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Easy-to-Read Version

Judges 15:15

Samson found a jawbone of a dead donkey and killed 1000 Philistine men with it.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ass (Donkey);   Lehi;   Samson;   Scofield Reference Index - Miracles;   Thompson Chain Reference - Instrumentalities, Weak;   Power;   Small Things God Uses;   Weak;   Weakness-Power;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Miracles Wrought through Servants of God;   Philistines, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Etam;   Lehi;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Samson;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Ramath-Lehi;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Etam;   Shamgar;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israel;   Levi;   Marriage;   Philistines;   Samson;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Lehi ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Makaz;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Ass;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cheek;   Fresh;   Jaw;   New;   Numbers, Book of;   Shamgar;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 9;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed a thousand men with it.
Hebrew Names Version
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and struck a thousand men therewith.
King James Version
And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
Lexham English Bible
And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey; he reached down and took it and killed one thousand men with it.
English Standard Version
And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.
New Century Version
Samson found the jawbone of a dead donkey, took it, and killed a thousand men with it!
New English Translation
He happened to see a solid jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
Amplified Bible
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out his hand and took it and killed a thousand men with it.
New American Standard Bible
Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out with his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And he found a new iawebone of an asse, and put forth his hand, and caught it, and slewe a thousand men therewith.
Legacy Standard Bible
to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
Contemporary English Version
Samson glanced around and spotted the jawbone of a donkey. The jawbone had not yet dried out, so it was still hard and heavy. Samson grabbed it and started hitting Philistines—he killed a thousand of them!
Complete Jewish Bible
He found a fresh donkey jawbone, took it in his hand, and with it he struck down a thousand men.
Darby Translation
And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand and took it, and slew with it a thousand men.
George Lamsa Translation
And he found a hard jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand and took it, and slew a thousand men with it.
Good News Translation
Then he found a jawbone of a donkey that had recently died. He reached down and picked it up, and killed a thousand men with it.
Literal Translation
And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and took it. And he struck a thousand men with it.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he founde the cheke bone of a deed asse: then put he forth his hande, and toke it, & slewe a thousande men therwith:
American Standard Version
And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith.
Bible in Basic English
And taking up the mouth-bone of an ass newly dead, which he saw by chance on the earth, he put to death a thousand men with it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he founde a newe iawe bone of an Asse, & put foorth his hande, and caught it, and slue a thousande men therwith.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith.
King James Version (1611)
And he found a new iawbone of an asse, and put foorth his hand, and tooke it, and slewe a thousand men therewith.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he found the jaw-bone of an ass that had been cast away, and he put forth his hand and took it, and smote with it a thousand men.
English Revised Version
And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith.
Berean Standard Bible
He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he took a cheke foundun, that is, the lowere cheke boon of an asse, that lay, `and he killyde `with it a thousinde men; and seide,
Young's Literal Translation
and he findeth a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and putteth forth his hand and taketh it, and smiteth with it -- a thousand men.
Update Bible Version
And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he found a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men with it.
World English Bible
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and struck a thousand men therewith.
New King James Version
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it.
New Living Translation
Then he found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it.
New Life Bible
Samson found a jawbone of a donkey and took it in his hand. He killed 1,000 men with it.
New Revised Standard
Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached down and took it, and with it he killed a thousand men.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then found he the jawbone of an ass newly-slain, - so he thrust forth his hand, and took it, and smote therewith, a thousand men.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And finding a jawbone, even the jawbone of an ass, which lay there, catching it up, he slew therewith a thousand men.
Revised Standard Version
And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it.

Contextual Overview

9 The Philistines went to the land of Judah and stopped near a place named Lehi. Their army camped there. 10 The men of the tribe of Judah asked them, "Why have you Philistines come here to fight us?" They answered, "We have come to get Samson. We want to make him our prisoner. We want to punish him for what he has done to our people." 11 Then 3000 men from the tribe of Judah went to the cave near the Rock of Etam and said to Samson, "What have you done to us? Don't you know that the Philistines rule over us?" Samson answered, "I only punished them for what they did to me." 12 Then they said to Samson, "We have come to tie you up. We will give you to the Philistines." Samson said to the men from Judah, "Promise me that you yourselves will not hurt me." 13 The men from Judah said, "We agree. We will just tie you up and give you to the Philistines. We promise that we will not kill you." So they tied Samson with two new ropes and led him up from the cave in the rock. 14 When Samson came to the place called Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him. They were shouting with joy. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson with great power. Samson broke the ropes—they were like burned strings falling from his arms and the ropes on his hands seemed to melt away. 15 Samson found a jawbone of a dead donkey and killed 1000 Philistine men with it. 16 Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone, I killed 1000 men! With a donkey's jawbone, I piled them into a tall pile." 17 When Samson finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down. So that place was named Ramath Lehi.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

