to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hip
שׁ֛וֹקShok
H7785
the (lower) leg (as a runner) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
and
עַל'al-
H5921
above · preposition
thigh
יָרֵ֖ךְya.Rekh
H3409
the thigh (from its fleshy softness) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
great
גְדוֹלָ֑הge.do.Lah
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
slaughter
מַכָּ֣הma.Kah
H4347
a wound · noun, common feminine singular absolute
down
וַיֵּ֣רֶדvai.Ye.red
H3381
to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
dwelt
וַיֵּ֔שֶׁבvai.Ye.shev
H3427
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
top
בִּסְעִ֖יףbis.'If
H5585
a fissure (of rocks) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
rock
סֶ֥לַעSe.la'
H5553
a craggy rock · noun, common masculine singular construct
Etam
עֵיטָֽם'ei.Tam
H5862
Etam · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 25:10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghi…
Isaiah 63:3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fu…
Isaiah 63:6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Judges 15:1-8
Here is, I. Samson's return to his wife, whom he had left in displeasure; not hearing perhaps that she was given to another, when time had a little cooled his resentments, he came back to her, visited her with a kid, Jdg 15:1. The value of the present was inconsiderable, but it was intended as a token of reconciliation, and perhaps was then so used, when those that had been at variance were brought together again; he sent this, that he might sup with her in her apartments, and she with him, on his provision, and so they might be friends again. It was generously done of Samson, though he was the party offended and the superior relation, to whom therefore she was bound in duty to sue for peace…
smote them hip and thigh--a proverbial expression for a merciless slaughter.
he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam--rather went down and dwelt in the cleft--that is, the cave or cavern of the cliff Etam.
John Gill on Judges 15:8
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter,.... Either smote them on their hips and thighs with his hands (for it does not appear he had any weapon of war), so that they were sadly bruised, and maimed, and lamed, that they could not stir, and of which blows and bruises multitudes died: or he smote them with his legs on their thighs, kicked them about at pleasure, which kicks numbers of them never got over; or the meaning of the proverbial expression is, he laid on them at a great rate, and smote them here and there, and any where, which issued in the death of many of them: the Targum is,"he smote them horse and foot,''their cavalry and infantry, destroyed them both; but it does n…
"Then he smote them hip and thigh (lit. 'thigh upon hip;' על as in Gen 32:12), a great slaughter." שׁוק, thigh, strengthened by על־ירך, is a second accusative governed by the verb, and added to define the word אותם more minutely, in the sense of "on hip and thigh;" whilst the expression which follows, גדולה מכּה, is added as an adverbial accusative to strengthen the verb ויּך. Smiting hip and thigh is a proverbial expression for a cruel, unsparing slaughter, like the German "cutting arm and leg in two," or the Arabic "war in thigh fashion" (see Bertheau in loc.). After smiting the Philistines, Samson went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock Etam. There is a town of Etam mentioned in Ch2…
The Church Fathers
What does it mean in the Scripture that Samson struck the foreigners with the tibia on the femur? Because who has the tibia on the femur since the tibia goes from the knee down to the heel? Also, if you wanted to indicate the place of the body in which Samson hit them, would all those who had been beaten be hit in the same part of the body? If this is credible, then we could suspect that Samson fought against his enemies with the tibia of some animal as a stake and with it he would have hit them in the femur, similar to what is written about Samson himself, who killed a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass. But, as I said, it is not credible that in the fray Samson had only set himself a place to hit his enemies. For the Scripture does not say: He struck them with the tibia on the femur, but hit the tibia on the femur. It is evident that this unusual expression presents a certain difficulty. It is said, as if he wanted to say, that he hit them in a truly admirable way, that is, as if, stunned with admiration, they put the tibia on the femur; the tibia, naturally, of one foot on the femur of the other foot, as those who are stunned with admiration usually sit down. It is as if he had said: He hit them on the cheek, that is, with such a blow that they put their hand on his cheek with sad admiration. The translation made on the Hebrew demonstrates quite clearly that this is the meaning, for it says: He hit them with a great blow, so that they stupefied put the surah on the femur. It is as if it were said: they put the tibia on the femur, because the sura is on the back with the tibia.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Etam — Eyrie. (1.) A village of the tribe of Simeon (1 Chr. 4:32). Into some cleft (“top,” A.V.,; R.V., “cleft”) of a rock here Samson retired after his slaughter of the Philistines (Judg. 15:8, 11). It was…
Etam, The Rock — a cliff or lofty rock, into a cleft or chasm of which Samson retired after his slaughter of the Philistines. (Judges 15:8,11) This natural stronghold was in the tribe of Judah; and near it, probably…
Etam · 4. A rock where Sam — 4. A rock where Sam
Philistines · Samson: Slew many for burning his wife — Samson: Slew many for burning his wife
Revenge · .By Sam — .By Sam
Rocks · Mentioned in scripture: Etam — Mentioned in scripture: Etam
Samson · Is avenged for the estrangement of his wife — Is avenged for the estrangement of his wife
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Judges 15:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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.
