Judges 16, Samson and Delilah

Twice Samson has attacked and killed Philistines. After the second attack, he apparently leads Israel (or at least the regions of Judah and Dan) for twenty years.

Judges 16:1-3, Samson visits a prostitute in Gaza

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.

The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him." But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Once again, Samson goes cruising in Philistia, looking for women. He finds a prostitute and spends the night with her. The Philistines see a chance to capture him and wait outside the city gate. But the attempt to trap Samson dramatically fails. He gets up at midnight (not dawn), picks up the city gates (which would have been massive) and carries them into Judah.

This episode occurs sometime during the twenty year reign of Samson. There will be one more episode, this one at the end of his reign. It will also involve a woman -- and this time the woman is named.

Judges 16:4-5, Delilah

Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."

Delilah, like the prostitute, is not to be trusted. But she is the first lover that is named and there are some signs that Samson truly cares for her. The Philistines now recognize that there is something supernatural or magical about Samson's power and seek to find its source. They offer Delilah an enormous sum of money to betray her lover.

Judges 16:6-9, Delilah intervenes

So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."

Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."

Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" 

But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

Delilah, like Samson's wife twenty years before, begs Samson to tell a secret. Samson lies to her and breaks the strings.

Is Samson aware of the men hiding in a nearby room? We don't know.

Judges 16:10-12, Let's try again

Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."

He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

Samson continues to lie to Delilah. But he stays with her, confused apparently, by lust and affection.

Samson is not coming across as a good male model! Nor as a smart one!

Judges 16:13-14, A third attempt

Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied." 

He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." 

So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric and tightened it with the pin. Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" 

He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

Samson defeats Delilah one more time. Throughout this time, apparently Philistine men have been hiding nearby. It is possible that Samson is still unaware of their presence.

Judges 16:15-17, A fourth attempt

Then she said to him, "How can you say, `I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength."

With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."

After three attempts, Delilah continues to nag and beg Samson. Days pass. (This is not a one night stand!) Eventually Samson gives in. In his confession, he not only reveals his secret, but reveals (to us) that he has been aware of the meaning of the Nazirite commitment. By revealing his secret, he releases his commitment to YHWH, essentially breaking covenant.

This answer seems believable; it is not magic but Samson's position as a Nazirite ,fully devoted to YHWH, that has been his strength.

Judges 16:18-19, Delilah tells the Philistine rulers

When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.

Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

Since days have passed, there are no longer men hiding in a nearby room. But Delilah knows that she now has Samson's secret and so sends for the rulers to return. They do so, with the promised silver. and hide nearby. Delilah puts Samson to sleep and has his braided hair shaven.

Judges 16:20-22, Caught

Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" 

He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.

But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Foolish Samson is caught. He has broken covenant with YHWH and no longer has the Spirit of YHWH working through him. The Philistines capture him and then make sure he is defenseless by blinding him. (Samson, who began his conflicts with the Philistines by seeing a Philistine woman now has no eyes to betray him.)

The author hints that Samson may have one last chance, as his hair (and commitment to YHWH) begin to return.

Judges 16:23-26, One last chance

Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands."

When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain."

While they were in high spirits, they shouted, "Bring out Samson to entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. 

When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them."

In celebrating their god, Samson is brought before them. He is led by a servant. The pillars of the temple are mentioned twice; Samson is placed between them.

Judges 16:27-30, Death of Samson

Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform.  Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."

Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

Blinded Samson finally gets one act of revenge. He calls on YHWH and with returning strength, he pushes down the temple supports and destroys the temple of Dagon, killing thousands. In his final act, he does more damage to the Philistines than he had done in all previous acts. 

Judges 16:31, Buriel of Samson

Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.

Samson is buried. We are reminded again that he had led Israel for two decades. (I am not sure what it means for such a chaotic individual to "lead" Israel.)

This tragic figure has greatly weakened the power of the Philistines. The Philistines, approaching Israel from the west, are weakened but not destroyed. They will be a persistent annoyance to Israel until finally subdued during the reign of David.

Some Random Thoughts

As a child, my mother read to me from Hurlbutd Bible, a large book with fascinating engraved pictures. I recall one of Samson pulling down the Philistine temple. It looked something like this.

First published July 11, 2023; updated July 10, 2026

Judges 15, Jackass with a Jawbone

We continue the story of the impulsive Samson. Samson has gotten the attention of the Philistines by killing thirty men and robbing them, all part of a need to pay a debt he created at his wedding feast.

Judges 15:1-5, "I gave her to your friend"

Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room." 

But her father would not let him go in. "I was so sure you thoroughly hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your friend. Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead."

Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them."

So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

Four months later, as if nothing has happened, Samson shows up at the woman's home and expects to go to her room. The stunned father says that he married her to someone else. But the woman has a younger sister that is even more attractive, says the father. Samson is insulted and, again, impulsively starts a fight with the Philistines. His revenge, like the events of the last chapter, include control over animals. This time Samson releases foxes with burning tails into the fields and storage sites of the Philistines.

Judges 15:6-8, Revenge and more revenge

When the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" they were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his friend." So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.

Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I won't stop until I get my revenge on you." He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.

The story gets more brutal. Wife and father-in-law, who have attempted to appease Samson at every turn, are killed in revenge for Samson burning the fields. Responding to this escalation, Samson wades into a band of Philistines and kills many of them. Then he retreats back to Israel. (The Old Testament town of Etam is in Judah, many miles east of Timnath.)

Although the Philistines are always the enemy here, I see no one -- Philistine or Samson -- who could claim to be good.

Judges 15:9-13, Captured

The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. The men of Judah asked, "Why have you come to fight us?" 

"We have come to take Samson prisoner," they answered, "to do to him as he did to us."

Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Don't you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?" 

He answered, "I merely did to them what they did to me."

They said to him, "We've come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." 

Samson said, "Swear to me that you won't kill me yourselves."

"Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you." 

So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.

Verse 11 is a mantra for many men (and women), "I merely did to them what they did to me." It never ends well.

The Israelites want to appease the Philistines and avoid violence, so they confront Samson. Samson agrees to be tied up.  The ropes are new, thus strong.

Throughout Samson's life, Israelites are forced to decide what they will do with Samson. Their desire to appease the more powerful Philistines will be in conflict with Samson's violent nature.

Judges 15:14-17, Killing a thousand with a jawbone

As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men."

When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.

Samson, tied up, finds that the bonds won't hold him. He has used a lion and foxes before. Here he grabs the fresh jawbone of a donkey and kills Philistines with that simple tool. 

There is wordplay in verse 16. According to the NIV footnotes, Samson's statement, "I have made donkeys of them" could be translated "I have made a heap or two" as the Hebrew chamor (חֲמוֹר) for "donkey" sounds like the Hebrew chomer (חֹמֶר) for "heap".

Ramath Lehi means "Jawbone Hill." It is named for this slaughter.

Judges 15:18-20, En Hakkore

Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.

Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Samson, after defeating the Philistines, begs for water and is given it. Prior to this, we have seen no indication that Samson acknowledges YHWH in any way. He seems to be keeping with the Nazirite tradition, but, unlike previous judges, does not seek YHWH's guidance for his actions.

This spring, caused by God's respond in the "hollow" near Lehi, is named En Hakkore, which means "caller's spring". That spring persists at least until the time of the author of Judges.

This chapter ends by saying that Samson lead Israel for twenty years. We hear no details about this leadership but presumably Samson's violence has forced the Philistines to back away for a time.

First published July 10, 2023; updated July 10, 2026

Judges 14, A Lion and a Wife

We now follow the story of an impulsive, powerful Hebrew named Samson. Samson has been set aside since before his conception, set aside as a Nazirite (Numbers 6), fully consecrated to YHWH.

Judges 14:1-4, I want that woman

Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."

His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?" 

But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She's the right one for me." (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)

Timnah was in Philistine territory, probably just west of the region given to Dan. Samson's first recorded statement as an adult is "I want her!" This sets the tone for Samson's life: he is impulsive and demanding -- and often chasing women. There seems to be little self-control. His life follows the mantra of Judges, "each did what was right in his own eyes."

Samson's parents want him to choose an Israelite woman for his wife. But Samson is stubborn and demands the unnamed Philistine woman.

This may "be from the LORD" but Samson's impulsive desire for different women will end his life. That desire will also force Israel into conflict with the Philistines and greatly weaken the Philistine control of the region.

Judges 14:5-9, Killing a lion

Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.

Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.

Samson goes with his parents to the woman's home in Timnah. At some point he is separated from his parents (does he insist on traveling by himself?) and a young lion attacks him. Samson is endowed by the Spirit of YHWH with inhuman strength and so kills the lion. On a later trip, presumably for the marriage ceremony, he gets honey from a beehive built in the lion's carcass.

Judges 14:10-14, A riddle for Philistine companions

Now his father went down to see the woman. And Samson made a feast there, as was customary for bridegrooms. When he appeared, he was given thirty companions.

"Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes." 

"Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."

He replied, "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." 

For three days they could not give the answer.

