Matthew Henry Commentary Judges 15
Matthew Henry Commentary
Judges 15
Matthew Henry Commentary
Judges 15
"But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Samson said unto them, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I do them a mischief. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the oliveyards. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. And Samson said unto them, If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 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." — Judges 15:1-8 (ASV)
When there are differences between relatives, let those be considered the wisest and best who are most ready to forgive or forget, and most willing to humble themselves and yield for the sake of peace.
Regarding the means Samson employed, we must look at the power of God supplying them and making them successful, to humble the pride and punish the wickedness of the Philistines.
The Philistines threatened Samson's wife that they would burn her and her father's house. She, to save herself and please her countrymen, betrayed her husband.
And the very thing that she feared, and by sin sought to avoid, came upon her! She and her father's house were burned with fire by her own countrymen—the very ones she thought to please by the wrong she did to her husband.
The trouble we seek to escape by any unlawful practices, we often bring down upon our own heads.
"Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they said, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what then is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. When he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath-lehi." — Judges 15:9-17 (ASV)
Sin dispirits people; 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. In the same way, 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 loosened. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, and those are free indeed who are set free in this way. In the same way, Christ triumphed over the powers of darkness that shouted against Him, as if they had Him in their power. Samson brought 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, so that the excellence of the power might be from God, not from man. This victory was not in the weapon, was not in the arm; but it was in the Spirit of God, who moved the weapon by the arm. We can do all things through Him that strengtheneth us.
If you see a poor Christian who is enabled to overcome a temptation by weak, feeble counsel, there is the Philistine vanquished by an insignificant jawbone.
"And he was sore athirst, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised. But God clave the hollow place that is in Lehi, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore the name thereof was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, unto this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years." — Judges 15:18-20 (ASV)
So little notice did the men of Judah take of their deliverer, that he was ready to perish for lack of a drink of water. Thus, the greatest slights are often put upon those who perform the greatest services.
Samson prayed to God in this distress. Those who forget to attend God with their praises may be compelled to attend Him with their prayers. Past experiences of God's power and goodness are excellent pleas in prayer for further mercy. He pleads his being exposed to God's enemies; our best pleas are taken from God's glory.
The Lord sent him timely relief. The place of this action was called Lehi, its name derived from the jaw-bone. And in the place so named, God caused a fountain suddenly and timely to open, near Samson.
We should be more thankful for the mercy of water, if we considered how difficult it is to be without it. Israel submitted to him whom they had betrayed. God was with him; henceforth they were directed by him as their judge.
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