Judges 15:16
in Judges 15Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them into heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men.
KJV
And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
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This verse in Judges 15
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd I would that his moderation in victory had been equal to his courage against the enemy. But as is frequently the case, with mind unused to prosperity, he ascribed to himself the issue of the battle, which was due to the Divine favour and protection, saying, "With the jaw bone of an ass have I slain a thousand men." Nor did he build an altar to God, nor offer a victim, but neglecting sacrifice and assuming to himself the glory, to immortalize his triumph by a memorial name he called the place, The slaying of the jaw bone.
This site's exposition
With the jawbone of a donkey
on Judges 15:16-17
The song turns on one word, since chamor in Hebrew is both a donkey and a heap, so the line says both at once. Albert Barnes puts it with the riddle of 14:12-18 as the same habit of mind, and Matthew Henry takes the wordplay as the reason the fallen are pictured so tamely. The text records the words and the name of the place, Ramath-lehi,.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now when Samson destroyed a thousand men with a jawbone from the body of an ass, the Gentiles were prefigured in the ass; for thus Scripture speaks concerning both Jews and Gentiles: "An ox knows its owner, and an ass its master's manger." Before the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The same word in Hebrew ( chamor ) signifies both an ass and a heap, so that this is an elegant paronomasia, and represents the Philistines falling as tamely as asses.
Slain a thousand men - What could be too hard for him to do, on whom the Spirit of the Lord came mightily? It was strange the men of Judah did now at least come in to his assistance. But he was to be a type of him, who trod the wine-press alone.
And Samson said,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
There is a play upon the word, three times repeated, which means both “an ass” and also “a heap.” The spirit of riddle-making Jdg 14:12, Jdg 14:18 is apparent in this song of triumph (compare Jdg 5:1; Exo 15:1; 1Sa 18:6-7).
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men--The inadequacy of the weapon plainly shows this to have been a miraculous feat, "a case of supernatural strength," just as the gift of prophecy is a case of supernatural knowledge [CHALMERS].
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I amassed mounds with the jawbone of a donkey, amassing numerous mounds. "With the jawbone of a donkey I hurled them into mounds." 11 This is Targum Yonasan’s translation.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Moist. Wet. I saw a medical lexicon which refers to pus oozing from a wound as טְרִיָה.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן | shimshon | Samson | H8123 → | 38 times |
| בִּלְחִ֣י | bilchi | with [the] jawbone of | H3895 → | 21 times |
| הַחֲמ֔וֹר | hachamor | the donkey | H2543 → | 96 times |
| חֲמ֖וֹר | chamor | a heap | H2565 → | |
| חֲמֹרָתָ֑יִם | chamoratayim | two heaps | H2565 → | |
| בִּלְחִ֣י | bilchi | with [the] jawbone of | H3895 → | 21 times |
| הַחֲמ֔וֹר | hachamor | the donkey | H2543 → | 96 times |
| הִכֵּ֖יתִי | hikeiti | I struck down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶ֥לֶף | ʾelef | a thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| אִֽישׁ׃ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹןSamson
shimshonH8123 →38 times
בִּלְחִ֣יwith [the] jawbone of
bilchiH3895 →21 times
הַחֲמ֔וֹרthe donkey
hachamorH2543 →96 times
חֲמ֖וֹרa heap
chamorH2565 →
חֲמֹרָתָ֑יִםtwo heaps
chamoratayimH2565 →
בִּלְחִ֣יwith [the] jawbone of
bilchiH3895 →21 times
הַחֲמ֔וֹרthe donkey
hachamorH2543 →96 times
הִכֵּ֖יתִיI struck down
hikeitiH5221 →499 times
אֶ֥לֶףa thousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
אִֽישׁ׃man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19: To Vigilius; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 119.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.