And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in the case of the Philistines, when I harm them.”
- KJV And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
- BSB Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.”
- NASB Samson then said to them, “This time I will have been blameless regarding the Philistines when I do them harm.”
- NLT Samson said, “This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines.”
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
Samson declares he will be blameless in taking vengeance on the Philistines for this wrong. He frames his coming violence as justified retaliation.
Overview
Samson views the Philistines collectively as responsible for the betrayal and resolves to act. While Scripture nowhere commends personal vengeance as a virtue (Rom. 12:19), the narrative presents Samson as God's appointed deliverer whose conflicts serve to break Philistine oppression of Israel. The verse highlights how God can work through deeply imperfect agents to accomplish judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Judg 14:15On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 15:3 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.