Judges 15:16

16 And Samson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

Judges 15:16 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 15:16

And Samson said
In a kind of triumphant song:

with the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps;
that is, with such an instrument he had slain heaps of men, who lay dead in heaps upon one another; in the words for an "ass", and for an "heap", is an elegant "paronomosia", not easy to be expressed in our language:

with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men:
this he said not in a proud and haughty manner, ascribing it to himself, as Josephus suggests ^F13, since he takes notice of the mean instrument he used; which showed that he was sensible it was not done by his own power, but by the power of God, which enabled him by such weak means to do such wonderful things.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 9.

Judges 15:16 In-Context

14 [And] when he came to Lehi, the 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 loosed from off his the hands.

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

16 And Samson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

17 And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi.

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