9 Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah , and spread out in Lehi . 10 The men of Judah said , "Why have you come up against us?" And they said , "We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us." 11 Then 3,000 e men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson , "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" And he said to them, "As they did to me, so I have done to them." 12 They said to him, "We have come down to bind you so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines ." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not kill me." 13 So they said to him, "No , but we will bind you fast and give you into their hands ; yet surely we will not kill you." Then they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock . 14 When he came to Lehi , the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire , and his bonds dropped from his hands . 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey , so he reached e out and took it and killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said , "With the jawbone of a donkey , Heaps upon heaps , With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men ." 17 When he had finished speaking , he threw the jawbone from his hand ; and he named that place Ramath-lehi .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 15:9-17
Commentary on Judges 15:9-17
(Read Judges 15:9-17)
Sin dispirits men, it hides from their eyes the things that belong to their peace. The Israelites blamed Samson for what he had done against the Philistines, as if he had done them a great injury. Thus our Lord Jesus did many good works, and for those the Jews were ready to stone him. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, his cords were loosed: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, and those are free indeed who are thus set free. Thus Christ triumphed over the powers of darkness that shouted against him, as if they had him in their power. Samson made great destruction among the Philistines. To take the bone of an ass for this, was to do wonders by the foolish things of the world, that the excellency of the power might be of God, not of man. This victory was not in the weapon, was not in the arm; but it was in the Spirit of God, which moved the weapon by the arm. We can do all things through Him that strengtheneth us. Seest thou a poor Christian, who is enabled to overcome a temptation by weak, feeble counsel, there is the Philistine vanquished by a sorry jaw-bone.