Judges 15:18 · Bible study
Judges 15:18 Commentary: The Paradox of Deliverance and Despair
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does Samson, fresh from victory, fear dying of thirst? This study explores the raw honesty of his lament and God's miraculous provision at En Hakkore.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Samson, after a great victory, cries out to God in physical desperation, acknowledging God’s deliverance while fearing he will die of thirst.
- Key words: Yitzma (he was thirsty, Qal perfect), qara (called out, a cry for help), teshuah (victory/deliverance, often used of salvation granted by God).
- Main debate: Whether the thirst was a natural result of exertion or a divine chastening for self-glorification; most commentators see it as natural.
- Theological theme: Human weakness existing alongside divine enablement; God’s faithfulness to answer the raw prayers of his servants.
- Best use: Teaching on honest lament in prayer and the God who provides for his exhausted people.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
WEB World English Bible 2000
He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
KJV King James Version 1769
And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
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.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and he thirsteth exceedingly, and calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Thou--Thou hast given by the hand of Thy servant this great salvation; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And he was very thirsty, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given by the hand of thy servant this great deliverance, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And being very thirsty, he cried to the Lord, and said: Thou hast given this very great deliverance and victory into the hand of thy servant: and behold I die for thirst, and shall fall into the hands of the uncircumcised.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y teniendo gran sed, clamó luego á Jehová, y dijo: Tú has dado esta gran salud por mano de tu siervo: ¿ y moriré yo ahora de sed, y caeré en mano de los incircuncisos?
E tendo grande sede, clamou logo ao SENHOR, e disse: Tu deste esta grande salvação por meio de teu servo: e morrerei eu agora de sede, e cairei em mão dos incircuncisos?
Pressé par la soif, il invoqua l’ Éternel, et dit: C’ est toi qui as permis par la main de ton serviteur cette grande délivrance; et maintenant mourrais-je de soif, et tomberais-je entre les mains des incirconcis?
Da ihn aber sehr dürstete, rief er den HERRN an und sprach: Du hast solch großes Heil gegeben durch die Hand deines Knechtes; nun aber muß ich Durstes sterben und in der Unbeschnittenen Hände fallen.
Als nu hem zeer dorstte, zo riep hij tot den HEERE, en zeide: Gij hebt door de hand van Uw knecht dit grote heil gegeven; zou ik dan nu van dorst sterven, en vallen in de hand dezer onbesnedenen?
Poi ebbe gran sete; e invocò l’Eterno, dicendo: “Tu hai concesso questa gran liberazione per mano del tuo servo; e ora, dovrò io morir di sete e cader nelle mani degli incirconcisi?”
Zatem upragnął bardzo, i zawołał do Pana mówiąc: Tyś dał przez rękę sługi twego to wybawienie wielkie, a teraz umrę od pragnienia, albo wpadnę w ręce nieobrzezańców.
И почувствовал сильную жажду и воззвал к Господу и сказал: Ты соделал рукою раба Твоего великое спасение сие; а теперь умру я от жажды, и попаду в руки необрезанных.
參孫甚 覺口渴，就求告 耶和華 說：「你 既藉僕人 的手 施行 這麼 大 的拯救，豈可 任我渴 死、落在 未受割禮 的人手中呢？」
After this, he was in great need of water, and crying out to the Lord, he said, You have given this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and now need of water will be my death; and I will be given into the hands of this people who are without circumcision.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Judges 15:18
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Samson’s thirst is the natural result of extreme physical exertion in the heat of harvest season. Keil and Delitzsch note that “the pursuit of the Philistines…had exhausted Samson, so that he was very thirsty, and feared that he might die from exhaustion.” Matthew Henry adds that this was “a natural effect of the great heat he had been in” and that God permitted it to keep Samson from pride, showing him “that he was but a man.”
Despite his exhaustion, Samson does not turn away from God. He “called on Yahweh,” acknowledging that the deliverance came from God: “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant.” Gill observes that Samson “owns the deliverance to be great, as indeed it was, and that it was of the Lord, and he only his servant and instrument in it.” Yet in the same breath he laments the possibility of dying of thirst and falling into the hands of the uncircumcised. This juxtaposition, praise followed by fear, reveals the raw honesty of a man who trusts God but feels his own frailty keenly. The commentators uniformly see this as a cry of dependence, not unbelief.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Natural exhaustion view: Keil & Delitzsch and Matthew Henry emphasize the physical exertion and heat; the thirst is not a rebuke but a human limitation that drives Samson to prayer.
