And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
Parallel translations
- WEB He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh, and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
- KJV And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
- NKJV Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”
- NASB Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the Lord and said, “You have handed this great victory over to Your servant, and now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
- NLT Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord, “You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Exhausted and parched, Samson cries out to Yahweh, fearing he will now die of thirst and fall to the uncircumcised. In weakness he finally calls on God.
Overview
For the first time Samson openly acknowledges that the victory was God's: "You have given this great deliverance." His thirst humbles the mighty man and drives him to prayer. The contrast between his earlier boast and this dependence shows that even God's strong servants must learn to rely on the Lord for life itself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 22:14–15I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
- Ps 3:7–8Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
- 2 Cor 12:7–8or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- 1 Sam 27:1David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
- 1 Sam 17:26David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- 2 Sam 1:20Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
- 2 Cor 1:8–9We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
- 2 Cor 4:8–9We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
- Heb 11:32And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
- Gen 12:12–13and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.
- Gen 32:31The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.
- Gen 20:11Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’
- Ps 18:31–40For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
- Judg 16:28Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”
- John 19:28After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- Judg 8:4Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
- 1 Sam 17:36Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 15:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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