3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shal I be more blamelesse then the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

4And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and tooke firebrands, and turned taile to taile, and put a firebrand in the midst betweene two tailes.

5And when hee had set the brands on fire, he let them goe into the standing corne of the Philistines, and burnt vp both the shockes, and also the standing corne, with the vineyards and oliues.

6 Then the Philistines saide, Who hath done this? and they answered, Samson the sonne in law of the Timnite, because hee had taken his wife, and giuen her to his companion. And the Philistines came vp, and burnt her and her father with fire.

7 And Samson said vnto them, Though ye haue done this, yet will I be auenged of you, and after that, I wil cease.

8And he smote them hip and thigh, with a great slaughter; and hee went down and dwelt in the top of the rocke Etam.

9 Then the Philistines went vp, and pitched in Iudah, and spread themselues in Lehi.

10And the men of Iudah said, Why are ye come vp against vs? and they answered, To bind Samson are we come vp, to doe to him, as he hath done to vs.

11Then three thousand men of Iudah went to the top of the rocke Etam, and sayd to Samson; Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers ouer vs? What is this that thou hast done vnto vs? And he said vnto them, As they did vnto me, so haue I done vnto them.

12And they said vnto him, Wee are come downe to binde thee, that we may deliuer thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said vnto them, Sweare vnto me, that yee will not fall vpon me your selues.

13And they spake vnto him, saying; No: but wee will binde thee fast, and deliuer thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cordes, and brought him vp from the rocke.

14 And when he came vnto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily vpon him, and the cordes that were vpon his armes became as flaxe that was burnt with fire, & his bands loosed from off his hands.

15And he found a new iawbone of an asse, and put foorth his hand, and tooke it, and slewe a thousand men therewith.

16And Samson said, With the iawbone of an asse, heapes vpon heapes, with the iaw of an asse haue I slaine a thousand men.

17And it came to passe when he had made an end of speaking, that hee cast away the iaw bone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-Lehi.

18 And hee was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast giuen this great deliuerance into the hand of thy seruant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the vncircumcised?

19But God claue an hollow place that was in the iawe, and there came water thereout, & when he had drunke, his spirit came againe, and he reuiued: wherefore hee called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, vnto this day:

20And he iudged Israel in the dayes of the Philistines twentie yeeres.

II == Judg 14:20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IX == Judg 15:19

 

 

 

 

XI == Judg 14:4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIV == Judg 3:10 ; 14:6

 

 

 

 

XV == Lev 26:8 ; Josh 23:10 ; Judg 3:31

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVIII == Ps 3:7

 

 

 

 

XIX == Gen 45:27 ; Isa 40:29

 

 

XX == Judg 13:1

1 After some time, in the season of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife, bringing a kid. But when he said, "Let me be with my wife in private," her father would not let him enter,

2 saying, "I thought it certain you wished to repudiate her; so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more beautiful than she; you may have her instead."

3 Samson said to them, "This time the Philistines cannot blame me if I harm them."

4 So Samson left and caught three hundred foxes. Turning them tail to tail, he tied between each pair of tails one of the torches he had at hand.

5 He then kindled the torches and set the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines, thus burning both the shocks and the standing grain, and the vineyards and olive orchards as well.

6 When the Philistines asked who had done this, they were told, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because his wife was taken and given to his best man." So the Philistines went up and destroyed her and her family by fire.

7 Samson said to them, "If this is how you act, I will not stop until I have taken revenge on you."

8 And with repeated blows, he inflicted a great slaughter on them. Then he went down and remained in a cavern of the cliff of Etam.

9 The Philistines went up and, from a camp in Judah, deployed against Lehi.

10 When the men of Judah asked, "Why have you come up against us?" they answered, "To take Samson prisoner; to do to him as he has done to us."

11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cavern in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are our rulers? Why, then, have you done this to us?" He answered them, "As they have done to me, so have I done to them."

12 They said to him, "We have come to take you prisoner, to deliver you over to the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves."

13 "No," they replied,"we will certainly not kill you but will only bind you and deliver you over to them." So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the cliff.

14 When he reached Lehi, and the Philistines came shouting to meet him, the spirit of the LORD came upon him: the ropes around his arms became as flax that is consumed by fire and his bonds melted away from his hands.

15 Near him was the fresh jawbone of an ass; he reached out, grasped it, and with it killed a thousand men.

16 Then Samson said,
"With the jawbone of an ass
I have piled them in a heap;
With the jawbone of an ass
I have slain a thousand men."

17 As he finished speaking he threw the jawbone from him; and so that place was named Ramath-lehi.

18 Being very thirsty, he cried to the LORD and said, "You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Must I now die of thirst or fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

19 Then God split the cavity in Lehi, and water issued from it, which Samson drank till his spirit returned and he revived. Hence that spring in Lehi is called En-hakkore to this day.

20 Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

v 1,2. Months later, at wheat harvest time and after Samson cooled off, he went back to consummate the marriage and found she was already married., but her father honorably offered her younger sister.

 

 

v 3-8. Hot tempered Samson turned down the offer and caught 300 foxes which he tied tail to tail with a torch between and loosed them in the ripe wheat, burning it. We can’t imagine how he accomplished that task. Finding out it was over the marriage deal, they burned the girl and her father thinking to appease Samson, but he vented his rage with a great slaughter, then fled to the top of rock Etam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 9-13. The Philistines organized and went to Judah to get Samson, their public enemy #1. Judah was alarmed that Samson would bring the wrath of the ruling Philistines upon themselves and wanted to turn him over to them. He agreed to be bound and delivered to the Philistines as long as Judah would not harm him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 14-17. When the Philistines prepared to burn Samson at Lehi as he had done to them, v 10, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he easily broke the cords. Then he killed 1,000 of them with the jaw bone of an ass, then discarded it. He called the name of the place Ramoth-lehi, the hill of the jaw bone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 18-20. Exhausted and thirsty after such action, he prayed to God because he thought the Philistines would get him in his exhausted state. God split open a hollow place at Lehi and water gushed out to revive Samson. The water did not come out of the jaw bone as we assume from KJV. Then Samson renamed the place En-hakkore, meaning the spring of him who prayed, which was still running at Lehi at the time of  Saul, when this was probably written. Samson wasn’t a ruling judge, but he defended Israel from the Philistines 20 years.