Judges 15:4

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Judges 15:4 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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Judges 15:4 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/judges/15/4.

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English Translation
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.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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  • 1 first appearance in the Hebrew Bible
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    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.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    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.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And Samson went and caught 300 foxes, and he took torches, and he turned tail to tail, and he put one torch between two of the tails, in the middle.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    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.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    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.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    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.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    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.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    And Samson went out, and tooke three hundreth foxes, and tooke firebrands, and turned them taile to taile, and put a firebrand in ye middes betweene two tailes.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    And he went and caught three hundred foxes, and coupled them tail to tail, and fastened torches between the tails.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    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,
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    And Samson goes and catches three hundred foxes, and takes torches, and turns tail to tail, and puts a torch between the two tails, in the midst,
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    Samson went and caught three hundred foxes and he tied together each pair, tail to tail. Then he took torches and tied them in the middle of each pair of tails.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And Samson went and caught 300 foxes, and he took torches, and he turned tail to tail, and he put one torch between two of the tails, in the middle.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    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.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took fire-brands, and turned tail to tail, and put a fire-brand in the midst between two tails.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    He went and caught three hundred foxes and tied their tails together, two by two.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    So Samson went and got three hundred foxes and some sticks of fire-wood; and he put the foxes tail to tail with a stick between every two tails;
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between every two tails.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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שׁוּעָלִ֑ים
shûwʻâl
H7776
“foxes”
Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
Part of Speech
Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Masculine
Number
Plural
State
Absolute
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from the same as H8168

TWOT: 2433a

fox, a burrower - fox - perhaps also jackal
  1. וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ yâlak H3212 “and · to walk” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  2. שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן Shimshôwn H8123 “Samson” Noun, Proper
  3. וַיִּלְכֹּ֖ד lâkad H3920 “and · to capture” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  4. שְׁלֹשׁ shâlôwsh H7969 “three” Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  5. מֵא֣וֹת mêʼâh H3967 “hundred” Adjective, Cardinal number, Both, Plural, Absolute
  6. וַיִּקַּ֣ח lâqach H3947 “and · to take” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  7. לַפִּדִ֗ים lappîyd H3940 “torches” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  8. וַיֶּ֤פֶן pânâh H6437 “and · to turn” Conjunction + Verb, Hiphil, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  9. זָנָב֙ zânâb H2180 “tail” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  10. אֶל ʼêl H413 “to” Preposition
  11. זָנָ֔ב zânâb H2180 “tail” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  12. וַיָּ֨שֶׂם sûwm H7760 “and · to put” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  13. לַפִּ֥יד lappîyd H3940 “torch” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  14. אֶחָ֛ד ʼechâd H259 “one” Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  15. בֵּין bêyn H996 “between” Preposition
  16. שְׁנֵ֥י shᵉnayim H8147 “two” Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Dual, Construct
  17. הַזְּנָב֖וֹת zânâb H2180 “the · tails” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  18. בַּתָּֽוֶךְ tâvek H8432 “in/at the · midst” Preposition, Determined + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

19
words
16
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is שׁוּעָלִ֑ים fox H7776 — appearing just 7 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

  • שׁוּעָלִ֑ים fox H7776

Shared distinctive vocabulary

שׁוּעָלִ֑ים fox H7776 occurs in 6 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 5 verbs
  • 8 nouns
  • 4 adjectives
  • 2 prepositions

Verb forms

  • וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיִּלְכֹּ֖ד Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיִּקַּ֣ח Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיֶּ֤פֶן Hiphil · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיָּ֨שֶׂם Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • זָנָב֙ tail H2180 ×3
  • לַפִּדִ֗ים torch H3940 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 26 words from the Hebrew and 26 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 19 Hebrew tokens and 26 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

3

Topical passages linked to Judges 15:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • Lamentations 5:18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk on it.
  • Psalms 63:10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall be jackal food.
  • Song of Solomon 2:15 Catch for us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom. Beloved

