Bible Strands
Judges 15:14
When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Samson arrives at Lehi while the Philistines advance to capture him, executing their plan to bind him and hand him over.
The words — The verb תִּצְלַח (titz.Lach) describes the Spirit rushing upon Samson, while הֵרִיעוּ (he.Ri.'u) records the Philistines shouting as they come out to meet him.
The thread — The narrative pattern of the Spirit coming mightily upon a judge appears in Judges 3:10, Judges 14:6, and Judges 14:19.
Why it lands — The text reports that divine empowerment instantly neutralizes human restraints, requiring the reader to acknowledge that the narrative attributes military deliverance to supernatural intervention rather than human strength.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
Cross-references
- Judges 3:10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him.
- Judges 14:6 and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
- Judges 14:19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house,
- Psalms 118:11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- 1 Samuel 11:6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he burned with great anger.
- 1 Samuel 17:35 I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.
- Exodus 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’
- Exodus 14:5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
- Judges 5:30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’
- Judges 16:9 While the men were hidden in her room, she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the bowstrings like a strand of yarn seared by a flame. So the source of his strength remained unknown.