Bible Strands
Judges 15:5
Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Samson executes his plan against the Philistines immediately after binding torches between three hundred foxes' tails. The narrative records his release of the animals into their standing grain, vineyards, and olive groves.
The words — The Hebrew verbs וַ/יַּבְעֶר (va/i.yav.'er) and וַ/יַּבְעֵ֛ר (va/i.yav.'Er) literally mean "he kindled" and "it burned up," describing the sequential ignition and consumption of the Philistines' agricultural stores.
The thread — This deliberate crop destruction parallels the liability for fire spreading to standing grain in Exodus 22:6 and the retaliatory field-burning ordered by Absalom in 2 Samuel 14:30.
Why it lands — The text records a calculated shift from personal retaliation to economic warfare, requiring the reader to observe how targeted violence systematically dismantles a community's food supply.
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 had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
Cross-references
- Exodus 22:6 If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.
- 2 Samuel 14:30 Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.