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Judges 15:4 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן וַיִּלְכֹּ֖ד שְׁלֹשׁ מֵא֣וֹת שׁוּעָלִ֑ים וַיִּקַּ֣ח לַפִּדִ֗ים וַיֶּ֤פֶן זָנָב֙ אֶל זָנָ֔ב וַיָּ֨שֶׂם לַפִּ֥יד אֶחָ֛ד בֵּין שְׁנֵ֥י הַזְּנָב֖וֹת בַּתָּֽוֶךְ

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.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Judges 15:4 Septuagint · lemma form

καί πορεύομαι σαμψων καί συνλαμβάνω τριακόσιοι ἀλώπηξ καί λαμβάνω λαμπάς καί ἐπιστρέφω κέρκος πρός κέρκος καί τίθημι λαμπάς εἷς ἀνά μέσος ὁ δύο κέρκος καί δέω

And Sampson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch between two tails, and fastened it.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

1

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)
    וַאֲזַל שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַאֲחַד תְּלַת מֵאָה תַעֲלִין וּנְסִיב בְּעוּרַיָא וּקְטַר דַנְבָא בְּרֵישׁ דַנְבָא וְשַׁוִי בְעוּרָא חָד בֵּין תְּרֵין דִנְבַיָא בִּמְצִיעָן:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Judges 15:4 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Jdg 15:4 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.

Ver. 4. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes.] Whereof that country was full, {Son 2:15 Psa 63:10} and he might herein use the help of his friends. The Philistines vulpinando had got away his wife from him, as Herod that fox had done his brother Philip’s: by foxes therefore they are fitly plagued.

And put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.] Putting something else also between them, saith Lyra, which might not burn asunder; and which might keep the fire from burning the foxes, through the space betwixt tail and tail; heretics and schismatics are like these foxes with fire at their tails: for striving to run farthest one from another, they set the Church in a combustion. Eutyches fell into the other extreme of Nestorius: so did Osiander of Stancarus, and Illyricus of Strigelius, to the great disturbance of the Church. {a}

{a} Evag., lib. i. cap. 9. Schluss., de Stanc., p. 87. Schluss., de Sect. Manich.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Jdg 15:4. Samson went and caught three hundred foxes — Foxes were extremely numerous in Canaan, and several places received their name from them, as Hazar-shual, or, the gate of the fox, in the tribe of Judah; and Shaalbim, or Shaalabbim, in the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:42; Jdg 1:35. They are accordingly frequently spoken of in Scripture as numerous: see Son 2:15; Psa 63:10. Under this name foxes, likewise, as Bishop Patrick observes, may be comprehended a species of creatures called thoes, and by the Hebrews, ijim, which go together in large herds, so that, as authors of undoubted veracity have asserted, two hundred have been seen in a company. The Hebrew word, שׁעול, shual, a fox, will likewise comprehend other animals of the same size. It must be further observed, that it is not said that Samson caught all these foxes at one time, or by his own hands. There might be a week, or even a month’s time allowed for the accomplishment of his design, in which his servants and friends may be supposed to have assisted him. Again, they were not caught, as some imagine, only by hunting, but in snares and nets, as Bochart has shown in his Hierozoicon, in which he treats of the animals mentioned in the Scriptures: see lib. 3. cap. 13., where, in answer to those who inquire why Samson chose foxes rather than dogs, or some other creatures, that learned man thinks it sufficient to say, that Samson accomplished two ends by this proceeding, both freeing the country from a large number of obnoxious animals, and making them instrumental in executing his revenge on the Philistines. And took firebrands — Made of such matter as would quickly take fire, and keep it for a long time. This he might easily procure. And turned tail to tail, &c. — It was an artful contrivance of Samson to fix the brands to the foxes in pairs, because their efforts to run different ways, or not directly in the same track, would lessen their speed, and keep them longer in the places where they were to do execution. It would also prevent the foxes from running into their holes, and from expatiating further than he intended: for his design was to consume only the corn of the Philistines, and not that of the Israelites, which was secured by this precaution.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

went and caught three hundred foxes--rather, "jackals"; an animal between a wolf and a fox, which, unlike our fox, a solitary creature, prowls in large packs or herds and abounds in the mountains of Palestine. The collection of so great a number would require both time and assistance.

