Judges 15:4

Then 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

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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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.

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.

YLT

And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst,

DBT

And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between the two tails.

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Commentary voices

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Voices5

On this verse

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.

Ambrose of Milan· Letter 19: To Vigilius, 397patristic

Related commentary

And 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:

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

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.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

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.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical

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.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

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Cross-references

5 linked verses

The verses this one reaches5

2 Samuel 14:30
Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
Lamentations 5:18
because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
Song of Solomon 2:15
Catch for us the foxes— the little foxes that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in bloom.
Psalms 63:10
They will fall to the power of the sword; they will become a portion for foxes.
Exodus 22:6
If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Who & where

PersonJudgesSamsonThe Nazirite judge of supernatural strength and unguarded appetites; betrayed by Delilah, blinded at Gaza, he slew more in his dea…

About this book

Samson Destroys the Philistines with an Ass' Jawbone — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866) — public domain

Judges — The post-conquest slide into cyclical apostasy. Twelve judges delivering Israel from successive oppressors, a pattern repeating seven times, and an appendix whose violence diagnoses a nation with no king.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Anonymous; rabbinic tradition attributes to Samuel (Bava Batra 14b)
Date: Events c. 1375–1050 BC; compilation during the early monarchy

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Song of Solomon 2:15
Catch for us the foxes— the little foxes that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in bloom.
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.
Through
Psalms 63:10
They will fall to the power of the sword; they will become a portion for foxes.
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.
Through
Lamentations 5:18
because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
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.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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Continue: Judges 15 →