Judges 15:10
in Judges 15“Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they said, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Judges 15
Commentary
8 notes on this verseTo bind Samson are we come up - It seems they did not wish to come to an open rupture with the Israelites, provided they would deliver up him who was the cause of their disasters.
This site's exposition
he struck them ruthlessly
on Judges 15:8-10
The Hebrew behind “struck them ruthlessly” is a phrase found nowhere else in Scripture, and Adam Clarke lists the old versions' readings of it without settling them. Etam lies inside Judah's own hill country, so the deliverer withdraws into the tribe about to hand him over. The Philistines camp in Judah to arrest one man, and Judah asks why they have come rather than telling them to leave.
This site's exposition
We have come to arrest Samson
Judah asks why the Philistines have attacked. The answer names only Samson, and Clarke reads it as an offer to spare Judah open war if the men of Judah hand over the one man. Henry notes an army come to arrest one man, who was an army himself.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But Samson did not forgive the Philistines their wrong, nor rest content with this measure of vengeance, but he slew them with a great slaughter, and many of them fell by the sword. And he retired to Etam, a torrent in the wilderness, where was a rock, a stronghold of the tribe of Judah.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), to do to him as he has done to us, that is, to smite his hip and thigh, as he did ours-- an eye for an eye. Here was an army sent against one man, for indeed he was himself an army.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And the men of Judah said,....
And there, in that field, or hill, or plain, or whatever it was, that was so called, God caused a fountain suddenly and seasonably to open just by him, and water to spring up out of it in abundance, which continued a well ever after. Of this fair water he drank, and his spirits revived. We should be more thankful for the mercy of water did we consider how ill we can spare it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Then the Philistines went up--to the high land of Judah. and spread themselves in Lehi--now El-Lekieh, abounding with limestone cliffs; the sides of which are perforated with caves. The object of the Philistines in this expedition was to apprehend Samson, in revenge for the great slaughter he had committed on their people.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Why have you ascended against us. Are we not enslaved by you?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | [the] man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| לָמָ֖ה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| עֲלִיתֶ֣ם | ʾalitem | have you come up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עָלֵ֑ינוּ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֶאֱס֤וֹר | leesor | to bind | H631 → | 72 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שִׁמְשׁוֹן֙ | shimshon | Samson | H8123 → | 38 times |
| עָלִ֔ינוּ | ʾalinu | we have come up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת | laasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָ֥שָׂה | ʾasah | he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָֽנוּ׃ | lanu | to <the> us |
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙and they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אִ֣ישׁ[the] man of
ʾishH376 →1663 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
לָמָ֖ה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
עֲלִיתֶ֣םhave you come up
ʾalitemH5927 →890 times
עָלֵ֑ינוּon us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
וַיֹּאמְר֗וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
לֶאֱס֤וֹרto bind
leesorH631 →72 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שִׁמְשׁוֹן֙Samson
shimshonH8123 →38 times
עָלִ֔ינוּwe have come up
ʾalinuH5927 →890 times
לַעֲשׂ֣וֹתto do
laasotH6213 →2628 times
ל֔וֹto <the> him
lo
כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
עָ֥שָׂהhe did
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
לָֽנוּ׃to <the> us
lanu
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PersonJudgesSamsonThe Nazirite judge of supernatural strength and unguarded appetites; betrayed by Delilah, blinded at Gaza, he slew more in his dea…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19: To Vigilius; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.