Judges 15

Judges · Chapter 15

Judges 15:4

1But 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.9Then 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 Ramathlehi.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 Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.20And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
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.Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and he wentוַיֵּ֣לֶךְvai-YE-lekhH1980G
to go: went

הָלַךְ (ha.lakh) : went/go[away] 1) to go, walk, come 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to go, walk, come, depart, proceed, move, go away 1a2) to die, live, manner of life (fig.) 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to walk 1b2) to walk (fig.) 1c) (Hithpael) 1c1) to traverse 1c2) to walk about 1d) (Niphal) to lead, bring, lead away, carry, cause to walk

Samsonשִׁמְשׁ֔וֹןshim-SHONH8123
Samson

שִׁמְשׁוֹן (shim.shon) A Judge living before Israel's Monarchy, first mentioned at Jdg.13.24; son of: Manoah (H4495); married to Delilah (H1807) Also named: Sampsōn (Σαμψών "Samson" G4546) § Samson = "like the sun" a Danite, son of Manoah, a Nazarite for life, and a judge of Israel for 20 years

and he capturedוַיִּלְכֹּ֖דvai-yil-KODH3920
to capture

לָכַד (la.khad) 1) to capture, take, seize 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to capture, seize 1a2) to capture (of men) (fig.) 1a3) to take (by lot) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be captured 1b2) to be caught (of men in trap, snare) (fig.) 1c) (Hithpael) to grasp each other

threeשְׁלֹשׁ־she-losh-H7969
three

שָׁלֹשׁ (sha.losh) 1) three, triad 1a) 3, 300, third Aramaic equivalent: te.lat (תְּלָת "three" H8532)

hundredsמֵא֣וֹתme-'otH3967
hundred

מֵאָה (me.ah) 1) hundred 1a) as simple number 1b) as part of larger number 1c) as a fraction-one one-hundredth (1/100) Aramaic equivalent: me.ah (מְאָה "hundred" H3969)

foxesשׁוּעָלִ֑יםshu-'a-LIMH7776
fox

שׁוּעָל (shu.al) 1) fox, a burrower 1a) fox 1b) perhaps also jackal

and he tookוַיִּקַּ֣חvai-yi-KACHH3947G
to take: take

לָקַח (la.qach) : take 1) to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to take, take in the hand 1a2) to take and carry along 1a3) to take from, take out of, take, carry away, take away 1a4) to take to or for a person, procure, get, take possession of, select, choose, take in marriage, receive, accept 1a5) to take up or upon, put upon 1a6) to fetch 1a7) to take, lead, conduct 1a8) to take, capture, seize 1a9) to take, carry off 1a10) to take (vengeance) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be captured 1b2) to be taken away, be removed …

torchesלַפִּדִ֗יםla-pi-DIMH3940
torch

לַפִּיד (lap.pid) torch

and he turnedוַיֶּ֤פֶןvai-YE-fenH6437G
to turn

פָּנָה (pa.nah) 1) to turn 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to turn toward or from or away 1a2) to turn and do 1a3) to turn, decline (of day) 1a4) to turn toward, approach (of evening) 1a5) to turn and look, look, look back or at or after or for 1b) (Piel) to turn away, put out of the way, make clear, clear away 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to turn 1c2) to make a turn, show signs of turning, turn back 1d) (Hophal) to be turned back

tailזָנָב֙za-NAVH2180
tail

זָנָב (za.nav) tail, end, stump

toאֶל־'el-H0413
to(wards)

אֶל (el) 1) to, toward, unto (of motion) 2) into (limit is actually entered) 2a) in among 3) toward (of direction, not necessarily physical motion) 4) against (motion or direction of a hostile character) 5) in addition to, to 6) concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of 7) according to (rule or standard) 8) at, by, against (of one's presence) 9) in between, in within, to within, unto (idea of motion to)

tailזָנָ֔בza-NAVH2180
tail

זָנָב (za.nav) tail, end, stump

and he putוַיָּ֨שֶׂםvai-YA-semH7760HNo entry
a torchלַפִּ֥ידla-PIDH3940
torch

לַפִּיד (lap.pid) torch

oneאֶחָ֛ד'e-CHADH0259
one

אֶחָד (e.chad) 1) one (number) 1a) one (number) 1b) each, every 1c) a certain 1d) an (indefinite article) 1e) only, once, once for all 1f) one...another, the one...the other, one after another, one by one 1g) first 1h) eleven (in combination), eleventh (ordinal)

betweenבֵּין־bein-H0996G
between

בַּ֫יִן (ba.yin) : between between, among, in the midst of (with other preps), from between

[the] twoשְׁנֵ֥יshe-NEIH8147
two

שְׁנַ֫יִם (she.na.yim) 1) two 1a) two (the cardinal number) 1a1) two, both, double, twice 1b) second (the ordinal number) 1c) in combination with other numbers 1d) both (a dual number)

the tailsהַזְּנָב֖וֹתha-ze-na-VOTH2180
tail

זָנָב (za.nav) tail, end, stump

in the middleבַּתָּֽוֶךְ׃ba-TA-vekhH8432
midst

תָּ֫וֶךְ (ta.vekh) 1) midst, middle 1a) midst, middle 1b) into, through (after verbs of motion) 1c) among (of a number of persons) 1d) between (of things arranged by twos) 1e) from among (as to take or separate etc)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.