Judges 15:1–8, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 15:1–8
Marriage grievance escalates through fields and fire
Access is denied, and another woman is offered
Later, in wheat harvest, Samson brings a kid and goes in to his wife in her chamber. Her father will not let him. He says he thought Samson utterly hated her, so he gave her to Samson's companion, and offers the younger sister as better. The failed marriage is handled as male transfer. Neither woman is asked.
Crops burn, then the household burns
Samson says he will be more blameless than the Philistines in what he does. He catches three hundred foxes or jackals, ties firebrands between tails, and sends them through standing grain, shocks, vineyards, and olives. Asked who did this, the Philistines hear it was Samson, because the Timnite took his wife and gave her to his companion. They burn her and her father with fire.
The arson threat of the wedding week is now inflicted on the woman who was already coerced. Samson's agricultural sabotage does not land only on fighters. Food, animals, and a household absorb men's property quarrel.
Vengeance answers vengeance, then he withdraws
Samson says, Though you have done this, yet will I be avenged, and after that I will cease. He smites them hip and thigh with a great slaughter and goes down to dwell in the rock of Etam. "Cease" is his timetable, not a court's. The cycle has already widened past any original grievance.
How this should shape us
Do not treat women as interchangeable compensation, and do not answer a broken promise by burning livelihoods, animals, or families. Interrupt revenge before relatives and food supplies become the next target.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 15:1–8 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Questions about marriage status and Samson's claim affect legal reconstruction, but not the scene's clear escalation and harm to people without meaningful control.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 15:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 15:1–8
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 478-479, translation and notes on 15:1–8
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 285-340
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Supports: Antiheroic masculinity, women under threat, secrecy, coercion, power, and the distinction between divine use and approval in the Samson cycle.
Mohale, 'A dangerous and powerful woman?' complete open-access article, pp. 1-7, especially pp. 3-6 on Judges 14
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 15:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 15:1–8
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 478-479, translation and notes on 15:1–8
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 285-340
Open source ↗doctoral thesis repository record
Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges: An Inductive, Rhetorical Study
Gregory T. K. Wong
University of Edinburgh, 2005
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Exact location: Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access article
A dangerous and powerful woman? A feminist reading of an old story with new cultural eyes
Makhosazana K. Mohale
Verbum et Ecclesia 43.1, a2558, 2022
Supports: Antiheroic masculinity, women under threat, secrecy, coercion, power, and the distinction between divine use and approval in the Samson cycle.
Exact location: Mohale, 'A dangerous and powerful woman?' complete open-access article, pp. 1-7, especially pp. 3-6 on Judges 14
Open source ↗