Judges 15:19

19 And God cleaveth the hollow place which [is] in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinketh, and his spirit cometh back, and he reviveth; therefore hath [one] called its name `The fountain of him who is calling,' which [is] in Lehi unto this day.

Judges 15:19 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 15:19

And God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there
came water thereout
A socket in which was fastened one of the teeth, and was in the form of a mortar; so Jarchi and Ben Melech, as the word for an hollow place signifies; one of the grinders was knocked out, and so the place where it had been was left hollow, and out of that sprung a stream or flow of water; which was very wonderful, since out of such a place rather blood, or purulent matter, would naturally have issued; the Targum is,

``the Lord clave the rock which was in the jaw;''

which Kimchi interprets thus, the rock was under the jaw and the rock was made as a hollow place, and therefore they call it "mactes", a mortar: the sense seems to be this, that the place on which Samson cast the jawbone was a rock, and there God clave an hollow place, out of which water sprung, and which perhaps was under the jawbone, and sprung under it, and through it; and so Josephus says ^F15, that God at his prayer brought a sweet and large fountain out of a certain rock; and the words of the text will bear to be rendered, "and God clave, an hollow place, which is in Lehi"; that is, in the place called Lehi, ( Judges 15:9 Judges 15:14 ) and not in the jawbone itself:

and when he had drank, his spirit came again, and he revived;
his spirit was sunk and gone, as it were, but upon drinking a draught of this water he was refreshed and cheered, recovered his spirits, and became brisk and lively:

wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore;
that is,

``the fountain of him that was calling;''

of Samson that called upon God in prayer, and was heard, in memory of which he gave it this name; so the Targum,

``therefore its name was called the fountain that was given through the prayer of Samson:''

which is in Lehi unto this day;
or in the jawbone: not that the jawbone continued unto the time of the writer of this book, but the name of the place where this miracle was wrought, which was in Lehi, continued to be called Enhakkore unto that time, and it may be the fountain itself continued also; nay, Giycas ^F16 says, who lived but about six hundred years ago, that the fountain continued unto his time, and was to be seen in the suburbs of Eleutheropolis, and was called the fountain of the jawbone.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 9.)
F16 Annal. par. 2. p. 164. apud Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. p. 872.

Judges 15:19 In-Context

17 And it cometh to pass when he finisheth speaking, that he casteth away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and calleth that place Ramath-Lehi;

18 and he thirsteth exceedingly, and calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Thou -- Thou hast given by the hand of Thy servant this great salvation; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.'

19 And God cleaveth the hollow place which [is] in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinketh, and his spirit cometh back, and he reviveth; therefore hath [one] called its name `The fountain of him who is calling,' which [is] in Lehi unto this day.

20 And he judgeth Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.