Judges — Chapter 15

📖 Judges — Chapter 15 (KJV)

Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.

Go to the study guide ↓

Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.

Judges 15:1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with ^Ra kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

Judges 15:2 And her father said, ^RI verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? ^Ttake her, I pray thee, instead of her.

Judges 15:3 And Samson said concerning them, ^RNow shall I be ^Tmore blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

Judges 15:4 And Samson went and ^Rcaught three hundred foxes, and took ^Tfirebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

Judges 15:5 And when he had set the brands on fire, ^Rhe let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

Judges 15:6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, ^Rand burnt her and her father with fire.

Judges 15:7 And Samson said unto them, ^RThough ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

Judges 15:8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Judges 15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in ^RLehi.

Judges 15:10 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.

Judges 15:11 Then three thousand men of Judah ^Twent to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the ^RPhilistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

Judges 15:12 And they said unto him, We are come down ^Rto bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

Judges 15:13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

Judges 15:14 And when he came unto Lehi, ^Rthe Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands ^Tloosed from off his hands.

Judges 15:15 And he found a ^Tnew jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and ^Rslew a thousand men therewith.

Judges 15:16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, ^Theaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

Judges 15:17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place ^TRamathlehi.

Judges 15:18 And ^Rhe was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

Judges 15:19 But God clave an hollow place that was in ^Tthe jaw, and ^Rthere came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof ^TEnhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

Judges 15:20 ^RAnd he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

📚 Study This Chapter

📖 What We’re Reading

Judges 15:1–8 — A cycle of retaliation

🌱 What These Verses Teach Us

Samson discovers his wife has been given to his companion. He burns Philistine crops, the Philistines kill her and her father, and Samson retaliates again. The sequence records worsening revenge rather than a pattern for resolving personal conflict.

Key Truth: Retaliation spreads suffering beyond the original quarrel.

Check What You Remember

📖 What We’re Reading

Judges 15:9–17 — Bound by Judah, strengthened at Lehi

🌱 What These Verses Teach Us

Judah's men hand Samson over because they accept Philistine rule. At Lehi the Spirit of the LORD comes mightily on him and his cords loosen. He defeats a thousand men with an ass's jawbone. The empowerment is stated explicitly and should not be reduced to ordinary personal strength.

Key Truth: The account attributes Samson's release and victory to the Spirit's empowerment.

Check What You Remember

📖 What We’re Reading

Judges 15:18–20 — Thirst and God's provision

🌱 What These Verses Teach Us

After the victory Samson is desperately thirsty and calls on the LORD, acknowledging the deliverance he has received. God provides water, Samson revives, and the place is named Enhakkore. The chapter ends with twenty years of judging during Philistine rule.

Key Truth: Even the empowered deliverer remains dependent on God for life.

Check What You Remember

Related Scripture (KJV)

Judges 13:25 — The birth narrative had already introduced the Spirit's work in Samson.

Judges 13:25 (KJV) And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.

Reflect and Apply

What does Samson acknowledge in his prayer after the battle? Consider the difference between boasting in strength and recognizing dependence.

Chapter Navigation

← Judges 14 | Judges Contents | Judges 16 →