The Meaning of Judges 15:8 Explained

Judges 15:8

KJV: And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

YLT: And he smiteth them hip and thigh -- a great smiting, and goeth down and dwelleth in the cleft of the rock Etam.

Darby: And he smote them hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

ASV: And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And he smote  them hip  and  thigh  with a great  slaughter:  and he went down  and dwelt  in the top  of the rock  Etam. 

What does Judges 15:8 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 15:8 mean?

So he attacked them hip and thigh with a slaughter great then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam -
וַיַּ֨ךְ אוֹתָ֥ם שׁ֛וֹק עַל־ יָרֵ֖ךְ מַכָּ֣ה גְדוֹלָ֑ה וַיֵּ֣רֶד וַיֵּ֔שֶׁב בִּסְעִ֖יף סֶ֥לַע עֵיטָֽם ס

וַיַּ֨ךְ  So  he 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָכָה  
Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.
אוֹתָ֥ם  attacked  them 
Parse: Direct object marker, third person masculine plural
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
שׁ֛וֹק  hip 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שֹׁוק  
Sense: leg, thigh.
יָרֵ֖ךְ  thigh 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: יָרֵךְ  
Sense: thigh, side, loin, base.
מַכָּ֣ה  with  a  slaughter 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מַכָּה  
Sense: blow, wound, slaughter.
גְדוֹלָ֑ה  great 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
וַיֵּ֣רֶד  then  he  went  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
וַיֵּ֔שֶׁב  and  dwelt 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
בִּסְעִ֖יף  in  the  cleft 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: סָעִיף 
Sense: cleft, branch.
סֶ֥לַע  of  the  rock 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: סֶלַע  
Sense: crag, cliff, rock.
עֵיטָֽם  of  Etam 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: עֵיטָם  
Sense: a village of the tribe of Simeon.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation

What are the major concepts related to Judges 15:8?

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