took firebrands--torches or matches which would burn slowly, retaining the fire, and blaze fiercely when blown by the wind. He put two jackals together, tail by tail, and fastened tightly a fire match between them. At nightfall he lighted the firebrand and sent each pair successively down from the hills, into the "Shefala," or plain of Philistia, lying on the borders of Dan and Judah, a rich and extensive corn district. The pain caused by the fire would make the animals toss about to a wide extent, kindling one great conflagration. But no one could render assistance to his neighbor: the devastation was so general, the panic would be so great.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 4. Went and caught three hundred foxes] There has been much controversy concerning the meaning of the term שועלים shualim, some supposing it to mean foxes or jackals, and others handfuls or sheaves of corn. Much of the force of the objections against the common version will be diminished by the following considerations: -

1. Foxes, or jackals, are common and gregarious in that country.

2. It is not hinted that Samson collected them alone; he might have employed several hands in this work.

3. It is not said he collected them all in one day; he might have employed several days, as well as many persons, to furnish him with these means of vengeance.

4. In other countries, where ferocious beasts were less numerous, great multitudes have been exhibited at once. Sylla, in a public show to the Roman citizens, exhibited one hundred lions; Caesar, four hundred, and Pompey, nearly six hundred. The Emperor Probus let loose in the theatre, at one time, one thousand ostriches, one thousand stags, one thousand wild boars, one thousand does, and a countless multitude of other wild animals; at another time he exhibited one hundred leopards from Libya, one hundred from Syria, and three hundred bears. - See Flavius Vopiscus in the Life of Probus, cap. xix., beginning with Dedit Romanis etiam voluptates, c.

That foxes, or the creature called shual, abounded in Judea, is evident from their frequent mention in Scripture, and from several places bearing their name. 1. It appears they were so numerous that even their cubs ruined the vineyards see Canticles: So 2:15: Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil our vines. Jeremiah complains that the foxes had occupied the mountains of Judea, La 5:18. They are mentioned as making incursions into enclosures, c., Ne 4:3. Ezekiel compares the numerous false prophets to these animals, Eze 13:4. In Jos 15:28 we find a place called Hazar Shual, "the court of the foxes:" and in Jos 19:42 a place called Shaal-abbin, "the foxes" no doubt from the number of those animals in that district. And mention is made of the land of Shual, or of the fox, 1Sa 13:17.

The creature called shual is represented by travellers and naturalists who have been in Judea as an animal between a wolf and a fox. Hasselquist, who was on the spot, and saw many of them, calls it the little Eastern fox. They are frequent in the East, and often destroy infirm persons and children.

Dr. Kennicott, however, objects to the common interpretation; and gives reasons, some of which are far from being destitute of weight. "The three hundred foxes," says he, "caught by Samson, have been so frequently the subject of banter and ridicule, that we should consider whether the words may not admit a more rational interpretation: for, besides the improbability arising here from the number of these foxes, the use made of them is also very strange. If these animals were tied tail to tail, they would probably pull contrary ways, and consequently stand still; whereas a firebrand tied to the tail of each fox singly would have been far more likely to answer the purpose here intended. To obviate these difficulties it has been well remarked, that the word שועלים shualim, here translated foxes, signifies also handfuls, Eze 13:19, handfuls of barley; if we leave out that one letter ו vau, which has been inserted or omitted elsewhere, almost at pleasure. No less than seven Hebrew MSS. want that letter here, and read שעלים shealim. Admitting this version, we see that Samson took three hundred handfuls or sheaves of corn, and one hundred and fifty firebrands; that he turned the sheaves end to end, and put a firebrand between the two ends in the midst; and then, setting the brands on fire, sent the fire into the standing corn of the Philistines. The same word is now used twice in one chapter, (Eze 13:4; Eze 13:19); in the former verse signifying foxes, in the latter handfuls: and in 1Kg 20:10, where we render it handfuls, it is αλωπεξι, foxes, in the Greek version." - Remarks on Select Passages.

