Judges 15:17

17 And it came to pass when he had ended speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-Lehi.

Judges 15:17 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 15:17

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking
Of delivering out the above song, which very probably consisted of much more than what is here expressed:

that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand;
which he held in his hand had wrought by him through the means of it, and so served to animate him to praise and thankfulness; but having no further use for it, he threw it away:

and called the place Ramathlehi;
that is, the casting away the jawbone, so Kimchi; but Ben Gersom thinks it was an high place where it was thrown, and so signifies the elevation or lifting up of the "jawbone", as the Septuagint version renders it.

Judges 15:17 In-Context

15 And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand and took it, and slew with it a thousand men.

16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, a heap, two heaps, With the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

17 And it came to pass when he had ended speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-Lehi.

18 And he was very thirsty, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given by the hand of thy servant this great deliverance, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

19 And God clave the hallow rock which was in Lehi, and water came out of it. And he drank, and his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

Footnotes

• [a]. Meaning, 'hill of the jawbone.'