1. Judges 15:15 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does Samson’s use of the jawbone of a donkey recall?

Judges 15:15 (ESV)

15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

This is now the third time in chapters 14 and 15 that Samson uses something from the animal world for his purposes. First it was a lion that he killed, from whose carcass he drew honey (Judges 14:5–9). Then it was foxes he caught and used as incendiary missiles in his act of revenge (Judges 15:4–5). Now he uses the jawbone of a donkey to kill a thousand of his enemies. One could say that this is Samson exercising dominion over the animals, but this is in fact a misuse of that dominion.