Judges 15:16-20
Judges 15:16
And
Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an
ass have I slain a thousand men.
The
slaughter of the Philistines in this manner was probably so swift that the
bodies of the slain men were in heaps or piles and were not yet buried.
Samson looked at this field of carnage and spoke that he killed a
thousand men with just the jawbone of an ass.
He was not bragging but stated a fact that with only a jawbone he killed
a thousand. A jaw bone could not be
compared to the metal instruments of war such as swords, spears, or even chariot
wheels fit with sharp, protruding knife like extensions.
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 Ramath-lehi.
Once
Samson had finished the slaughter and then had finished speaking about it, he
then threw away the jawbone and renamed that place “Ramath-lehi” which means
“elevation of the jawbone.” No
doubt he named it that for two reasons: 1) because it was the place where he
slew a thousand Philistines with just a jawbone; 2) because the killing was so
swift the bodies of the deceased were in heaps or piles as if they were
elevated.
Judges 15:18
And
he 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?
Then
after this great one man battle he became very thirsty and since there were no
pools of drinking water close to where he was, he called on the Lord and
acknowledges the fact that it was the Lord who gave him the victory over the
Philistines. Now he was fearful
that if he did not get something to drink, he would die and fall into the hands
of the uncircumcised. The term
“uncircumcised” was used throughout the Old Testament as a reference to those
who were not in covenant with God.
This is what David called Goliath.
And David spake to the men that stood by
him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and
taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised
Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
(1 Samuel 17:26, KJV)
Samson knew that if he died then the Philistines would make sport with his body
and claim it as their victory over him.
The Philistines did that on the death of King Saul.
9 And they cut off his head, and
stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about,
to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.
10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened
his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
(1 Samuel 31:9-10, KJV)
Judges 15:19
But
God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout;
and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he
called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
This
is not pointing to the actual jawbone which Samson had in his hand.
If you remember, he had cast it away from himself.
What is in view here is the place called Lehi where God made water to
come out of a rock which was divinely cut out or divided.
Making water come out of a rock was something God did in the Old
Testament.
15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down
like rivers. (Psalm 78:15-16, KJV)
Once Samson had his fill of the water, his flesh revived and he named the
place “En-hakkore” which means “the fountain of him who prayed” and was located
in Lehi which you remember meant “jawbone.”
Judges 15:20
And
he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.