Judges 15:8

8 And he smote them with great wound, so that they wondered, and (they fled so fast, that they) putted the hinder part of the hip on the thigh; and he went down, and dwelled in the den of the stone of Etam. (And he struck them down, hip and thigh, with a great slaughter; and then he went, and lived in the cave in the Rock of Etam.)

Judges 15:8 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 15:8

And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter
Either smote them on their hips and thighs with his hands (for it does not appear he had any weapon of war), so that they were sadly bruised, and maimed, and lamed, that they could not stir, and of which blows and bruises multitudes died: or he smote them with his legs on their thighs, kicked them about at pleasure, which kicks numbers of them never got over; or the meaning of the proverbial expression is, he laid on them at a great rate, and smote them here and there, and any where, which issued in the death of many of them: the Targum is,

``he smote them horse and foot,''

their cavalry and infantry, destroyed them both; but it does not appear that they came out in an hostile manner unto him, and much less in the form of a regular army:

and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
Josephus says {e}, that Samson having slain many in the fields of the Philistines, went and dwelt at Etam, a strong rock in the tribe of Judah; and which agrees with ( 2 Chronicles 11:6 ) , where mention is made of the city Etam, along with Bethlehem and Tekoah, cities in that tribe, which had its name either from this rock, or the rock from that. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions read,

``in a cave of the rock of Etam;''

and the Syriac and Arabic versions, in Sahaph, which is on the rock of Etam, as if Sahaph was the name of a city there; hither Samson went, not through fear, or for safety, but to wait for another opportunity of further avenging the injuries of Israel on the Philistines.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8.) sect. 8.

Judges 15:8 In-Context

6 And the Philistines said, Who did this thing? To whom it was said, Samson, the husband of (the) Timnite's daughter, for he took away Samson's wife, and gave her to another man. And (so) the Philistines went up, and burnt (up) both the woman and her father.

7 To the which Philistines Samson said, Though ye have done this thing, nevertheless yet I shall ask and take vengeance of you, and then I shall rest. (To which Philistines Samson said, Because ye have done this thing, now I shall take vengeance on all of you, and then I shall rest.)

8 And he smote them with great wound, so that they wondered, and (they fled so fast, that they) putted the hinder part of the hip on the thigh; and he went down, and dwelled in the den of the stone of Etam. (And he struck them down, hip and thigh, with a great slaughter; and then he went, and lived in the cave in the Rock of Etam.)

9 Then the Philistines went up into the land of Judah, and they setted tents in the place, that was called afterward Lehi, that is, a cheek[bone], where their host was spread abroad. (Then the Philistines went up into the land of Judah, and they pitched their tents at the place, that later was called Lehi, that is, Jawbone, where their army was spread out over all the land.)

10 And men of the lineage of Judah said to them, Why have ye gone up against us? The which answered, We come that we bind Samson (And they answered, We have come so that we can bind up Samson), and yield to him (for) those things the which he [hath] wrought against us.