Judges 15:20
in Judges 15And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
KJV
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
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This verse in Judges 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseHe judged Israel - twenty years - In the margin it is said, He seems to have judged southwest Israel during twenty years of their servitude of the Philistines, Jdg 13:1. Instead of עשרים שנה esrim shanah, twenty years, the Jerusalem Talmud has ארבעים שנה arbaim shanah, forty years; but this reading is not acknowledged by any MS. or version. According to Calmet, the twenty years of the judicature of Samson began the eighteenth year of the subjection of Israel to the Philistines; and these twenty years are included in the judicature of the high priest Eli.
This site's exposition
judged Israel in the days
The dating clause measures his rule by the enemy's, in the days of the Philistines, and the same twenty years are recorded again at 16:31 after his burial, so the two chapters of his ruin sit inside a term already closed here. The rest formula that ended the earlier deliverances at 3:11, 3:30 and 5:31 never returns, and no chapter of Samson's life is allowed to end with the land had rest. The angel had said at 13:5 that he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and the book keeps to that word exactly, since the Philistines are still ruling when the twenty years are over and 1 Samuel opens with them ruling still.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
He judged - That is, he pleaded their cause, and avenged them against the Philistines. Of the Philistines - That is, whilst the Philistines had the power and dominion, from which he was not fully to deliver, but only to begin to deliver them.
But her father would not suffer him to go in. 2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
The stone which the builders refused became the head-stone. It intimates the low condition of Israel that the government was dated by the days of the Philistines; yet it was a mercy to Israel that, though they were oppressed by a foreign enemy, yet they had a judge that preserved order and kept them from ruining one another.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֧ט | vaiyishpot | and he judged | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בִּימֵ֥י | bimei | in [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| פְלִשְׁתִּ֖ים | felishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֥ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| שָׁנָֽה׃ פ | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֧טand he judged
vaiyishpotH8199 →202 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בִּימֵ֥יin [the] days of
bimeiH3117 →2304 times
פְלִשְׁתִּ֖ים[the] Philistines
felishtimH6430 →287 times
עֶשְׂרִ֥יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
שָׁנָֽה׃ פyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 13:5For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will…
it leads to
- Numbers 6:5
For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let…
- 1 Samuel 1:11
And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then…
- Numbers 6:2–3
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
- 1 Chronicles 18:1
Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from the hand of the Philistines.
- Numbers 6:5
Through
Hebrews 11:32And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 1:20
So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
- 1 Samuel 16:1
Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending…
- 1 Samuel 16:13
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…
- 1 Samuel 1:20
Through
Judges 13:1Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 12:9
But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of…
- 1 Samuel 12:9
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.