This has the feel of ancient stories -- a wedding riddle and a challenge. Although this might seem to be part of the party, Samson's wager attached to the riddle has raised the stakes to the point that one side or the other will be financially ruined. (In that day and culture, in which many people only had a single robe, see Deuteronomy 24:12-13, thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes is a serious investment.) There is also an undercurrent of hostility in this feast (says Barry Webb): Samson has been "given" thirty Philistine companions. Are the Philistines suspicious of this Israelite who has demanded this woman as a wife?

As for the expensive wager, solving the riddle requires inside information. Only someone who observed the events with the lions, or who heard about it, could possibly have a guess at the answer.

Judges 13:15-17, The fourth day

On the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father's household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?"

Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer." 

"I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?"

She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

(According to the NIV footnotes, some ancient manuscripts have the men talking to Samson's wife on the seventh day, not the fourth.)

The companions are friends and relatives of the wife. They are unhappy about Samson's riddle and threaten to kill the woman and her family. The unnamed woman then goes to her husband, begging, weeping, crying, until he gives in. She then betrays Samson and passes on the story.

Judges 14:18-19, Solution -- and Revenge

Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" 

Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle."

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house.

The Philistine men come to Samson just before the riddle deadline and give him the solution. Samson knows how they got the answer and angrily accuses them of "plowing his heifer." He then (under the Spirit of YHWH!) gets angry and pays his debt by killing thirty Philistines and taking their belongings. He then goes home. 

Although Samson's act is empowered by YHWH's Spirit, it is violent and impulsive. Samson seems to have no genuine affection for the woman or her family.  His violence, his murders and robberies, certainly stir up the Philistines.

Judges 13: 20, Of course

And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.

Samson created violence and murder and then went home. So the father of his Philistine wife gives her away to someone else.

First published July 8, 2023; updated July 8, 2026

Judges 13, Birth of a Nazirite

In the cycle of idolatry, slavery, repentance and delivery, we have moved past the reign of Jephthah and on to the most colorful and depressing individual in our collection of judges.

Judges 13:1-5, A Nazirite child

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. 

"No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."

The Philistines tended to come from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Israel. The tribe of Dan, at this time, was on the southwestern corner of Canaan, near what is now the Gaza Strip. As the tribe closest to land controlled by the Philistines, Dan would suffer the most under their hand.

The visitation of an angel announces a temporary savior for the Israelites.

The mother is to drink no alcoholic drink and not eat anything unclean. She is to act like a Nazirite, presumably until his birth. Her son will follow the Nazirite restrictions, including not cutting his hair. The Nazirite commitment is an sign of being fully committed to YHWH. (The Nazirite commitment is described in Numbers 6. It includes not touching dead bodies.)

Judges 13:6-9, Manoah prays

Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. But he said to me, `You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.'"

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born." 

God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.

The unnamed mother communicates this angelic visitation to her husband. Her husband, who is named, is surprised and want to see the supernatural messenger. He prays and ask YHWH for another visit, including guidance on how to bring up this future son. When the messenger returns, he returns to the woman.

Judges 13:10-18, Manoah talks to the messenger

The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"

Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?" 

"I am," he said.

So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?"

The angel of the LORD answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her."

Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you."

The angel of the LORD replied, "Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD." (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the LORD.)

Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"

He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."

This is one of the longest recorded Scripture conversations with an angel. Manoah seems skeptical and wants more information. Following the customs of the time, he invites the angel to eat. The angel agrees to stay but says he won't eat. When asked his name, the messenger refuses to give it, saying essentially, "It is beyond you." One wonders if this means, "It is unpronounceable to humans" or "You have no clue as to what my name means".

Judges 13: 19-23, The angel ascends in flame

Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.

When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.

"We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"

But his wife answered, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."

What a strange and supernatural event! The messenger provides the flash fire for the sacrifice and then disappears in the flame. Manoah now understands that the messenger is supernatural and so he is frightened. His reaction, "We will die!" is met by a calm wife who seems to say, "Get a grip. His plans don't work if we die." Barry Webb, in his commentary on Judges, argues that Manoah is portrayed throughout this chapter as always being a bit slow and behind his wife in understanding the events.

Judges 13:24-25, The child is born

The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Another judge is born in Israel. His life will be one of conflict, of great successes and tragic failures.

First published July 7, 2023; updated July 7, 2026

Judges 12, Shibboleth

Jehpthah, warrior, ruffian, son of a prostitute, has called on YHWH and has then defeated the Ammonites.

Judges 12:1-4, Ephraim, again

The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head."

Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands. When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?"

Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh."

Just as with Gideon, we hear of the men of Ephraim whining that they did not get to fight. This time the result is warfare between Ephraim and the men of Gilead, soldiers of Jephthah. This is the first account of warfare between the tribes of Israel.

