The Meaning of Judges 15:4 Explained

Judges 15:4

KJV: And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

YLT: And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst,

Darby: So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches; and he turned them tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails.

ASV: And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Samson  went  and caught  three  hundred  foxes,  and took  firebrands,  and turned  tail  to tail,  and put  a  firebrand  in the midst  between two  tails. 

What does Judges 15:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 15:1-8 - In Bad Company
What strong confirmation is afforded, by Samson's experience, of the misery of a mixed marriage! This Philistine wife had no real love for him, and was more readily influenced by her own people than by her husband. How could she enter into his desire to emancipate Israel? To carry out his life-purpose of freeing Israel, He must break with her. Notice how this poor wife was visited with the very chastisement from which she hoped, by treachery, to save herself. Compare Judges 14:17 and Judges 15:6.
Samson's riddle is constantly being verified. We all have to encounter lions. Happy are we if we rend them in the power of the Holy Spirit! And have we not often discovered that the very sorrow, trial, or temptation which we dreaded most and which threatened to destroy us, has yielded the strength and sweetness, the meat and honey, which have enriched us for all after-time? Samson shared these with his mother and father. Let us never keep to ourselves those glorious lessons and results which we may have won in conflicts and sorrows that only the eye of God has witnessed. Let others share their benefit. [source]

Chapter Summary: Judges 15

1  Samson is denied his wife
3  He burns the Philistines' corn with foxes and firebrands
6  His wife and her father are burnt by the Philistines
8  Samson smites them hip and thigh
9  He is bound by the men of Judah, and delivered to the Philistines
14  He kills them with a jawbone
18  God makes the fountain En-hakkore for him in Lehi

What do the individual words in Judges 15:4 mean?

And went Samson and caught three hundred foxes and he took torches and turned [the foxes] tail to tail and put torch a between [every] two tails in the middle
וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן וַיִּלְכֹּ֖ד שְׁלֹשׁ־ מֵא֣וֹת שׁוּעָלִ֑ים וַיִּקַּ֣ח לַפִּדִ֗ים וַיֶּ֤פֶן זָנָב֙ אֶל־ זָנָ֔ב וַיָּ֨שֶׂם לַפִּ֥יד אֶחָ֛ד בֵּין־ שְׁנֵ֥י הַזְּנָב֖וֹת בַּתָּֽוֶךְ

וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ  And  went 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן  Samson 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שִׁמְשֹׁון  
Sense: a Danite, son of Manoah, a Nazarite for life, and a judge of Israel for 20 years.
וַיִּלְכֹּ֖ד  and  caught 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: לָכַד  
Sense: to capture, take, seize.
שְׁלֹשׁ־  three 
Parse: Number, feminine singular construct
Root: מִשְׁלֹשׁ 
Sense: three, triad.
מֵא֣וֹת  hundred 
Parse: Number, feminine plural
Root: מֵאָה 
Sense: hundred.
שׁוּעָלִ֑ים  foxes 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּעָל  
Sense: fox, a burrower.
וַיִּקַּ֣ח  and  he  took 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
לַפִּדִ֗ים  torches 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: לַפִּיד  
Sense: torch.
וַיֶּ֤פֶן  and  turned  [the  foxes] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: פֹּונֶה 
Sense: to turn.
זָנָב֙  tail 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: זָנָב  
Sense: tail, end, stump.
זָנָ֔ב  tail 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: זָנָב  
Sense: tail, end, stump.
וַיָּ֨שֶׂם  and  put 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
לַפִּ֥יד  torch 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: לַפִּיד  
Sense: torch.
בֵּין־  between 
Parse: Preposition
Root: בַּיִן 
Sense: between, among, in the midst of (with other preps), from between.
שְׁנֵ֥י  [every]  two 
Parse: Number, mdc
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
הַזְּנָב֖וֹת  tails 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: זָנָב  
Sense: tail, end, stump.
בַּתָּֽוֶךְ  in  the  middle 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: תָּוֶךְ  
Sense: midst, middle.

What are the major concepts related to Judges 15:4?

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