{"commentary":{"id":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson-Fausset-Brown_Bible_Commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"db3d4c8b3c1f32ef9d1430a57392e02bda3a17aac1f9bbe398461de021a3cb13","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1187,"totalNumberOfVerses":17056,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"JDG","commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Judges","commonName":"Judges","introduction":"JUDGES is the title given to the next book, from its containing the history of those non-regal rulers who governed the Hebrews from the time of Joshua to that of Eli, and whose functions in time of peace consisted chiefly in the administration of justice, although they occasionally led the people in their wars against their public enemies. The date and authorship of this book are not precisely known. It is certain, however, that it preceded the Second Book of Samuel (compare Jdg 9:35 with Sa2 11:21), as well as the conquest of Jerusalem by David (compare Jdg 1:21 with Sa2 5:6). Its author was in all probability Samuel, the last of the judges (see Jdg 19:1; Jdg 21:25), and the date of the first part of it is fixed in the reign of Saul, while the five chapters at the close might not have been written till after David's establishment as king in Israel (see Jdg 18:31). It is a fragmentary history, being a collection of important facts and signal deliverances at different times and in various parts of the land, during the intermediate period of three hundred years between Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy. The inspired character of this book is confirmed by allusions to it in many passages of Scripture (compare Jdg 4:2; Jdg 6:14 with Sa1 12:9-12; Jdg 9:53 with Sa2 11:21; Jdg 7:25 with Psa 83:11; compare Jdg 5:4-5 with Psa 7:5; Jdg 13:5; Jdg 16:17 with Mat 2:13-23; Act 13:20; Heb 11:32). \n\n\n\nNext: Judges Chapter 1\n\n","order":7,"numberOfChapters":21,"sha256":"56260de6c5810f72e979e5068c899bbb72504cad0530fdc66620a70283946904","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/JDG/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"JDG","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":21,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/JDG/21.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"JDG","chapter":21},"totalNumberOfVerses":242},"chapter":{"number":15,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her--This allegation was a mere sham, a flimsy pretext to excuse his refusal of admittance. The proposal he made of a marriage with her younger sister was but an insult to Samson, and one which it was unlawful for an Israelite to accept (Lev 18:18).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["HE BURNS THE PHILISTINES' CORN. (Jdg 15:3-8)\n\nSamson said . . ., Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines--This nefarious conduct provoked the hero's just indignation, and he resolved to take signal vengeance.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["went and caught three hundred foxes--rather, \"jackals\"; an animal between a wolf and a fox, which, unlike our fox, a solitary creature, prowls in large packs or herds and abounds in the mountains of Palestine. The collection of so great a number would require both time and assistance. \n\ntook firebrands--torches or matches which would burn slowly, retaining the fire, and blaze fiercely when blown by the wind. He put two jackals together, tail by tail, and fastened tightly a fire match between them. At nightfall he lighted the firebrand and sent each pair successively down from the hills, into the \"Shefala,\" or plain of Philistia, lying on the borders of Dan and Judah, a rich and extensive corn district. The pain caused by the fire would make the animals toss about to a wide extent, kindling one great conflagration. But no one could render assistance to his neighbor: the devastation was so general, the panic would be so great.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["Who hath done this--The author of this outrage, and the cause that provoked such an extraordinary retaliation, soon became known; and the sufferers, enraged by the destruction of their crops, rushing with tumultuous fury to the house of Samson's wife, \"burnt her and her father with fire.\" This was a remarkable retribution. To avoid this menace, she had betrayed her husband; and by that unprincipled conduct, eventually exposed herself to the horrid doom which, at the sacrifice of conjugal fidelity, she had sought to escape [Jdg 14:15].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["Samson said . . ., Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you--By that act the husbandmen had been the instruments in avenging his private and personal wrongs. But as a judge, divinely appointed to deliver Israel, his work of retribution was not yet accomplished.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["smote them hip and thigh--a proverbial expression for a merciless slaughter. \n\nhe went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam--rather went down and dwelt in the cleft--that is, the cave or cavern of the cliff Etam.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["HE IS BOUND BY THE MEN OF JUDAH, AND DELIVERED TO THE PHILISTINES. (Jdg 15:9-13)\n\nThen the Philistines went up--to the high land of Judah. \n\nand spread themselves in Lehi--now El-Lekieh, abounding with limestone cliffs; the sides of which are perforated with caves. The object of the Philistines in this expedition was to apprehend Samson, in revenge for the great slaughter he had committed on their people. With a view of freeing his own countrymen from all danger from the infuriated Philistines, he allowed himself to be bound and surrendered a fettered prisoner into their power. Exulting with joy at the near prospect of riddance from so formidable an enemy, they went to meet him. But he exerted his superhuman strength, and finding a new (or moist) jawbone of an ass, he laid hold of it, and with no other weapon, slew a thousand men at a place which he called Ramath-lehi--that is, \"the hill of the jawbone.\"\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men--The inadequacy of the weapon plainly shows this to have been a miraculous feat, \"a case of supernatural strength,\" just as the gift of prophecy is a case of supernatural knowledge [CHALMERS].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":19,"content":["a hollow place . . . in the jaw--\"in Lehi\"--taking the word as a proper noun, marking the place. \n\nthere came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again--His strength, exhausted by the violent and long-continued exertion, was recruited by the refreshing draft from the spring; and it was called \n\nEn-hakkore--the \"supplication well,\" a name which records the piety of this heroic champion.\n\n\n\n\nNext: Judges Chapter 16\n\n"]}],"introduction":"SAMSON IS DENIED HIS WIFE. (Jdg 15:1-2)\n\nin the time of wheat harvest--that is, about the end of our April, or the beginning of our May. The shocks of grain were then gathered into heaps, and lying on the field or on the threshing-floors. It was the dry season, dry far beyond our experience, and the grain in a most combustible state. \n\nSamson visited his wife with a kid--It is usual for a visitor in the East to carry some present; in this case, it might be not only as a token of civility, but of reconciliation. \n\nhe said--that is, to himself. It was his secret purpose. \n\ninto the chamber--the female apartments or harem.\n\n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/JDG/15.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"JDG","chapter":15},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/JDG/16.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"JDG","chapter":16},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/JDG/14.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"JDG","chapter":14},"numberOfVerses":9}