Judges 15:17

17 When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and that place was called 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 Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached down and took it, and with it he killed a thousand men.

16 And Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men."

17 When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and that place was called Ramath-lehi.

18 By then he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, saying, "You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

19 So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came from it. When he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore it was named En-hakkore, which is at Lehi to this day.

Footnotes

• [a]. That is [The Hill of the Jawbone]