Judges 12:5-6, Shibboleth

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?"

If he replied, "No,"they said, "All right, say `Shibboleth.'" If he said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. 

Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

Each language or dialect has some sounds it does not make or cannot hear. Adults in that linguistic environment have difficulties learning these new sounds. (Examples abound: the rolled 'r' of Mexican speech, the umlauts of German speech, Chinese difficulties with r/l....)  In this case, the Ephraimites cannot pronounce 'sh', and hear only 's'. That dialectical difficulty is used against them. This passage, with its strange word, has brought the word "shibboleth" (שִׁבֹּל) into the English language; "shibboleth" now represents a custom or tradition that separates people.

An Old Testament times the Hebrew alphabet had 22 letters. Eventually, the letter sin/shin (שְׂ/שִׁ) became two letters, and so, whether one studies biblical Hebrew or modern Hebrew, one will learn that there are 23 Hebrew letters. Is that change related to the difficulties of separating s from sh?

The account of Ephraimites killed is "42 eleph". This could be 42 "clans" or "military units".  The number 42,000 exceeds the total population of Ephraim according to the census in Numbers 26:37. (See a Sunday essay on "The Problem of Large Numbers in the Old Testament.")

Judges 12: 7-15, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon

Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in a town in Gilead.

After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died, and was buried in Bethlehem.

After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. Then Elon died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. Then Abdon son of Hillel died, and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

There are more judges, powerful men with many sons and daughters. The narrator hurries through these three judges in order to get to the most colorful -- and most broken -- judge of them all.  

First published July 6, 2023; updated July 6, 2026

Herem, Fully Devoted

The Hebrew language is a rich and ancient language with many words that do not carry over directly into English. These words are often translated with a variety of English words or phrases. We will look at some of these as we go through the Old Testament.  As we study the book of Joshua, we need to look at the word herem.

חֵרֶם

The New International Version of the Bible, which I have been using for this blog, often translates herem as "totally destroyed." In one edition of the NIV, that translation often comes with a footnote acknowledging that the word could also be translated "fully devoted." Throughout the book of Joshua, the word is used to describe property or people conquered during the battle for a city. The first such city is Jericho, where the term herem is used in Joshua's instructions in Joshua 6:17. 

There is a strange duality in the word. Something that was "fully devoted" to YHWH was unavailable to us in the mortal realm. If it was a sacrificed bull, the bull was burnt and turned over to God. If precious metals, jewelry, beautiful cloths were "fully devoted" then they were put into the temple treasury. (See Joshua 6:19 for the instructions on property seized at Jericho.) But if pagan people, during the Joshua campaigns, were to be "fully devoted" to YHWH then, like the sacrificed bull, they were to be killed, destroyed. The strange duality of the word comes in the fact that sometimes herem meant "set aside as sacred" and other times meant "destroyed" -- in either case, the herem objects were separated from normal human environment.

Any modern reader of the Old Testament book of Joshua will react to God's commandments to annihilate the people of Canaan! These divine commands are explained (in the text) as a reaction by YHWH to the gross immorality of the Canaanites (such as child sacrifice) as first suggested in Genesis 15:12-21 and as a protection against the rampant idolatry of the people. This "total destruction" may have allowed a few local inhabitants to convert to worship of YHWH (Rahab in Joshua 2, Ruth much later) or to make treaties (the Gibeonites in Joshua 9.)

The "herem" instructions in Joshua were part of a plan to make the nation of Israel a special devoted theocracy, ruled by YHWH. The nation was then to be a beacon to the rest of the world. Those instructions were unique to the early nation of Israel. After the book of Joshua, the remainder of the Old Testament is a testimony to the failure of that theocracy, first through a set of broken and dysfunctional judges and then through a period of equally dysfunctional kings.  

One should be very careful about reading the book of Joshua into our modern culture. The only Biblical theocracy was Israel and it was, in many ways, an abject failure.  

Regardless of the country one resides in today, that country 

is not a theocracy and there is no instruction regarding herem! 

For the Christian, this is clearest in passages such as John 8:1-11 where Jesus confronts men who want to stone an adulteress and in 1 Corinthians 5:9-12 where Paul suggests discipline for a persistent sexual practice and then tells the church not to judge those outside the church! In neither case is there a hint of a theocracy. There is no suggestion that one might apply either herem or the Old Testament Law to the general populace.

Russell Moore has a thoughtful warning about abusing the Joshua text in an article, The Joshua Generation and the Paradox of Power, in Christianity Today.  The concept of a ruling religious Taliban is not a Christian concept!