The reasoning of Dr. Kennicott in the first part of this criticism has already been answered; other parts shall be considered below. Though there are seven MSS., which agree in the reading contended for by Dr. Kennicott, yet all the versions are on the other side. I see no improbability in the common version.

Turned tail to tail] Had he put a firebrand to each, which Dr. Kennicott thinks more reasonable, the creature, naturally terrified at fire, would have instantly taken to cover, and thus the design of Samson would have been frustrated. But, tying two of them together by their tails, they would frequently thwart each other in running, pull hither and thither, and thus make the greater devastation. Had he tied them all together, the confusion would have been so great that no execution could have been done.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) Caught three hundred foxes.—Rather, three hundred jackals. The word Shualim is used for both; but it would be difficult to catch three hundred foxes, whereas the jackals are still heard howling in herds about these very regions at night. They must have been still more common in Palestine in ancient days, and hence we find such names as “the land of Shual” (1Sa_13:17), Hazar-shual (“jackal’s enclosure,” Jos_15:28), Shalim (1Sa_11:4), Shaalabbin (“place of foxes or jackals,” Jos_19:42). There would be no difficulty in trapping them; nor is it said that they were all let loose at once.

Turned tail to tail.—This implies that he tied the tails together (LXX., sunedçsen; Vulag.,junxit).

Put a firebrand in the midst.—The firebrands were pieces of resinous wood, like Gideon’s torches (Jdg_7:20), which were loosely trailed between the tails of the jackals. The object of tying two together was to impede their motion a little, so that they might not dart away so violently as to extinguish the torch.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

4. three hundred foxes] The fox is a solitary animal, and to catch 300 would be impossible for any one but Samson. It seems a pity to lessen the marvel in the interests of prosaic probability by translating jackals, animals which roam in packs, though the word can mean this, Psa_63:10, Neh_4:3 RVm. etc. The grotesque trick was thoroughly relished by the story-tellers. Curious parallels to it are quoted from different quarters. Among the heathen Arabs in time of drought cattle, with lighted torches tied to their tails, were driven to the mountains in the hope of bringing down rain (Wellhausen, Reste Arab. Heidentums2, 167). At Rome foxes, treated in the same way, were let loose into the Circus during the Cerealia (April 12–19), the intention being to represent symbolically, and by substitute, the fires which were so often fatal to the ripe corn in the heat of the Dog-days. Ovid gives a rationalistic explanation of the custom in Fasti iv. 679–712 (see Preller, Römische Mythologie3, ii. 43 f.). Possibly a symbolic rite of this kind may have been practised, as an exorcism, among the Canaanites or even the Israelites in the Danite district, and Samson associated with it in popular story. If such was the case, Samson was made to play the part which properly belonged to the Sun-god.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes,.... Nor should this be thought at all incredible, since Canaan and Palestine abounded with foxes; hence several places therein had their names of Shual, which signifies a fox, Jos 15:28. A traveller (w) in those parts says that foxes swarm there, and that there are very great numbers of them in the hedges, and ruins of buildings: and these creatures were very pernicious to vines, and so may reasonably be thought to be about Timnath in great numbers, because of the vineyards there, Jdg 14:5, besides, there is no necessity of supposing that Samson took all these himself, he might employ others in catching them for him, nor that he took them at the same time, on one and the same day; he might be many days and weeks about it, and keep them up until he had got his number: to which may be added, there was a creature in those parts very much like a fox, called Thoes, which, as Bellonius (x) says, were about Caesarea and Palestina, and go two hundred in company; and so making use of proper means, which Samson was not unacquainted with, great numbers might be taken together; but, above all, it may be observed, that as this was under the direction of the divine Providence, God could easily cause such a number of creatures to be gathered together, and taken, as he ordered all the living creatures, as by an instinct, to come into the ark to Noah:

