| Samson was being delivered to the Philistines by the leaders of the Israelite tribe of Judah (Judges 15:11) and so the Philistines were not expecting much of a fight. Samson had been given supernatural strength by God as a gift, and as part of his office of Judge. So Samson’s strength would have been much greater than an average man’s. We read that when the Philistines saw Samson bound by the Israelites that they rushed him, likely without drawing their weapons as they believed him to be tied up and defenseless. Most likely they were planning on beating him to death right there. But as they got to him, Samson broke his rope binding and grabbed the first thing that came to hand, in this case a donkey’s jawbone, which he used as a club. He likely also used his other hand balling it into a fist. Now the people at the back of the Philistine squadron couldn’t see what was going on, but figured that Samson was getting beaten and they didn’t want to miss out on a chance to deliver the death blow themselves. So they kept coming towards Samson. In close quarters and with no weapons (as they would fear hitting some of their own if they drew a sword) Samson’s strength and his usage of a “club” was devastating. It was also probable that the Philistines kept a wary eye on the 3,000 Israelites, thinking that they might join in the battle, so in addition to the confusion of the fight, the Philistines were also distracted. Some may have even turned to make sure they were not attacked from behind while fighting Samson, which just opened them up to being hit by Samson’s fist or his jawbone club. One other advantage Samson had was that the text appears to say he was uphill from the Philistines and surrounded by rock walls (vs. 12-13). The name of the place (Ramath Lehi) means “hill of the jawbone”, so Samson also held the high ground and couldn’t be flanked. While the account seems at first glance to be legendized, when you consider the terrain, the circumstances and the 3,000 Israelites “standing by” and distracting the Philistines the account becomes much more understandable. Again we have to remember that Samson had supernatural strength. He likely killed each man with a single blow to the head. Plus, we have other historical battles where terrain and strength held off insurmountable odds for a while. Leonidas I of Sparta was selected to lead a small contingent of Spartan hoplites - some 300 hand-picked men with male heirs - to defend the pass of Thermopylae and hold the invading force until more troops could be mustered. Leonidas also had 900 helots, 400 Thebans and 700 Thespians. The 300 Spartans and 2,000 mixed Greek forces were woefully inadequate to halt Xerxes' army estimated between 80,000-300,000 men, yet they did so for two full days, killing over 10,000 Persians and wounding even more. Then once their position was compromised, Leonidas dismissed all but his 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians and they fought to the last man, killing another 10,000 Persians and wounding just as many. https://answersingenesis.org/education/spurgeon-sermons/224-samson-conquered/ |
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