Rashi on TanakhJudges 15

Rashi

Read Judges 15 in the Bible

Judges 15:3

At this time I am innocent. I shall be justified in inflicting injury upon them.

Judges 15:4

Twisted. The tails, each into the next. וַיִפֶן implies that he himself turned, וַיֶפֶן that he turned, or twisted, others. This usage applies with every word whose verbal root ends with ה.1Such as גָלָה ,רָבָה ,פָנָה. "The people increased;"2Shemos, 1:20. "He increased, in the people of Yehudah, lamentation…."3Eichah, 2:5. Cf. Rashi there. "Yehudah went into exile from his homeland"4Melachim 2, 25:21.—went into exile. "The king [of Ashur] exiled Yisroel to Ashur" 5Melachim 2, 17:6.—exiled others.

Judges 15:6

The son-in-law of the Timnite. The son-in-law of the Pelishtite from Timnah.

Judges 15:7

Is this the way you behave. Perhaps you are accustomed to this—shifting wives from one to another.

Judges 15:8

Cavalry and infantry [lit. calf and thigh]. "Horsemen and foot soldiers."6This is Targum Yonasan’s translation. “Calf” refers to the horseman, supported by the calf, as Rashi explains, and “thigh” refers to the footsoldier, whose weight is supported by the thigh. The horseman is not supported by the thigh, but by the calf of the foot inserted into the metal stirrup hanging from the saddle.
On the promontory of a crevice of the Eitam cliff. Similarly, "The promontories of the cliffs,"7Yeshaya, 2:21 "[He] shall remove its branches."8Ibid, 10:33.

Judges 15:9

They fanned out. They dispersed.
At Lechi. The name of a place9Not literally “cheek”.

Judges 15:10

Why have you ascended against us. Are we not enslaved by you?
To tie down Shimshon. In order that you tie him down and deliver him to us.

Judges 15:13

No! We shall merely tie you down. We shall not execute you, but merely tie you down.

Judges 15:14

The spirit of Adonoy. A spirit of power, emanating from Adonoy.10This is Targum Yonasan’s translation.
His bonds which tied him down.

Judges 15:15

Moist. Wet. I saw a medical lexicon which refers to pus oozing from a wound as טְרִיָה.

Judges 15:16

I amassed mounds with the jawbone of a donkey, amassing numerous mounds. "With the jawbone of a donkey I hurled them into mounds."11This is Targum Yonasan’s translation.

Judges 15:19

The socket [lit. "the mortar"]. The socket where the tooth is set is shaped like a mortar.
Ein Hakorei. "The wellspring which materialized through the cry of the one who called out to Adonoy."

Rashi on Tanakh — Rashi. Metsudah Publications / Judaica Press · CC BY