The concept of herem, with Hebrew letters H-R-M, meaning "set aside" or "sacred", evolved into an Arabic word, harim, a sacred sanctuary where women lived. (See here and here.) The modern spelling for that word is harem. A harem is a safe place "fully devoted" to women.  That word has then lost the connotation "totally destroyed" -- unless, I guess, you are an adult male crashing the harem!

First published June 11, 2023; updated July 5, 2026

Judges 11, Jephthah

A number of judges have come and gone, as Israel descends into idolatry and slavery. The latest oppressors are the Philistines (invading from the Mediterranean coast to the west) and Ammonites (invading from the east.) The people of Israel have once again cried out to YHWH and begged for both forgiveness and salvation. YHWH has decided (somewhat reluctantly?) to answer their plea, but there may be few people of character left for YHWH to use. 

Judges 11:1-3, Jephthah

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman."

So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him.

Jephthah, the son of a prostitute, is driven away by his step brothers. Exiled to a land call Tob, he draws a gang of ruffians around him. (The location of Tob is unclear but was probably east of Gilead, which itself was just east of the Jordan.)

Judges 11:4-10, Commitment to Jephthah

Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. "Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites."

Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?"

The elders of Gilead said to him, "Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be our head over all who live in Gilead."

Jephthah answered, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me--will I really be your head?"

The elders of Gilead replied, "The LORD is our witness; we will certainly do as you say."

The elders of Gilead change their mind and go to Jephthah and ask him to lead an army.  (Presumably there is something they recognize in Jephthah, most likely his leadership of a band of warriors in a nearby region.)

As we move through the book of Judges, we see less and less of YHWH.  Here the name YHWH is invoked in a conversation between the elders of Gilead and Jephthah but there is no indication that the people are following the covenant of Moses or have any interest in throwing off the idolatry mentioned in the previous chapter.

Judges 11:11-13, Conversation with Ammonites

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: "What do you have against us that you have attacked our country?"

The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah's messengers, "When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably."

Jephthah is made commander of the people of Gilead and now seems to directly invoke YHWH at Mizpah. He begins a communication with the Ammonite leaders, who claim they want their land back, land taken previously when the Israelites came out of Egypt.

Judges 11:14-22, Response of Jephthah

Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, saying: "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the desert to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, `Give us permission to go through your country,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

Next they traveled through the desert, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.

"Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, `Let us pass through your country to our own place.'

Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his men and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.

"Then the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his men into Israel's hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.

Jephthah is giving the Ammonite king a history lesson, summarizing the exodus and the forty years of desert wandering. The emphasis here is probably not on history but is a verbal defense of Israel's side in the upcoming war.

Judges 11:23-27, Don't fight me!

"Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess.

Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn't you retake them during that time?

I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites."

Jephthah argues that the Ammonites took over the land of the defeated Amorites and that centuries have since gone by. In this dispute, Jephthah invokes the names of both YHWH (his God) and Chemosh (the god of the Ammonites.) Jephthah's view of YHWH is not clear but he does recount the history of Israel since the exodus.

Judges 11:28-33, Jephthah attacks the Ammonites

The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."

Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

The Ammonites ignore Jephthah's argument. Jephthah then is suddenly under the influence of the "Spirit of YHWH" and advances on the Ammonites. In this process, Jephthah makes a rash vow. Barry Webb, in his commentary on Judges, argues that Jephthah has a very shallow view of God and essentially offers God a bribe.

The vow Jephthah makes is both strange and foolish.  (What does he expect to come out of his door to meet him?)

Judges 11:34-40, Foolish vows

When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.

When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."

"My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry."

"You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite custom that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jephthah's daughter, like Miriam before her, celebrates victory by dancing and playing on a drumhead. Her interlude in the hills with her friends initiates an Israelite custom for young women.

It is not clear what happens to Jephthah's only daughter.  She, at least, is "consecrated" to God and cannot marry.  A Jewish webpage suggests that the consecration need not include death. That website provides both some interpretation of the Hebrew words and the fact that the girl's virginity is mentioned, a rather useless statement if she is put to death. That site argues that her consecration is to serving God as a single woman. A Christian website makes a somewhat similar argument. Surely killing one's daughter in sacrifice violates the Mosaic Law; child sacrifice was practiced by the worshipers of Molech and vigorously condemned. However, Barry Webb, in his commentary on Judges, argues that Jephthah probably sees YHWH as the local god whom he bribed to defeat Chemosh, local god of Ammon.  In that case, Jephthah has little genuine knowledge of YHWH.

First published July 5, 2023; updated July 4, 2026