Judges 15:16

16 Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them.^[a]With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.”

Judges 15:16 in Other Translations

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.

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

16 Then Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, I’ve piled them in heaps! With the jawbone of a donkey, I’ve killed a thousand men!”

16 And Samson said, With a donkey's jawbone I made heaps of donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I killed an entire company.

16 Then Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them in a heap. With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed 1,000 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Judges 15:16 In-Context

14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.

15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

16 Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them.With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.”

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 22:19

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "made a heap or two" ; the Hebrew for "donkey" sounds like the Hebrew for "heap."