(9) Then the Philistines went up.--They "went up" in hostile array against the hill-country of Judea to take vengeance for the dreadful injury which Samson had inflicted on them.
Spread themselves in Lehi.--The use of the name before the incident from which a place is said to have received the name is found also in the case of Hormah (Numbers 14:45; Numbers 21:3). It was called in full Ramath-Lehi. (See on Judges 15:17.) The character of the narrative suggests the question whether the name may not have existed previously, and the play on words may not have been adapted by Samson to the incident. For the name of the place is Lechi (?????? ), and "a jawbone" is Lehi (???). Shen, "tooth," is the name of an isolated sharp rock (1 Samuel 14:4), and therefore "jaw" would not be an unnatural name for a range of such rocks. Josephus, however, says that before Samson's exploit the place "had no name." It may be again alluded to in 2 Samuel 23:11, where the words rendered "into a troop" may mean "to Lehi," as it is understood by Josephus (Antt. vii. 12, ? 4) and some MSS. of the LXX.
Verse 9. - Went up, i.e. from their own country in the Shephelah to the hill country of Judah. As Samson had avenged his wrongs on the whole Philistine people, so they now came up to Judah to take vengeance for Samson's injuries. In Lehi, or, rather, hal-Lehi, the Lehi, the place afterwards so called, as related in vers. 17 and 20 (see Judges 7:25, note). Lehi has been identified by some with Tell-el-Lekhiyeh, four miles above Beer-sheba; and by others with Beit-Likiyeh, in the Wady Suleiman, two miles below the upper Beth-heron, and so within easy distance of Timnath and other places mentioned in the history of Samson. But no certainty can at present be arrived at.
15:9-17 Sin dispirits men, it hides from their eyes the things that belong to their peace. The Israelites blamed Samson for what he had done against the Philistines, as if he had done them a great injury. Thus our Lord Jesus did many good works, and for those the Jews were ready to stone him. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, his cords were loosed: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, and those are free indeed who are thus set free. Thus Christ triumphed over the powers of darkness that shouted against him, as if they had him in their power. Samson made great destruction among the Philistines. To take the bone of an ass for this, was to do wonders by the foolish things of the world, that the excellency of the power might be of God, not of man. This victory was not in the weapon, was not in the arm; but it was in the Spirit of God, which moved the weapon by the arm. We can do all things through Him that strengtheneth us. Seest thou a poor Christian, who is enabled to overcome a temptation by weak, feeble counsel, there is the Philistine vanquished by a sorry jaw-bone.
Then the Philistines went up,.... From Palestine, which lay low on the shore of the Mediterranean sea:
and pitched in Judah; in the laud of Judea, which lay higher, particularly in the tribe of Judah, whither they came with an army, and encamped there:
and spread themselves in Lehi; their forces were so many, that they extended a considerable way, and particularly reached to Lehi, that is, which was afterwards so called; for it has its name by anticipation from the jaw bone, which it signifies, with which Samson slew many in this place, as after related.
Spread themselves in Lehi.--The use of the name before the incident from which a place is said to have received the name is found also in the case of Hormah (Numbers 14:45; Numbers 21:3). It was called in full Ramath-Lehi. (See on Judges 15:17.) The character of the narrative suggests the question whether the name may not have existed previously, and the play on words may not have been adapted by Samson to the incident. For the name of the place is Lechi (?????? ), and "a jawbone" is Lehi (???). Shen, "tooth," is the name of an isolated sharp rock (1 Samuel 14:4), and therefore "jaw" would not be an unnatural name for a range of such rocks. Josephus, however, says that before Samson's exploit the place "had no name." It may be again alluded to in 2 Samuel 23:11, where the words rendered "into a troop" may mean "to Lehi," as it is understood by Josephus (Antt. vii. 12, ? 4) and some MSS. of the LXX.
and pitched in Judah; in the laud of Judea, which lay higher, particularly in the tribe of Judah, whither they came with an army, and encamped there:
and spread themselves in Lehi; their forces were so many, that they extended a considerable way, and particularly reached to Lehi, that is, which was afterwards so called; for it has its name by anticipation from the jaw bone, which it signifies, with which Samson slew many in this place, as after related.