Commentary - Judges 15:14-20

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we find Samson at his most Samson-like. Handed over to the enemy by his own countrymen, he is transformed in a moment from a bound prisoner to an army of one. This is not the story of a disciplined soldier executing a careful battle plan. This is the story of a charismatic explosion, a raw and chaotic display of God's power working through a deeply flawed man. The Spirit of Yahweh comes upon him, not to make him pious, but to make him lethal. The instrument of this great victory is not a forged sword, but the fresh jawbone of a donkey, a contemptible and unclean weapon. With it, Samson slaughters a thousand Philistines.

Immediately following this high point of martial prowess, we see the other side of Samson. The swaggering warrior who boasts in poetic form about his victory is suddenly a desperately thirsty man on the verge of death. His proud poem is followed by a humble prayer. He who was just a force of nature is now a needy slave crying out to his Master. And God, in His profound and sometimes humorous grace, answers him. He provides water from a hollow place, sustaining His chosen instrument. The passage is a stark diptych: on one side, supernatural strength and bloody victory; on the other, profound human weakness and utter dependence on God. This is the story of the book of Judges in miniature, and a picture of how God works in our own lives, using cracked pots and foolish things to confound the wise.

Outline

Context In Judges

This episode occurs in the middle of the Samson narrative, which itself is a major part of the downward spiral of the book of Judges. Israel is under the thumb of the Philistines, and they are so spiritually inert that they don't even seem to mind. When Samson begins his one-man war against the Philistines, the men of Judah, his own tribe, don't rally to his side. Instead, they act as collaborators, arresting Samson to hand him over to their overlords to appease them (Judges 15:11-13). This sets the stage for our passage. Samson's deliverance of Israel is not something Israel is even asking for. He is a savior acting alone, empowered by God's Spirit, in the midst of a faithless and compromised people. This event at Lehi is a key demonstration of Samson's role as a judge: he is not a king who rules, but a Spirit-anointed deliverer who saves, often in spite of the people he is saving.

Key Issues

The Jawbone Gospel

The entire scene at Lehi is a beautiful picture of the gospel, albeit a messy and bloody one. God takes the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. What could be more foolish than the fresh jawbone of a dead donkey? It is an unclean instrument in the hands of a Nazirite who was supposed to be separate from such things. And yet, this is God's chosen tool for a great salvation. The Philistines, with their swords and spears, are the picture of worldly strength and preparation. Samson, with his ridiculous weapon, is a picture of God's strength made perfect in weakness.

This points us directly to the cross. The cross was the ultimate foolishness to the world. A crucified savior was a scandal to the Jews and idiocy to the Greeks. It was the ultimate symbol of shame, weakness, and curse. And yet, it was through this instrument of death that God achieved the greatest victory in history, disarming the principalities and powers. Just as Samson picked up a symbol of death and used it to bring life to Israel, so God picked up the cross, a symbol of the curse, and used it to bring eternal life to His people. Samson's victory was temporary and partial; Christ's victory is eternal and complete. But the principle is the same: God's greatest salvations come through the most unlikely and contemptible of means.

Verse by Verse Commentary

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands.

The Philistines are shouting in triumph. They see their nemesis, the man who has been a one-man wrecking crew against them, delivered into their hands, bound and helpless. From a human perspective, their victory is assured. But their shouts of triumph are premature. They have failed to reckon with the God of Israel. At the very moment of their gloating, the Spirit of Yahweh rushes upon Samson. This is a recurring theme in Samson's life (Judges 14:6, 19). This is not a quiet, internal work of sanctification. This is an external, explosive empowerment for a specific, violent task. The ropes, which were strong enough for three thousand men of Judah to trust, become like charred threads. They don't just break; they are obliterated. This is a visible manifestation of the invisible power that has just clothed Samson. God loves to wait until the situation is humanly hopeless before He acts, so that no one can mistake who is responsible for the victory.

15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he sent forth his hand and took it and struck down 1,000 men with it.

Samson is now free, but he is unarmed and surrounded. So he grabs the first thing available. The text specifies it is a "fresh" jawbone, meaning it was still moist and had some weight to it; a dry, brittle bone would have shattered. But notice the sheer earthiness of it. This is not a holy relic. It is the jawbone of a donkey, an unclean animal. For a Nazirite, who was to be set apart from death and defilement, to touch a carcass was a violation of his vow. But God is not interested in ceremonial tidiness here. He is interested in deliverance. He anoints the man, and the man uses the tool at hand. God is not limited by our resources. He can save with a donkey's jawbone just as easily as with a legion of angels. The result is staggering: one thousand men. This is not a precise census taken after the battle. This is the language of epic, a way of saying the slaughter was immense and total. God's Spirit on one man is more than a match for a regiment of Philistine soldiers.

