Judges 15:14–20, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 15:14–20
The Spirit breaks the cords, and thirst checks triumph
The Spirit parts the cords at Lehi
When Samson comes to Lehi, the Philistines shout against him. The Spirit of the LORD rushes on him. The cords on his arms become as flax burned with fire, and his bands drop. He finds a fresh jawbone of an ass, takes it, and kills a thousand men. The feat is narrated as deliverance power against an armed force that came for him.
The song celebrates the heap; thirst breaks the boast
He says, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps; with the jaw of an ass I have slain a thousand men. He throws the bone away and names the place Ramath-lehi. Then he is sore athirst and calls on the LORD: you have given this great deliverance into the hand of your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? God splits the hollow place at Lehi; water comes; he drinks, spirit returns, and he revives. The spring is named En-hakkore, the spring of the caller.
Only in thirst does he name himself servant and the deliverance as given. The body that piled heaps cannot make water. He judges Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines: long tenure inside unfinished occupation, not a completed conquest.
How this should shape us
After a dramatic success, tell the cost truthfully, credit help, and attend to bodily limits. Spirit-enabled strength in this scene is not a modern warrant for mass killing, and Philistines here are not a code for any living people.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 15:14–20 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: Interpretations range from heroic celebration to antiheroic parody. The juxtaposition of feat, boast, thirst, prayer, and incomplete rule supports a deliberately complex portrait.
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 15:14–20, 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, 15:14–20
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 478-479, translation and notes on 15:14–20
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
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 15:14–20, 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, 15:14–20
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 15:14–20
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 ↗