“Out of weakness we are made strong.” —Hebrews 11 : 34 (New International Version)
Read Judges 15 : 1-8 (New International Version)
Samson returns to claim his Philistine bride “at the time of the wheat harvest,” carrying a young goat—the customary gift of reconciliation. He finds her given to another man. Humiliation turns to rage; rage sparks a wildfire.
• Cultural note
The Hebrew word shuʿalim (v. 4) can mean both “foxes” and
“jackals.” In that arid land, jackals roamed in packs and could be
caught more easily than solitary foxes. Ancient Egyptian tomb art even
shows farmers binding torches to jackals’ tails to protect vineyards at
harvest—a curious confirmation from archaeology.*
• Irony and word-play
Samson’s name (Hebrew Shimshôn) echoes shemesh—“sun.”
The man named “Sunny” lights up fields of grain, and the night sky glows
with judgment.
• Theological thread
Samson’s vengeance is personal, yet God uses it to weaken the oppressor.
Once more in Judges, flawed human motives become the thin channel
through which divine deliverance flows (see Genesis 50 : 20; Acts 2 :
23).
• For meditation
Where has God worked even through your mixed motives to bring about
good? How might gratitude replace shame without excusing sin?
Cross-references
– Deuteronomy 32 : 35 “Vengeance is mine.”
– Romans 12 : 19 Paul applies the same verse, urging restraint.
– 2 Samuel 14 : 30 Absalom burns Joab’s field—a parallel act of forced
attention.
Read Judges 15 : 9-17
The men of Judah, Israel’s own tribe, bind Samson with two new ropes and deliver him to the enemy. Here is a foreshadow of a far greater Deliverer whom His own people would hand over (John 1 : 11).
• The Spirit’s rush (v. 14)
For the third time (see 13 : 25; 14 : 6), “the Spirit of the LORD came
powerfully upon him.” The Hebrew verb ṣālaḥ suggests a sudden,
overwhelming push—like wind filling a sail. Luther commented that this
shows God’s “alien work”: empowering a sinner to restrain worse
sinners.
• The jawbone
An unclean weapon for a Nazirite! Augustine saw here a picture of God’s
ability to use what is foolish to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1 :
27). The slang “leḥî” means both “jaw” and, as a place-name, “Lehi.”
Verse 17 strings the puns together: Ramath-Lehi—“Jawbone
Hill.”
• Numbers speak
One thousand Philistines (v. 15). Some early Jewish writers viewed the
number symbolically: ten × ten × ten = the fullness of human power
crushed by the weakness of one Spirit-filled man.
• Application
Are we tempted to hand over our brothers and sisters because their flaws
embarrass us? Judah chose comfort over covenant. Christ calls us to bear
with the imperfect (Colossians 3 : 13).
Cross-references
– 1 Samuel 11 : 6 Saul, likewise empowered by the Spirit, rescues
Jabesh-Gilead.
– Psalm 22 : 7-8 The scoffed-at righteous sufferer, yet ultimately
triumphant.
Read Judges 15 : 18-20
The mighty warrior now lies prostrate, dying of thirst. He cries, “Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” Out flows water from hammaktesh—“a hollow place” in Lehi. The name ʿÊn haqqôrê means “Spring of the Caller.”
• Moses revisited
Like water from the rock at Massah (Exodus 17 : 1-7), God meets
complaint with provision. Gregory of Nazianzus noted that the
pattern—victory, weakness, God’s supply—prepares hearts to see Christ,
who on the cross said, “I thirst” (John 19 : 28).
• Spiritual rhythm
1. Achievement
2. Need
3. Prayer
4. Provision
5. Renewed service (v. 20 – Samson judged Israel twenty years)
Hold success and weakness together; both are teachers.
Cross-references
– Psalm 42 : 1 “As the deer pants for streams of water…”
– Isaiah 44 : 3 “I will pour water on the thirsty land…”
• Origen (3rd century) read Samson allegorically: the foxes=demons,
the wheat=believers, fire=truth. Be slow to accept but quick to learn
from such creativity.
• Augustine emphasized the moral: “God permits what He hates to
accomplish what He loves.”
• John Wesley warned that Samson’s isolation shows the peril of
lone-ranger religion; the Spirit’s power never cancels the need for holy
character.
Philistine grain storage pits and wineries unearthed at Timnah (Tel Batash) show the economic damage Samson’s act could cause. Burnt grain layers there date to Iron Age I—the period of the Judges—hinting that the biblical portrait fits what the soil remembers.
“Be Still, My Soul” (Katharina von Schlegel, 1752)
Stanza 2:
“Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain…”
O God of consuming fire and life-giving water,
You work through our tangled motives and our empty hands.
Quench our thirst, untie our fears, and teach us to trust Your
strength
even when it arrives in unexpected ways.
For Jesus’ sake, Amen.