and he took fire brands; or rather torches, made of oily and resinous matter, which were not easily extinguished:

and turned tail to tail; took two foxes, and tied their tails together with a cord, giving them room enough to run about, as such creatures do, not forward, but in a crooked, flexuous manner, here and there:

and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails: which torch seems to have been fastened to the cord with which the tails were tied; he did not put a firebrand or torch to the tail of every single fox, which then would have made its way to its own den, but between two, which could not enter into one hole, and would draw different ways, and stop each other, and so do greater damage to the fields and vineyards into which they came.

(w) Morrison's Voyage, l. 2. c. 31. apud Calmet in the word "Fox". (x) L. 2. c. 11. apud Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 476.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Foxes - Rather, “jackals,” which are still very common in Palestine, especially about Joppa and Gaza. 1Sa 13:17 and Jos 15:28; Jos 19:3, are indications of the abundance of foxes or jackals giving names to places, especially in the country of the Phililstines. It belongs to Samson’s character, and agrees with the incident about the lion, that he should be an expert hunter. Ovid relates a very curious custom at Rome of letting loose foxes with lighted torches fastened to their tails in the circus at the Cerealia, in commemoration of the damage once done to the standing grain by a fox which a rustic had wrapped in hay and straw and set on fire, and which, running away, put the grain-fields in a blaze. This custom, which may have had a Phoenician origin, is a curious illustration of the narrative.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Foxes. Being judge of the people, he might have many to assist him to catch with nets or otherwise a number of these animals; of which there were great numbers in that country, (Challoner) as we may gather from Canticle of Canticles ii. 15., and Lamentations v. 15. (Menochius) --- Hence many places received the name of Sual, Josue xv. 28., and xix. 42. Pompey exhibited 600 lions at Rome, and the Emperor Probus 5000 ostriches, and as many wild boars, &., in the theatre. (Vopisc.; Pliny [Natural History?] viii. 16.; Cornelius a Lapide) --- Is it more incredible that Samson should collect 300 foxes? By this means he cleared his country of a pernicious animal, the most proper for carrying flambeaux, and spreading fire far and wide among the fields of the enemy. By tying the foxes together, he hindered them from retiring into their holes, and gave the fire time to take hold of the corn and vineyards. (Calmet) --- Ovid mentions a Roman custom of burning foxes in the theatre, with torches tied upon their backs, in the month of April; which some have imagined was in memorial of this transaction. (Serarius, q. 7.) "Factum abiit, monumenta manent, nam vivere captam

Nunc quoque lex vulpem Carseolana vetat.

Utque luat pænas genus hoc cerealibus ardet,

Quoque modo segetes perdidit, illa perit." ----- Fast. iv.

--- Torches. Hebrew and Septuagint, "a torch or firebrand," (Haydock) made of resinous wood, such as the pine, olive, &c., which easily catch fire, and are extinguished with difficulty. (Calmet) --- Qua fugit incendit vestitos messibus agros---Damnosis vires ignibus aura dabat. (Ovid)

"Where’er he flees, corn-fields in flames appear,

The fanning breeze brings devastation near."