- Momentary lapse of faith: Some readers detect fear that contradicts the earlier confidence; the prayer seems to question whether God will complete what he started (supported by the abrupt shift from praise to complaint).
- Typological view: Gill sees the thirst as a type of Christ's thirst on the cross; both come after a great deliverance and reveal the cost of victory for the deliverer.
What is clear: Samson attributes the victory to God, expresses his urgent physical need, and God miraculously provides water, answering the cry of his servant.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Cause of Samson's thirst | Commentators agree that Samson was physically exhausted from the battle, and that the heat of the harvest season contributed to his dehydration. | Josephus (as cited by Gill) suggests the thirst was a divine rebuke for Samson's failure to credit God in his victory song, while most modern commentators (Keil & Delitzsch, Matthew Henry) treat it as a purely natural consequence of exertion. |
| Nature of Samson's faith in this prayer | All agree Samson calls on Yahweh and acknowledges the deliverance as God's work through his servant. | Some interpret the plea as a lapse of trust (fearing God would not provide), while others see it as a model of honest lament that holds gratitude and desperation together without contradiction. |
| The water source at Lehi | The text says God split a hollow place (maktesh) at Lehi and water came out. The spring was named En Hakkore. | Some Jewish tradition (cited by Keil & Delitzsch) held that the water came from a tooth socket in the discarded jawbone, while most modern scholars think the rock formation called Lehi was cleft by God to produce water, similar to the miracle at Horeb. |
| Typological significance | Gill sees Samson's thirst as a type of Christ's 'I thirst' on the cross. Both are moments of physical weakness after accomplishing a great deliverance. | Whether the typology is deliberate or coincidental is debated; some treat it as a thematic parallel while others caution against overreading the typology. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The events of Judges 15 take place during the period of Philistine domination over Israel, a time when the Spirit of the Lord raised up judges to deliver his people. Samson’s encounter at Lehi follows his earlier exploits: burning the Philistines’ fields and then being handed over by his own countrymen of Judah to the Philistines (Judges 15:9, 13). The Philistines came against him in force at Lehi, and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily upon Samson, enabling him to strike down a thousand men with the fresh jawbone of a donkey (v. 15).
The name “Lehi” means “jawbone,” and popular etymology preserved in the narrative connects the place to the instrument of victory. After the battle, Samson threw away the jawbone, and the location was called Ramath Lehi, “the height of the jawbone” (v. 17). It was then, in the aftermath of his great exertion, that Samson became dangerously thirsty. The time of year was the wheat harvest (Judges 15:1), and therefore hot summer weather, which intensified his need for water.
In his desperation, Samson cried out to Yahweh. His prayer echoes the pattern of earlier deliverances: the people cried to the Lord in their distress, and God raised up a savior. But here the deliverer himself is in distress. The miracle that follows, water from the hollow place at Lehi, parallels God’s provision of water from the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:6) and at Kadesh (Numbers 20:11). The spring that gushed forth was named En Hakkore, “the spring of the one who called,” a lasting memorial to the fact that God heard and answered the cry of his exhausted servant.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Judges 15:18. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts. Lange’s commentary includes a grammatical note on the word likrato (towards/against) in verse 14, but this does not affect verse 18. The primary interpretive questions revolve around the meaning and emphasis of the prayer, not the textual transmission.
Reception History
This verse has been used in Christian tradition to illustrate the vulnerability of God’s servants even after great victories. Matthew Henry (1710) saw in it a check to pride: “God would hereby keep him from being proud of his great strength.” Gill (1748) drew a direct typological link to Christ’s cry of thirst from the cross, finding in Samson’s exhaustion a foreshadowing of the suffering Messiah. The spring En Hakkore, “well of the one who called,” became a memorial for the tradition that God hears and answers the cries of his people in their extremity. In Jewish tradition, the story was read as an example of God’s provision for a faithful, if flawed, deliverer. The naming of the place preserved the memory of divine help for generations.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Victory does not remove physical weakness. Samson’s great deliverance left him parched and near death. The same God who gives triumph also permits us to feel our limits.
- Raw honesty in prayer is not a lack of faith. Samson credits God for the victory, then immediately voices his terror of dying among the uncircumcised. He brings his fear directly to the Lord.