new jawbone: Heb. moist

slew: Judges 3:31, Judges 4:21, Judges 7:16, Leviticus 26:8, Joshua 23:10, 1 Samuel 14:6, 1 Samuel 14:14, 1 Samuel 17:49, 1 Samuel 17:50, 1 Corinthians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 1:28

a thousand: Some would render the words aileph ish, "a chief;" but it is alluph, and not aileph, which signifies a chief; besides which, the Hebrew idiom would, even in that case, require it to be ish alluph, "a man, a chief," and not alluph ish, "a chief, a man." Add to which, that every version renders it "a thousand men."

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 33:22 - General Judges 14:6 - rent him Judges 16:30 - So the dead 1 Samuel 17:40 - staff 1 Corinthians 1:25 - the foolishness

Cross-References

Genesis 15:1
After all these things happened, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. God said, "Abram, don't be afraid. I will defend you and give you a great reward."
Genesis 15:2
But Abram said, "Lord God , there is nothing you can give me that will make me happy, because I have no son. My slave Eliezer from Damascus will get everything I own after I die."
Genesis 15:7
He said to Abram, "I am the Lord who led you from Ur of Babylonia. I did this so that I could give you this land. You will own this land."
Genesis 15:9
God said to Abram, "We will make an agreement. Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon."
Genesis 15:13
Then the Lord said to Abram, "You should know this: Your descendants will live in a country that is not their own. They will be strangers there. The people there will make them slaves and be cruel to them for 400 years.
Genesis 15:16
After four generations your people will come to this land again and defeat the Amorites. That will happen in the future because the Amorites are not yet guilty enough to lose their land."
Genesis 15:19
This is the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
Genesis 23:4
"I am only a foreigner staying in your country. I have no place to bury my wife. Please give me some land so that I can bury her."
Genesis 23:19
After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of that field near Mamre (Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 35:29
Then Isaac became weak and died and went to be with his people. He had lived a long and full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he found a new jawbone of an ass,.... That is, the jawbone of an ass lately killed, which perhaps had some of the flesh upon it, the blood or purulent matter on it; for Jarchi says, he had read in the books of physicians, that the word here used signifies the sanies or purulent matter of a wound; however, it was moist, and fresh, and so tough and strong, and would bear to strike with, and give hard blows with, when an old jawbone would have been dry and brittle; and perhaps the asses of those countries were larger than ours, and so their jawbones bigger and stronger:

and put forth his hand and took it; it lay near him, being so disposed by the providence of God at the time and place where his cords were loosed from him, and he reached and took it up:

and slew one thousand men therewith, such was his great strength, that every blow he gave in all probability killed a man; there have been wonderful things done by mighty warriors, but none like this; they have by the use of warlike weapons destroyed many, as with the sword or spear, but not with such an instrument. One of David's worthies slew three hundred men at one time with his spear, 1 Chronicles 11:11 and Scanderbeg with his sword slew great numbers of the Turks with his own hand at different times; what comes nearest to this is Shamgar's killing six hundred Philistines with an ox goad, Judges 3:31, this may be an emblem of the weak and contemptible means of the Gospel, the foolishness of preaching, by which Christ has conquered and subdued multitudes to himself.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Slew a thousand men therewith - Compare the marginal references. The Philistines, seized with a panic at seeing Samson suddenly burst his cords and rush at them, offered no resistance, but fell an easy prey to the blows of their mighty foe. Some perhaps were dashed down the cliffs in their flight.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 15:15. He found a new jaw-bone of an ass — I rather think that the word טריה teriyah, which we translate new, and the margin moist, should be understood as signifying the tabia or putrid state of the ass from which this jawbone was taken. He found there a dead ass in a state of putrefaction; on which account he could the more easily separate the jaw from its integuments; this was a circumstance proper to be recorded by the historian, and a mark of the providence of God. But were we to understand it of a fresh jaw-bone, very lately separated from the head of an ass, the circumstance does not seem worthy of being recorded.

With the jaw-bore of an ass, heaps upon heaps — I cannot see the propriety of this rendering of the Hebrew words בלחי החמור חמור חמרתים bilchi hachamor, chemor chamorathayim; I believe they should be translated thus: -

"With the jaw-bone of this ass,

an ass (the foal) of two asses;

"With the jaw-bone of this ass

I have slain a thousand men."


This appears to have been a triumphal song on the occasion; and the words are variously rendered both by the versions, and by expositors.


 
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