A hundred and fifty firebrands, in different parts of the country, destroy the farmer’s hopes. (Haydock) --- And olive. The conjunction in now wanting in Hebrew and some translate, "the vineyards of olive-trees." (Kimchi) --- But who ever heard of such an expression? It is better therefore to supply and, with the Septuagint (Calmet) as the Protestants also have done. (Haydock) --- "The foxes signify the deceitful ensnares, and chiefly heretics." (St. Augustine in Psalm viii.) (Du Hamel)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

There were great numbers of foxes in Canaan, as appears from Neh 4:3; Psa 63:10; Son 2:15; Lam 5:18; Eze 13:4. So that divers places there have their names from the foxes which abounded there; as Jos 15:28; 19:42; 1Sa 13:17. Add to this, that some learned men conceive that the Hebrew name schual is more general, and contains not only the foxes, but another sort of creature very like to them, called thoes, whereof there were so many, there, that sometimes two hundred of them have been met together in one company, its some who have lived in those parts have left upon record. But infidels are much scandalized at this history, and pretend it incredible that Samson should catch so many foxes together; so nice and delicate is the faith of these men in things concerning God and Scripture, that can devour things ten times more difficult and absurd, concerning the production of the world, and of men, &c. But there is no cause of wonder here, for any man that is tolerably wise; for it is not said that Samson caught them all, either at one time, or by his own hands; for being so eminent a person, and the judge of Israel, he might require assistance of as many persons as he pleased, and all his people would readily assist him; nor can it at all perplex any man’s reason or faith, if it be allowed that the God who made the world, and by his singular providence watched over Israel, and intended them deliverance at this time, could easily dispose things so that they might be taken. He chose to do this exploit, not by his brethren, whom he would preserve from the envy, and hatred, and mischief which that might have occasioned to them, but by brute creatures, thereby to add scorn and contempt to their calamity, and particularly by foxes; partly, because they were fittest for the purpose, being creatures very fearful of fire; and having such tails as the firebrands might most conveniently be tied to; and not going directly forward, trot crookedly and involvedly, whereby the fire was likely to be dispersed in more places.

Fire-brands; made of such matter as would quickly take fire, and keep it for a long time; which was easy to procure.

Between two tails, that the foxes might not make too much haste, nor run into their holes, but one of them might delay and stop another in his course, and so continue longer in the places where they were to do execution.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

4. Caught three hundred foxes — We are not to suppose that he caught them alone, or in a single day, nor that foxes were as scarce in Palestine then as they are now. The Hebrew word for foxes, shualim, is also used of jackals, and these latter are, doubtless, the animals which Samson caught for his purpose. They are gregarious in their habits, and may be easily taken in large numbers by means of traps and pitfalls. Dr. Kennicott felt that this narrative was so improbable that he sought out what he thought a more rational explanation, and, on the authority of seven Hebrew MSS., he read שׁעלים, handfuls, instead of שׁועלים, foxes, and supposed that Samson “took three hundred handfuls, or sheaves, of corn, and one hundred and fifty firebrands; that he turned the sheaves end to end, and put a firebrand between the two ends,” and so accomplished his work of destruction. To this, however, it is replied: 1. Even granting the proposed reading handfuls, the word cannot mean sheaves. 2. The verb לכד, rendered caught, is never used of taking handfuls or sheaves of grain, but always of seizing something by violence or stratagem, and is specially used of catching animals. 3. Then the task of bringing three hundred sheaves together in the open field, and using them as Kennicott supposes, would have been a difficulty as great as the one he seeks to explain away, and would have exposed Samson to detection and opposition before he could well have accomplished his purpose. We abide, therefore, by the common reading, and on the supposed difficulty of catching three hundred foxes we give Dr. Thomson’s very comprehensive statement: “It is probable that by foxes jackals are intended; and these are even now extremely numerous. I have had more than one race after them, and over the very theatre of Samson’s exploit. When encamped out in the plain with a part of Ibrahim Pasha’s army, in 1834, we were serenaded all night long by troops of these hideous howlers. But if we must limit Samson to the ordinary fox, even these are to be found here. I started up and chased one when I passed over that part of the plain where Timnath is believed to have been situated. In those days this country was infested with all sorts of wild animals to an extent which seems to us incredible. This is evident from the almost numberless incidental allusions in the Bible; but the use of firearms for so many centuries has either totally exterminated whole classes, or obliged them to retire into the remote and unfrequented deserts.… Not having firearms, the ancients were much more skilful than the moderns in the use of snares, nets, and pits for capturing wild animals. A large class of biblical figures and allusions necessarily presuppose this state of things. Job and David, and all the poets and prophets, continually refer in their complaints to snares, nets, pits, etc. We are justified, therefore, in believing that, at the time in question, the commander of Israel could, with no great difficulty, collect even three hundred foxes. We want no correction of the text to render the whole account credible, nor need we call in the aid of miracles.

