16
And Samsonוַ שִׁמְשׁוֹןsaid,יֹּאמֶר“With the jawboneבִּלְחִיof the donkey,הַחֲמוֹרa heap,חֲמוֹרtwo heaps;חֲמֹרָתָיִםwith the jawboneבִּלְחִיof the donkeyהַחֲמוֹרI have struckהִכֵּיתִיa thousandאֶלֶףmen.”אִישׁ
Judges 15:16
Study it in the app“And Samson said, “With the jawbone of the donkey, a heap, two heaps; with the jawbone of the donkey I have struck a thousand men.””
With the Hebrew beneath
Judges 15:16, word by word
- And Samsonשִׁמְשׁוֹןshimshon
Samson
Samson, son of Manoah, a Nazirite from birth and judge of Israel for twenty years. The name comes from the word for "sun."
Where else “shimshon” appears- saidיֹּאמֶרyomer
say
To say with the mouth to someone what one thinks or wants, or to answer him.
Where else “yomer” appears- “With the jawboneלְחִיlechi
jawbone
The jawbone of an animal, with its teeth.
Where else “lechi” appears- of the donkeyחֲמוֹרchamor
donkey
Donkey, male donkey.
Where else “chamor” appears- a heapחֲמוֹרchamor
heap
Heap. In Hebrew it sounds the same as "donkey"; that is why Samson plays on the two words (Judges 15:16).
Where else “chamor” appears- I have struckהִכֵּיתִיhiketi
strike dead
To strike dead, kill.
Where else “hiketi” appears- a thousandאֶלֶףelef
thousand
One thousand: a large, round number.
Where else “elef” appears- menאִישׁish
man
An adult male person; also each man of a people, a trade or a place.
Where else “ish” appears
Translation note
In Hebrew “donkey” and “heap” sound the same: it is a wordplay.
The context
15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it and struck with it a thousand men.
16 · This verse (above)
17And it happened, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and he called that place Ramath-lehi.