- God answers the desperate cry of his servants. The Lord split the hollow place at Lehi and provided water, reviving Samson’s spirit. The spring was named to memorialize his call.
Five-point outline
- Context of the cry: After superhuman exertion, Samson is physically spent. The heat and exhaustion are real.
- Content of the prayer: He begins with gratitude, acknowledging God as the source of deliverance, then moves to lament: “Now shall I die of thirst?”
- Contradiction and trust: The prayer sounds contradictory, but it shows a man who believes God is powerful enough to hear his fear and act.
- Divine provision: God splits the ground and gives water, not rebuking Samson for his complaint but meeting his need.
- Lasting testimony: En Hakkore remains as a witness that God answers the one who calls in desperation.
Illustration hooks
- A runner who finishes a marathon and collapses at the finish line, gasping for water, the victory doesn’t erase the physical cost.
- A parent who has just navigated a family crisis and then breaks down over something small like a dropped grocery bag, strength spent leaves room for sudden vulnerability.
- An athlete who thanks the coach for the winning play but then asks for a timeout because they can’t breathe, gratitude and need coexist.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Is it okay to complain to God right after thanking him?
- Why does God let me feel so weak right after a spiritual victory?
- Does my desperation mean my faith is failing?
Leading a Discussion
Samson’s prayer may sound contradictory, first praising God for a great victory, then crying out in fear of dying of thirst. But this passage shows that real faith does not pretend to be strong when it is weak. Samson brought his raw need to the Lord, and God answered. Use these questions to explore the tension between human weakness and divine faithfulness.
Discussion questions
- Read Judges 15:18. What emotions do you hear in Samson's prayer? How would you describe his tone?
- Samson acknowledges that the deliverance came from God (“You have given”). Why is it important that he starts his prayer with gratitude?
- The word for “deliverance” here is teshuah, which often carries the idea of salvation granted by God through a human agent. How does Samson’s use of this word shape your understanding of his role?
- Why do you think Samson feared “fall into the hands of the uncircumcised”? What would that loss mean for the victory he had just won?
- Compare Samson’s cry with the prayer of Jesus on the cross (“I thirst,” John 19:28). What similarities do you see? What differences?
- How does God respond to Samson’s complaint? Does he rebuke him, or does he provide for his need? What does this tell you about God’s character?
- In what situations have you felt a mix of gratitude and desperate need toward God? How do you reconcile these two postures in prayer?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 12:12 | It will happen that when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive. |
| Genesis 12:13 | Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.” |
| Genesis 20:11 | Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ |
| Genesis 32:31 | The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. |
| Judges 8:4 | Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. |
| Judges 16:28 | Samson called to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” |
| I Samuel 17:26 | David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” |
| I Samuel 17:36 | Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke observes that Samson's extreme thirst was simply the natural consequence of the tremendous physical exertion he had just endured in battle. There is no need to look for a special or miraculous cause.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge editors note that the Deuteronomistic formula usually marking a judge’s death appears here before Samson’s story ends, suggesting the editor originally closed the account at this point and that chapter 16 was added later. They also record a Rabbinic proposal to change the twenty years of his judgeship to the forty years stated in Judges 13:1.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note highlights the irony Samson prays about: God granted a great victory, yet he now faces death from simple thirst. The point is that deliverance does not remove all danger; even after triumph, the faithful must still cry to God for every need, large or small.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill rejects Josephus’s view that Samson’s thirst was a rebuke for taking credit. He explains it naturally as exhaustion from battle, but also sees it as a type of Christ, who likewise said "I thirst" on the cross. Samson’s prayer acknowledges the deliverance came from God, not his own strength.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch argue against the idea that water came from a tooth socket in the jawbone. They note the text says "the maktesh which is at Lechi," indicating a named hollow in the rock. The fountain's continued existence in the historian's day confirms God split a rock crevice.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange emphasizes the depth of Judah's spiritual decay: three thousand armed men come not to support their deliverer but to
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees Samson's extreme thirst as God's way of humbling him after the great victory, keeping him from pride over his strength. It may also have been a quiet rebuke for taking the glory himself instead of acknowledging God's hand. Blood, he notes, never quenches real thirst.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley rejects Matthew Henry's claim that the goodness of God's promised land will intensify the punishment of those who perish. He argues that this reasoning fails under predestination: if some are not elected, they never had a genuine offer, and if all the elect are saved, the grant was never free to the others.