It was merely a cunning device of Israel’s champion to inflict a terrible chastisement upon his enemies.”

Firebrands — Or, torches. The Hebrew word is the same as that rendered lamps in Jdg_7:16. These torches, one hundred and fifty in number, and made of material that would probably long hold fire and burn, were what Samson set on fire, not the tails of the foxes.

Turned tail to tail — The sense obviously is that two foxes were fastened together by a cord tied to their tails — a cord perhaps several yards long — and when he put a firebrand in the midst between two tails, they would probably at first pull in opposite directions; but when they saw the brands on fire, and themselves freed from the hands of their captors, they would be likely to learn very soon to run in parallel lines, and would thus scatter the fire with most disastrous effect through the neighbouring corn-fields. “On this and on many other matters,” says Dr. Kitto, “people write large dissertations to prove or disprove points which might be determined in five minutes by a simple experiment. We happened lately to see two dogs somewhat similarly attached, and paused to see how they would act. They wasted some minutes in rather awkward movements, but, finding the futility of their efforts, they inclined their heads to each other, and, after a hasty consultation, turned round so as to bring their bodies parallel to each other, and then ran off with considerable speed. Now foxes have not the reputation of being duller than dogs.”

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Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Foxes. The word here rendered fox (shual, in Persian shagal, which is etymologically the same word as jackal) includes the jackal, which is as common in Palestine as the fox. Here, and in Psa_63:10, the gregarious jackals, the canis aureus, are undoubtedly meant. Caught. The Hebrew word means especially caught in nets or snares. See Amo_3:5 (have taken nothing at all); Psa_35:8 (let his net catch himself); Jer_18:22 Isa_8:14 (taken), etc. And it is in this sense that the A.V uses the word caught. A clever sportsman, as no doubt Samson was, would have no difficulty whatever in netting or snaring 300 jackals, which always move in packs, and would be attracted by the vineyards of Thimnathah, for which their partiality is well known. (see Jud_1:14:5, note) The writer of the additional article Fox in Smith"s "Dictionary of the Bible," states that he had tried the experiment of throwing grapes to the foxes, jackals, and wolves in the Zoological Gardens. The wolves would not touch them, the others ate them with avidity. Took firebrands, etc. Many cavils have been directed against the truth of this account, but without the slightest reason. The terrified animals, with the burning torches and the blazing straw behind them, would necessarily run forwards. Samson would, of course, start the couples at numerous different points, and no doubt have a number of Hebrews to assist him. To the present day the corn-fields in that part of the Shephelah extend continuously for twenty or thirty miles.

Vers. 4, 5. Foxes and firebrands.

This circumstance has become classic. It vividly illustrates

I THE INGENUITY OF INSPIRED VENGEANCE.

II LITTLE CAUSES OF MISCHIEF AND GREAT CONSEQUENCES.

III THE MISCHIEF GOD"S ENEMIES ENTAIL UPON THEMSELVES. It is unexpected, overwhelming, and vital. The year"s produce, upon which the life of the people depended, was swept away at a single stroke. No one knows how to punish the rebel against his kingdom as God himself does. M.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Vers. 4, 5. Ingenuity and originality.

