And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
Parallel translations
- WEB He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock.
- KJV And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
- NKJV So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
- NASB So he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and afterward he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
- NLT So he attacked the Philistines with great fury and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam.
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 slaughters many Philistines and then withdraws to a cave in the rock of Etam. He strikes hard and then retreats.
Overview
"Hip and thigh" is a vivid idiom for a thorough, crushing defeat. Having taken his revenge, Samson seeks refuge. His withdrawal to a stronghold sets up the next scene, where his own countrymen, fearful of Philistine reprisal, come seeking him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Isa 25:10For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.
- Isa 63:3“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.
- Isa 63:6I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured out their blood on the ground.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 15:8 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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