Judges 15:9 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, Samson violently pursued by the Philistines. They came up in force, stronger than the group they had when Samson struck them down in battle. They camped in Judah and spread through the land to find Samson, since they had heard he had come that way (Judges 15:9).

When the men of Judah, who had quietly accepted Philistine rule, said they had paid their tribute and had done nothing to offend them, the Philistines openly admitted why they had come. They were not there to fight Judah as a whole, but only to seize Samson, the judge of Israel (Judges 15:10). They wanted to do to him what he had done to them, to repay injury with injury, eye for eye.

Here was an army sent against one man, though he was himself like an army. In the same way, a whole band was sent to seize our Lord Jesus, that greater Samson. Yet far fewer would have been enough once his hour had come, and far more would have been useless if he had not given himself up.

Next, we see Samson shamefully betrayed and handed over by the men of Judah (Judges 15:11). Were these men from Judah? They were weak and far beneath the brave spirit of that tribe. They were unworthy to bear the name of the tribe from which came the lion of Judah. Perhaps they were against Samson because he was not from their own tribe. Out of foolish pride about their lost rank, they would rather be ruled by Philistines than rescued by a man from Dan.

Often the church’s deliverance has been blocked by the same kind of jealousies and false concern for honor. More likely, though, they feared the Philistines and just wanted to get them out of the land, no matter the cost. If sin had not crushed their spirits and left them under a dull spiritual sleep, they would have used this chance to throw off the Philistine yoke. If any courage had remained in them, they would have rallied around such a brave leader as Samson and made one strong effort for freedom.

But it is no surprise that those who had lowered themselves in the worship of worthless idols (Isaiah 57:9) also lowered themselves into the dust before harsh oppressors. Sin weakens people. It also makes them foolish and hides from them what would bring peace.

Samson likely came near the border to offer his help, thinking his own people would understand that God meant to use him to deliver them, as Moses once expected his people to understand him (Acts 7:25). Instead, they pushed him away. In a shameful way, they did two things. First, they blamed him for what he had done to the Philistines, as if he had harmed them rather than helped them. That is the kind of ungrateful response often given to people who do the best service for their country. In the same way, our Lord Jesus did many good works, and people were ready to stone him for them.

Second, they begged Samson to let them bind him and hand him over to the Philistines. What cowardly and ungrateful men they were. They loved their chains and were attached to slavery. In the same way, the Jews handed over our Savior, pretending to fear that the Romans would come and take away their place and nation. They spoke with a miserable, slave-like spirit: “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us?” But whose fault was that? They had no right to rule over Israel, and Israel would never have fallen under them unless the people had first sold themselves to do evil.

Third, Samson quietly allowed himself to be bound by his countrymen and delivered into the hands of his angry enemies (Judges 15:12-13). He could easily have beaten them back and held his ground on the top of the rock against 3,000 men. None of them could have seized him, and none would have dared. Yet he submitted patiently for several reasons. First, he wanted to show great meekness joined with great strength and courage, showing that he could rule his own spirit and knew how to yield as well as how to conquer. Second, by being handed over to the Philistines, he would get the chance to strike a blow among them. Third, he was a picture of Christ, who, after showing his power by striking down those who came to arrest him, still yielded to be bound and led like a lamb to the slaughter.

Samson defended himself by saying that what he had done to the Philistines was only fair: “As they did to me, so I did to them.” It was necessary justice, and they should not punish him for it, because they had started it. He also made a promise with the men of Judah that, if he gave himself into their hands, they would not attack him themselves, because then he might be tempted to strike back, which he was very unwilling to do. They promised him this (Judges 15:13), and then he surrendered.

The men of Judah, by betraying him, were in effect guilty of his death. They did not kill him with their own hands, but they did something worse. They handed him over to the uncircumcised Philistines, knowing they would torment him and abuse him to death. Perhaps they thought, as some think Judas did when he betrayed Christ, that Samson would use his great strength to escape. But they deserved no credit even if he had escaped. And if they thought that, they should also have realized that he could have delivered them too, if they had stayed loyal to him and followed him as their leader.

It is just that people remain in misery longer when, in order to please their worst enemies, they treat their best friend so badly. Few men were ever so confused, except those who treated our blessed Savior in the same way.

Finally, we see Samson holding his ground against the Philistines even after he was delivered into their hands, with two new ropes tightly tied around him. When the Philistines got him, they shouted over him in triumph (Judges 15:14), boasting of their success and mocking him. If God had not tied their hands more tightly than the men of Judah had tied Samson’s, they would have shot him at once, as Saul was later attacked by archers, instead of shouting and giving him time to act. But their confident joy was a sign of their coming ruin.

While they shouted over him as if he were already defeated, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. It gave him strength and courage beyond the ordinary. Then he immediately broke free of his bonds. The two new ropes snapped and slipped off his hands at the first struggle. No doubt this shocked and frightened the people who had been shouting over him, and their cheers turned into cries of alarm.

Notice this, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, his ropes were loosed. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and those are truly free who are freed in this way. This pointed ahead to the resurrection of Christ by the power of the Spirit of holiness.

God loosed the cords of death, and the grave clothes fell away from Jesus’ body without needing to be unbound, just as Lazarus’s did. It was impossible for the mighty Savior to be held by death. In that way, he triumphed over the powers of darkness that had seemed to surround and claim him.

Samson also brought great ruin on the Philistines, who had gathered to mock him (Judges 15:15). Look at how weak his weapon was. He had nothing better than a donkey’s jawbone, yet he made terrible use of it. He kept it in his hand until he had struck down 1,000 Philistines, and so the promise was more than fulfilled, “One of you shall chase a thousand” (Joshua 23:10).

A jawbone is an awkward thing to hold, and you would expect it to be easily knocked away. It also seems likely that a few hard blows would have broken it. Yet it stayed firm to the end. If it had been the jawbone of a lion, especially one Samson had killed himself, it might have fed his pride and made him feel more impressive. But God chose the weak and despised thing to do great works, so that the honor would belong to God and not to man.

One of David’s mighty men killed 300 Philistines at once, but he did it with a spear (1 Chronicles 11:11). Another fought until his hand grew tired and stuck to his sword (2 Samuel 23:10). Still, they did not match Samson. What could seem too hard for the man on whom the Spirit of the Lord came with power? “Through God we will do valiantly.”

It is strange that the men of Judah did not now come to help him. Cowards often strike only when an enemy is already falling. Even so, Samson was to be a picture of the one who trod the winepress alone.

Samson then celebrated his own victory, since the men of Judah would not even do that for him. He made a short song and sang it to himself, because the daughters of Israel did not come out to meet him as they later did Saul. The line of his song was, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, I have slain 1,000 men” (Judges 15:16).

The Hebrew word for “donkey” sounds like the word for “heap,” so this is a neat play on words. It pictures the Philistines falling as easily as donkeys. Samson also gave the place a name to preserve the Philistines’ shame, calling it Ramath-lehi, which means “the lifting up of the jawbone” (Judges 15:17). Yet he did not proudly carry the bone around as a trophy. He threw it away when he was done with it. Relics were valued very little in those days.