I INGENUITY IS OFTEN AS EFFECTIVE AS STRENGTH. Samson is not merely the hero of brute force; he shows wit, intelligence, inventiveness. We constantly see how effective these faculties are in business, in war, in politics. The Christian needs the wisdom of the serpent. (Mat_10:16) In many of our Christian enterprises the requisite for greater success is not more money, more workers, nor even more zeal, but wiser methods. Samson"s ingenuity was wholly on the side of destruction. Would that the soldiers of Christ"s army of salvation showed as much intelligence and wisdom ill conducting the campaigns of the Church militant for the saving of men as the soldiers of the armies of ambitious monarchs display in their warfare, which brings little else than death and misery! Ingenuity is quickened by interest. If we had a more practical sense of the end of the Christian battle with the evil of the world, more earnest desire to effect real results, more heart in the whole work, we should be more wise and thoughtful. It is the half-hearted who are dull and sleepy soldiers of Christ.

II ORIGINALITY OF METHOD IS OFTEN ONE GROUND OF SUCCESS. Samson showed great originality; consequently his enemies were not provided against the novel attack he made upon their land and its produce. Mere novelty is little recommendation. But we are all too much wedded to old habits of life. Novel methods in the work of the Church are sometimes advisable,

(1) because the old may be effete,

(2) because the old may have lost their interest or be well provided against by opponents,

(3) because there is room for variety of work even when the old ways of working are successful,

(4) because, though the old style may be good, we should always be seeking for improvements till we attain to perfection, and

(5) because new circumstances require new treatment. We need no new gospel, no new Christ; but we do need fresh applications of the gospel, new adaptations to the wants of the times. There is room for the richest originality in those who have the most loyal attachment to the ancient truths of Christianity. A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Foxes - Of which there were great numbers in Canaan. But it is not said that Samson caught them all, either at one time, or by his own hands; for being so eminent a person, and the judge of Israel, he might require assistance of as many persons as he pleased. And it must be allowed, that the God who made the world, and by his singular providence watched over Israel, and intended them deliverance at this time, could easily dispose things so that they might be taken. He chose to do this not by his brethren, whom he would preserve from the hatred and mischief which it might have occasioned them, but by brute creatures, thereby to add scorn to their calamity, and particularly by foxes; partly, because they were fittest for the purpose, being creatures very fearful of fire; and having such tails as the fire-brands might most conveniently be tied to; and not going directly forward, but crookedly, whereby the fire would be dispersed in more places. Fire-brands - Made of such matter as would quickly take fire, and keep it for a long time; which was easy to procure. And put, &c. - That the foxes might not make too much haste, nor run into their holes, but one of them might delay another, and so continue longer in the places where they were to do execution.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

He therefore went and caught three hundred shualim, i.e., jackals, animals which resemble foxes and are therefore frequently classed among the foxes even by the common Arabs of the present day (see Niebuhr, Beschr. v. Arab. p. 166). Their European name is derived from the Persian schaghal. These animals, which are still found in great quantities at Joppa, Gaza, and in Galilee, herd together, and may easily be caught (see Rosenmller, Bibl. Althk. iv. 2, pp. 155ff.). He then took torches, turned tail to tail, i.e., coupled the jackals together by their tails, putting a torch between the two tails, set the torches on fire, and made the animals run into the fields of standing corn belonging to the Philistines. Then he burned "from the shocks of wheat to the standing grain and to the olive gardens," i.e., the shocks of wheat as well as the standing corn and the olive plantations. זית מרךּ are joined together in the construct state.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

Twisted. The tails, each into the next. וַיִפֶן implies that he himself turned, וַיֶפֶן that he turned, or twisted, others. This usage applies with every word whose verbal root ends with ה. "The people increased;" "He increased, in the people of Yehudah, lamentation…." "Yehudah went into exile from his homeland" —went into exile. "The king [of Ashur] exiled Yisroel to Ashur" —exiled others.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Judges, in the Historical, opens this verse with 19 words (16 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is shûwʻâl (“fox”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. What does “fox” (shûwʻâl) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. The word “fox” first appears here in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
  3. Nehemiah 4:3 shares the word «fox» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
  4. “tail” occurs 3× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
  5. These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
  6. The verb «וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
  7. Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

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