Why did the men of Judah hand Samson over?
They were afraid of the Philistines, who ruled them, and preferred to avoid a conflict. Their attitude shows how much Israel's faith had weakened.
Judges · chapter 15 of 21
Judges 15: Summary, Key Verses and Study Questions
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What happens in Judges 15?
Judges 15 tells how Samson, on discovering that his wife has been given to another man, burns the Philistine fields with three hundred foxes carrying torches. The Philistines burn his wife and her father, Samson strikes them, and the men of Judah bind him and hand him over. Samson breaks the ropes and kills a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone, and God gives him water at Lehi.
Judges 14 ended with Samson's wife given to another man. Judges 15 shows the chain of revenge that follows: Samson acts out of personal grudge, and God uses those acts to strike the Philistines. It is also a sad picture of Judah, which prefers to hand over its deliverer rather than face the enemy.
Judges 15 summary
After a while, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson visits his wife with a young goat, but her father will not let him in because he gave her to his companion, and offers him her younger sister. Samson says that this time he will be blameless in regard to the Philistines when he does them harm. He catches three hundred foxes, ties them tail to tail in pairs with a torch between them, sets them loose in the standing grain and burns the shocks, the grain, the vineyards and the olive orchards.
The Philistines ask who did it and are told it was Samson, because his father-in-law gave his wife to his companion. They go up and burn the woman and her father. Samson says he will take revenge and then stop, and he strikes them with a great slaughter and withdraws to the cave of the rock of Etam.
The Philistines camp in Judah, near Lehi. Three thousand men of Judah go down to the rock of Etam and reproach Samson for provoking the Philistines who rule over them. He asks them not to attack him themselves, and they bind him with two new ropes and bring him to the Philistines. When he arrives at Lehi, the Philistines shout, and the Spirit of the Lord rushes on Samson, and the ropes become like burnt flax. He seizes a fresh jawbone of a donkey and kills a thousand men with it. He composes a verse that plays on words and names the place Ramath-lehi.
Samson is very thirsty, cries out to the Lord and says that he has given this great salvation and now he will die of thirst. God splits open a hollow place at Lehi and water comes out, and Samson revives. He names the spring En-hakkore. Samson judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
Chapter outline
- vv. 1-8: Samson is refused by his father-in-law, burns the fields with foxes and strikes the Philistines.
- vv. 9-13: Judah hands Samson over to the Philistines, bound.
- vv. 14-17: The Spirit comes on Samson, who breaks the ropes and kills a thousand men with a jawbone.
- vv. 18-20: Samson is thirsty, God gives him water and he judges Israel twenty years.
Key verses in Judges 15
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Judges 15:3
Samson declares that this time he will be blameless toward the Philistines if he does them harm. His words show that he acts out of personal revenge, though God uses his acts to strike an enemy of Israel.
Judges 15:11
The men of Judah reproach Samson for provoking the Philistines who rule over them. Israel had grown so used to oppression that it saw its deliverer as a problem.
Judges 15:14
The Spirit of the Lord rushes on Samson with power, and the ropes fall away. Once again his strength does not come from his body but from what God does in him.
Judges 15:18
Samson, thirsty, cries out to the Lord and acknowledges that God gave this great victory. Even a violent and passionate man knows where to turn when he reaches his limit.
Main themes
- Revenge and the cycle of violence
- The Spirit of God
- A people grown comfortable
- Dependence at the limit
- God uses conflict
People and places
- Samson
- Samson's father-in-law
- The Philistines
- The men of Judah
- Lehi
- The rock of Etam
Judges 15 study questions and answers
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
1. How many foxes did Samson catch?
Answer: Three hundred. — Judges 15:4
2. What did the Philistines do to Samson's wife and her father?
Answer: They burned them. — Judges 15:6
3. How many men of Judah went down to the rock of Etam for Samson?
Answer: Three thousand. — Judges 15:11
4. What did the men of Judah bind Samson with?
Answer: Two new ropes. — Judges 15:13
5. With what weapon did Samson kill a thousand men?
Answer: A fresh jawbone of a donkey. — Judges 15:15
6. How many years did Samson judge Israel?
Answer: Twenty years. — Judges 15:20
Application for today
Judges 15 portrays a cycle of revenge that no one stops, and the Bible asks us for a different response. Samson acts out of grudge, and the result is death and more pain. In a small group we can talk about what it takes to break a circle of offenses and retaliation, remembering what Jesus taught about forgiving.
It is also a warning against settling for the status quo: Judah preferred to hand over its deliverer rather than face the Philistines. A church can grow used to living under habits that oppress it. And finally, Samson in his thirst reminds us that even in strength we depend on God for every basic need.
Judges 15 ends with Samson, sustained by God, as judge of Israel. In Judges 16 the story reaches its darkest point, with Gaza, Delilah and Samson's final fall.
Frequently asked questions about Judges 15
How do we explain the feat with the foxes?
The text simply says that Samson tied them in pairs with torches and set them loose in the dry grain fields. Some wonder how he caught them, but the account gives no details. The main point is that God used his act to strike the Philistines.
What does En-hakkore mean?
It means spring of the one who called or spring of the caller. It recalls that Samson cried out to the Lord and God gave him water, leaving a sign that God answers even in extreme circumstances.