16 Then Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have struck down 1,000 men.”

Standing amidst the carnage, Samson composes a short, guttural poem of triumph. It's a pun in Hebrew, playing on the word for donkey (hamor) and the word for heap (hamor). It is a raw, masculine boast. He is not singing a psalm of thanksgiving to Yahweh. He is celebrating his own martial achievement. "I have struck down 1,000 men." Is this sinful pride? Yes, almost certainly. Samson is a blunt instrument, not a refined theologian. But God uses it all. He uses Samson's brawn, his anger, and even his arrogance. This is a reminder that God's instruments are often flawed. David would later write psalms that rightly attributed victory to God, but Samson is not David. He is a man of his time, a chaotic figure for a chaotic age. And God, in His sovereignty, is pleased to use this rough-hewn man to accomplish His purposes.

17 Now it happened that when he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

Having finished his poem, he casts the jawbone aside. The weapon has served its purpose. He then names the place "Ramath-lehi," which means "Jawbone Hill" or "Height of the Jawbone." This is what men do after great battles; they name the place to memorialize the event. It is a monument to his victory. But as we are about to see, God is going to provide a different memorial with a different name right on top of this one. Man builds monuments to his own strength; God provides monuments to His grace.

18 Then he became very thirsty, and he called to Yahweh and said, “You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your slave, but now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

The contrast is immediate and jarring. The warrior who just single-handedly defeated an army is now about to be defeated by a lack of water. The adrenaline has worn off, and his profound human weakness is exposed. And in his desperation, he prays. And it is a good prayer. Notice the shift. In his poem, it was "I have struck down." In his prayer, it is "You have given this great salvation." In his extremity, Samson remembers who the true source of his victory was. He rightly identifies himself as God's "slave." His prayer is almost comical in its pathos: after this huge, miraculous deliverance, am I really going to die of something as mundane as thirst and have my body looted by the very people you just defeated? It is a raw, honest, and desperate plea. This is the cry of a man who knows he is utterly dependent on God for his next breath.

19 So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out of it. Then he drank, and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

And God answers. The text says God split the "hollow place" (maktesh) that is "in Lehi." This could mean a hollow in the ground, or it could be a pun, referring to the socket of the jawbone itself. Either way, God miraculously provides water where there was none. Samson drinks, and his spirit returns. The same man who was just empowered by the Spirit of God is now revived by the water of God. God is the source of both supernatural might and natural sustenance. In response to this grace, Samson names this new place. He doesn't call it "Samson's Well." He calls it "En-hakkore," which means "Spring of the one who called." The memorial is not about the jawbone anymore. It is about the prayer and the gracious answer. The first name, Ramath-lehi, commemorates the work of man's hand. The second name, En-hakkore, commemorates the grace of God's ear.

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

This verse serves as a summary statement, marking the legitimacy of Samson's role. His twenty-year tenure as a judge is defined by this ongoing conflict with the Philistines. He did not bring lasting peace. He did not establish a kingdom. He was a constant, divinely-empowered irritant to Israel's oppressors. His judgeship was characterized by events just like this one: explosive, individual acts of deliverance that demonstrated God's power without requiring any faith or participation from the nation of Israel itself. He was a savior for a people who did not want to be saved.

Application

This story is a potent reminder for the church that God's ways are not our ways. We like our heroes to be polished and our victories to be neat. God, on the other hand, delights in using rough men and ridiculous means. He is not waiting for us to become perfect before He uses us. He is not waiting for us to have the best resources, the most polished strategies, or the most respectable weapons. He is looking for empty hands that are willing to pick up whatever He provides, even if it's a donkey's jawbone.

Furthermore, we must all learn the lesson of the rhythm of Ramath-lehi and En-hakkore. There are times of great victory in the Christian life, when by God's grace we see strongholds fall and enemies routed. In those moments, the temptation is to sing our own song, to build a monument to our own efforts. But those victories, if they are real, will always drive us to a place of profound thirst and weakness. Every great expenditure of spiritual energy must be followed by a desperate cry to God for refreshment. We cannot survive on the memory of past victories. We must live by the "spring of the one who calls," constantly returning to the well of God's grace, acknowledging that He alone is the one who gives both the great salvation and the simple cup of cold water. He is the God of the mighty victory and the God of the mundane necessity, and we need Him for both.