Judges 15:4
in Judges 15Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.
KJV
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
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This verse in Judges 15
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd Samson went and caught three hundred foxes,.... Nor should this be thought at all incredible, since Canaan and Palestine abounded with foxes; hence several places therein had their names of Shual, which signifies a fox, Jos 15:
This site's exposition
and caught three hundred foxes
on Judges 15:4-5
The number is given and the method is described step by step, and the text supplies no explanation of how one man took three hundred animals. Clarke sets out the long argument over the Hebrew word shualim, which is read as jackals by those who point out that jackals run in packs and are taken in numbers, and kept as foxes by the older English; Gill notes that towns in the Judah list of Joshua 15 carry the word in their names, which puts the animal in that country. What burns is listed in order at verse 5, the cut shocks, then the standing grain, then the vineyards and the olives, so the loss runs past one harvest into trees that take years to bear again.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Now let us see what Samson did when he was injured by his friend in the person of his wife. He took foxes, that is, adulterous friends of whom it is said in the Canticle of Canticles, "Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that …
Samson resistless because of his hair is attacked by a lion; When he killed the wild beast, from its mouth there flowed streams of honey, And from an ass's jawbone comes forth a fountain of water: Folly with water overflows and virtue with sweetness. Samson …
Just as those who travel about in the pathless desert tremble at serpents on the ground, and those who travel on the pathways are also terrified of vipers that hide on the paths, so were the Philistines, who traveled on paths and in the pathless …
Let us avoid, then, brothers, let us avoid the pestilential deceits of the insidious foxes [heretics]. Let us avoid the deadly frauds of wicked persons lest, like the foxes which that famous strong man Samson once sent into the Philistines' fields, bearing torches on their …
Wherefore he took three hundred foxes, and in the heat of summer, when the corn was now ripe in the fields, he tied them together two and two by the tails, and fastened a burning firebrand between them, binding it with a firm knot, and by way of avenging his wrong turned them loose among the sheaves which the Philistines had cut. But the foxes, terrified by the fire, scattered flames whichever way they turned, and burnt the harvest.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And it must be allowed, that the God who made the world, and by his singular providence watched over Israel, and intended them deliverance at this time, could easily dispose things so that they might be taken.
This stratagem is often alluded to to show how the church's adversaries, that are of different interests and designs among themselves, that look and draw contrary ways in other things, yet have often united in a fire-brand, some cursed project or other, to waste the church of God, and particularly to kindle the fire of division in it.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Went and caught three hundred foxes - There has been much controversy concerning the meaning of the term שועלים shualim, some supposing it to mean foxes or jackals, and others handfuls or sheaves of corn. Much of the force of the objections against the common version will be diminished by the following considerations: - 1. Foxes, or jackals, are common and gregarious in that country. 2. It is not hinted that Samson collected them alone; he might have employed several hands in this work.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Foxes - Rather, “jackals,” which are still very common in Palestine, especially about Joppa and Gaza. 1Sa 13:17 and Jos 15:28; Jos 19:3, are indications of the abundance of foxes or jackals giving names to places, especially in the country of the Phililstines. It belongs to Samson’s character, and agrees with the incident about the lion, that he should be an expert hunter. Ovid relates a very curious custom at Rome of letting loose foxes with lighted torches fastened to their tails in the circus at the Cerealia, in commemoration of the damage once done to the standing grain by a fox which a rustic had wrapped in hay and straw and set on fire, and which, running away, put the grain-fields in a blaze. This custom, which may have had a Phoenician origin, is a curious illustration of the narrative.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן | shimshon | Samson | H8123 → | 38 times |
| וַיִּלְכֹּ֖ד | vaiyilkod | and he captured | H3920 → | 121 times |
| שְׁלֹשׁ־ | shelosh- | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| מֵא֣וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| שׁוּעָלִ֑ים | shualim | foxes | H7776 → | |
| וַיִּקַּ֣ח | vaiyikach | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| לַפִּדִ֗ים | lapidim | torches | H3940 → | 13 times |
| וַיֶּ֤פֶן | vaiyefen | and he turned | H6437 → | 135 times |
| זָנָב֙ | zanav | tail | H2180 → | 11 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| זָנָ֔ב | zanav | tail | H2180 → | 11 times |
| וַיָּ֨שֶׂם | vaiyasem | and he put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| לַפִּ֥יד | lapid | a torch | H3940 → | 13 times |
| אֶחָ֛ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| בֵּין־ | bein- | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| שְׁנֵ֥י | shenei | [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| הַזְּנָב֖וֹת | hazenavot | the tails | H2180 → | 11 times |
| בַּתָּֽוֶךְ׃ | batavekh | in the middle | H8432 → | 418 times |
וַיֵּ֣לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹןSamson
shimshonH8123 →38 times
וַיִּלְכֹּ֖דand he captured
vaiyilkodH3920 →121 times
שְׁלֹשׁ־three
shelosh-H7969 →432 times
מֵא֣וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
שׁוּעָלִ֑יםfoxes
shualimH7776 →
וַיִּקַּ֣חand he took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
לַפִּדִ֗יםtorches
lapidimH3940 →13 times
וַיֶּ֤פֶןand he turned
vaiyefenH6437 →135 times
זָנָב֙tail
zanavH2180 →11 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
זָנָ֔בtail
zanavH2180 →11 times
וַיָּ֨שֶׂםand he put
vaiyasemH7760 →584 times
לַפִּ֥ידa torch
lapidH3940 →13 times
אֶחָ֛דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
בֵּין־between
bein-H996 →407 times
שְׁנֵ֥י[the] two
sheneiH8147 →768 times
הַזְּנָב֖וֹתthe tails
hazenavotH2180 →11 times
בַּתָּֽוֶךְ׃in the middle
batavekhH8432 →418 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
Song of Solomon 2:15Catch for us the foxes—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.
it leads to
- Luke 13:32
But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’
- 2 Peter 2:1–3
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…
- Song of Solomon 7:12
Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.
- Psalms 80:13
The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.
- Ezekiel 13:4–16
Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins.
- Luke 13:32
Through
Psalms 63:10They will fall to the power of the sword; they will become a portion for foxes.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 18:21
Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck…
- Ezekiel 39:4
On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast.
- Jeremiah 18:21
Through
Lamentations 5:18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
it leads to
- Micah 3:12
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
- Micah 3:12
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 118.4; Ephrem the Syrian, ON GENESIS 42.9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Maximus of Turin, SERMON 41.5 and Prudentius, SCENES FROM SACRED HISTORY 17.18.