1 Samson is denied his wife
3 He burns the Philistines' corn with foxes and firebrands
6 His wife and her father are burnt by the Philistines
6 Samson smites them hip and thigh
9 He is bound by the men of Judah, and delivered to the Philistines
14 He kills them with a jawbone
18 God makes the fountain En-hakkore for him in Lehi

a kid Ge 38:17 Lu 15:29

I will go Ge 6:4 29:21

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.

I verily Jud 14:16,20 Ac 26:9

gave Jud 14:20 Ge 38:14

take her. Heb. let her be thine

3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

now shall, or, Now shall I be blameless from the Philistines, though Jud 14:15

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.

caught three. Dr. Kennicott and others contend, that for foxes, we should read handfuls or sheaves of corn. But 1. The word lachad, rendered caught, never signifies simply to get or take but always to catch, seize, or take by assault or stratagem. 2. Though the proposed alteration is sanctioned by seven MSS., yet all the versions are on the other side. 3. Admitting this alteration, it will be difficult to prove that the word shoal means either a sheaf or a handful of corn in the ear, and straw. It occurs but thrice in Scriptures (1ki 20:10. Is 40:12. Eze 13:9): where it evidently means as much as can be contained in the hollow of the hand; but when handfuls of grain in the shock, or sheaves are intended, very different words are used. See Ru 2:15,16, etc. 4. It is not hinted that Samson collected them alone, or in one day; he might have employed many hands and several days in the work. 5. The word Shual properly denotes the jackal, which travellers describe as an animal in size between the wolf and fox, gregarious, as many as 200 having been seen together, and the most numerous of any in eastern countries; so that Samson might have caught many of them together in nets. Ps 63:10 So 2:15 La 5:18

firebrands or touches

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.

he let them go Ex 22:6 2Sa 14:30

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.

and burnt Jud 12:1 14:15 Pr 22:8 1Th 4:6

7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

though Jud 14:4,19 Ro 12:19

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.

Isa 25:10 63:3,6

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

Lehi Jud 15:17,19

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.

went. Heb. went down. the rock Etham. Probably near the town Etam, mentioned in 1Ch 4:32

Philistines Jud 13:1 14:4 De 28:13,47,48 Ps 106:41

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.

to bind thee Mt 27:2 Ac 7:25

fall Jud 8:21 1Ki 2:25,34

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.

the Philistines Jud 5:30 10:14 Ex 14:3,5 1Sa 4:5 Job 20:5 Mic 7:8

the Spirit Jud 3:10 14:6,19 Zec 4:6

the cords Jud 16:9,12 1Sa 17:35 Ps 18:34 118:11 Php 4:3

loosed. Heb. were melted

15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

new jaw-bone. Heb. moist. slew Jud 3:31 4:21 7:16 Le 26:8 Jos 23:10 1Sa 14:6,14 17:49,50 1Co 1:27,28

a thousand. Some would render the words 'a chief'; but it is alluph, and not aileph, which signifies a chief; besides which, the Hebrew idiom would, even in that case, require it to be ish alluph, a man, a chief, and not alluph ish, a chief, a man, Add to which, that every version renders it 'a thousand men.'

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.

with the jaw-bone. There is here a fine paronomasia upon the word chamor, 'an ass,' which also signifies 'a heap;' bilchee hachamor, chamor chamorathayim, 'With the jaw-bone of an ass, a heap upon two heaps.' heaps upon heaps. Heb. an heap, two heaps.

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 Ramathlehi.

Ramath-lehi. That is, the lifting up of the jaw-bone, or, the casting away of the jaw-bone.

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?

he was sore Jud 8:4 Ps 22:14,15 Joh 19:28 2Co 4:8,9

thou hast given Ps 3:7,8 18:31-40

shall Ge 32:31 2Co 12:7,8

and fall Ge 12:12,13 20:11 1Sa 27:1 2Co 1:8,9 Heb 11:32

the uncircumcised 1Sa 17:26,36 2Sa 1:20

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 Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

the jaw. or, Lehi. This reading is certainly preferable; it was in the place called Lehi where a spring was supernaturally opened. there came. Isa 44:3

his spirit. Ge 45:27 1Sa 30:12 Isa 40:26

En-hakkore. Samson gave this expressive name to the miraculously springing water, to be as a memorial of the goodness of God to him. Enhakkore, the well of him that cried, which kept him in remembrance both of his own distress which caused him to cry, and the favour of Jehovah to him in answer to his cry. Many a spring of comfort God opens to his people, which may fitly be called by the name En-hakkore; and this instance of Samson's relief should encourage us to trust in God, for when he pleases he can open rivers in high places. Isa 41:17,18

Samson at first gave the name of Ramath-lehi (the lifting up of the jaw-bone) which denoted him great and triumphant; but now he gives it another name, Enhakkore, which denotes him wanting and dependent. Ge 16:13, 22:14 28:19 30:30 Ex 17:15 Ps 34:6 120:1

20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Jud 13:1,5 16:31

He seems to have judged South-west Israel during twenty years of their servitude of the Philistines.