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Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

Judges 15:8

He tore them limb from limb and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Etam;   Revenge;   Samson;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Philistines, the;   Revenge;   Rocks;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Etam;   Thigh;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Samson;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Etam;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Timnah;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Etam;   Hip;   Rock;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Etam;   Israel;   Judges (1);   Levi;   Marriage;   Philistines;   Rock;   Samson;   Thigh;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Rock ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Etam, the Rock;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Etam;   Smith Bible Dictionary - E'tam, the Rock,;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Rock;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Etam;   Hip;   Samson;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Etam;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of `Etam.
King James Version
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
Lexham English Bible
And he gave them a thorough beating, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
English Standard Version
And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
New Century Version
Samson attacked the Philistines and killed many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.
New English Translation
He struck them down and defeated them. Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
Amplified Bible
Then he struck them without mercy, a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
New American Standard Bible
So he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and afterward he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
Geneva Bible (1587)
So hee smote them hippe and thigh with a mightie plague: then hee went and dwelt in the top of the rocke Etam.
Legacy Standard Bible
En hy het hulle lendelam geslaan, 'n groot slag. En hy het afgegaan en gebly in die rotskloof van Etam.
Contemporary English Version
Then Samson started hacking them to pieces with his sword. Samson left Philistia and went to live in the cave at Etam Rock.
Complete Jewish Bible
Infuriated, he began killing them right and left; it was a massacre. Then he went down and stayed in the cave at the ‘Eitam Rock.
Darby Translation
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. And he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the cliff Etam.
Easy-to-Read Version
Samson attacked the Philistines and killed many of them. Then he went and stayed in a cave in a place named the Rock of Etam.
George Lamsa Translation
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and dwelt in a cave of the rock of Atmin.
Good News Translation
He attacked them fiercely and killed many of them. Then he went and stayed in the cave in the cliff at Etam.
Literal Translation
And he struck them hip on thigh, a great slaughter, and went down and lived in the cleft of the rock Etam.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he smote them sore both vpo the shulders & loynes: and wete downe, & dwelt in the stone clyffe at Eram.
American Standard Version
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
Bible in Basic English
And he made an attack on them, driving them in uncontrolled flight, and causing great destruction; then he went away to his safe place in the crack of the rock at Etam.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he smote them legge and thygh with a myghtie plague, and then he went & dwelt in the toppe of the rocke Etam.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
King James Version (1611)
And he smote them hip and thigh, with a great slaughter; and hee went down and dwelt in the top of the rocke Etam.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he smote them leg on thigh with a great overthrow; and went down and dwelt in a cave of the rock Etam.
English Revised Version
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
Berean Standard Bible
And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he smoot hem with greet wounde, so that thei wondriden, and `puttiden the hyndrere part of the hipe on the thiy; and he yede doun, and dwellide in the denne of the stoon of Ethan.
Young's Literal Translation
And he smiteth them hip and thigh -- a great smiting, and goeth down and dwelleth in the cleft of the rock Etam.
Update Bible Version
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. And he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
World English Bible
He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
New King James Version
So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
New Living Translation
So he attacked the Philistines with great fury and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam.
New Life Bible
He killed many of them without mercy. Then Samson went down and lived in the opening of the rock of Etam.
New Revised Standard
He struck them down hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So he smote them, leg on thigh, with a great smiting, - and went down and dwelt in a cleft of the crag Etam.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he made a great slaughter of them, so that in astonishment they laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh. And going down he dwelt in a cavern of the rock Etam.
Revised Standard Version
And he smote them hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
THE MESSAGE
With that he tore into them, ripping them limb from limb—a huge slaughter. Then he went down and stayed in a cave at Etam Rock.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

Contextual Overview

1Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and visited his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter. 2“I was sure you hated her,” her father said, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she is? Why not take her instead?” 3Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless when I harm the Philistines.” 4So he went out and caught three hundred foxes. He took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5Then he ignited the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned the piles of grain and the standing grain as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 6Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” 7Then Samson told them, “Because you did this, I swear that I won’t rest until I have taken vengeance on you.” 8He tore them limb from limb and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 25:10, Isaiah 63:3, Isaiah 63:6

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 33:22 - General Judges 14:6 - rent him Judges 16:24 - which slew many of us Judges 16:30 - So the dead 1 Samuel 23:25 - into a rock 2 Chronicles 11:6 - Etam Job 16:14 - runneth Psalms 108:13 - tread

Cross-References

Genesis 15:2
But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
Genesis 15:4
Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
Genesis 15:9
He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Genesis 15:10
So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half.
Genesis 15:13
Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.
Genesis 15:14
However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.
Genesis 15:17
When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.
2 Kings 20:8
Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What is the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple on the third day?”
Psalms 86:17
Show me a sign of your goodness;my enemies will see and be put to shamebecause you, Lord, have helped and comforted me.
Isaiah 7:11
“Ask for a sign from the Lord your God—it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

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

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hip and thigh - A proverbial expression of doubtful origin, meaning all the “great” and “mighty,” all the choice pieces like the thigh and shoulder.

In the top of the rock - Rather, “the cleft of the rock.” These clefts of the rock were the natural fortresses and hiding places of the land. (Isaiah 2:21; Isaiah 57:5. Compare 1 Samuel 13:6; 1 Kings 18:13.)

Etam - Not the same as the place in the territory of Simeon 1 Chronicles 4:32. Its situation is uncertain, but a site near Eleutheropolis (“Beth-jibrin”) is required; and there exist some extraordinary caverns in the soft limestone or chalky rock, fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides, opening into extensive excavations in the rock, about two hours from Eleutheropolis. (Conder conjectures it to be the same as Atab, a village 12 miles southwest of Jerusalem, in the ‛arkub or Ridge.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 15:8. He smote them hip and thigh — This also is variously understood; but the general meaning seems plain; he appears to have had no kind of defensive weapon, therefore he was obliged to grapple with them, and, according to the custom of wrestlers, trip up their feet, and then bruise them to death. Some translate heaps upon heaps; others, he smote horsemen and footmen; others, he wounded them from their legs to their thighs, c., c. See the different versions. Some think in their running away from him he kicked them down, and then trod them to death: thus his leg or thigh was against their hip hence the expression.

The top of the rock Etam. — It is very likely that this is the same place as that mentioned 1 Chronicles 4:32; it was in the tribe of Simeon, and on the borders of Dan, and probably a fortified place.


 
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