King James Version

Judges 15:4

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

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Hebrew

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וַיֵּ֣לֶךְvayelekhand carryיָלַךְconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and carry”, the next action in the storyH3212to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses)[idiom] again, away, bear, bring, carry (away), come (away), depart, flow, [phrase] follow(-ing), get (away, hence, him), (cause to, made) go (away, -ing, -ne, one's way, out), grow, lead (forth), let down, march, prosper, [phrase] pursue,…שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹןshimshonSamsonשִׁמְשׁוֹןnoun, proper name — “Samson”H8123Shimshon, an IsraeliteSamson.וַיִּלְכֹּ֖דvayilkodand catchלָכַדconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and catch”, the next action in the storyH3920to catch (in a net, trap or pit); generally, to capture or occupy; also to choose (by lot); figuratively, to cohere[idiom] at all, catch (self), be frozen, be holden, stick together, take.שְׁלֹשׁsheloshthirdשָׁלוֹשׁadjective, cardinal, feminine, singular, absolute — “third”, the ordinary formH7969three; occasionally (ordinal) third, or (multiple) thrice[phrase] fork, [phrase] often(-times), third, thir(-teen, -teenth), three, [phrase] thrice. Compare H7991 (שָׁלִישׁ).מֵא֣וֹתmeothundred , -thמֵאָהadjective, cardinal, both genders, plural, absolute — “hundred , -th”, the ordinary formH3967a hundred; also as a multiplicative and a fractionhundred((-fold), -th), [phrase] sixscore.שׁוּעָלִ֑יםshualimfoxשׁוּעָלnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “fox”, the ordinary formH7776a jackal (as a burrower)fox.וַיִּקַּ֣חvayiqachand takeלָקַחconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and take”, the next action in the storyH3947to take (in the widest variety of applications)accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, [idiom] many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.לַפִּדִ֗יםlapidimlampלַפִּידnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “lamp”, the ordinary formH3940a flambeau, lamp or flame(fire-) brand, (burning) lamp, lightning, torch.וַיֶּ֤פֶןvayefenand appearפָּנָהconjunction, verb, hiphil, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and appear”, the next action in the storyH6437to turn; by implication, to face, i.e. appear, look, etc.appear, at (even-) tide, behold, cast out, come on, [idiom] corner, dawning, empty, go away, lie, look, mark, pass away, prepare, regard, (have) respect (to), (re-) turn (aside, away, back, face, self), [idiom] right (early).זָנָב֙zanavtailזָנָבnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “tail”, the ordinary formH2180the tail (literally or figuratively)tail.אֶלelamongאֵלpreposition — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).זָנָ֔בzanavtailזָנָבnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “tail”, the ordinary formH2180the tail (literally or figuratively)tail.וַיָּ֨שֶׂםvayasemand putשׂוּםconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and put”, the next action in the storyH7760to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)[idiom] any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, [phrase] disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, [phrase]…לַפִּ֥ידlapidlampלַפִּידnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “lamp”, the ordinary formH3940a flambeau, lamp or flame(fire-) brand, (burning) lamp, lightning, torch.אֶחָ֛דechadfirstאֶחָדadjective, cardinal, masculine, singular, absolute — “first”, the ordinary formH259properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) firsta, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-) ly, each (one), [phrase] eleven, every, few, first, [phrase] highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,בֵּיןbeynbetweenבֵּיןpreposition — “between”H996between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles); also as a conjunction, either...oramong, asunder, at, between (-twixt...and), [phrase] from (the widest), [idiom] in, out of, whether (it be...or), within.שְׁנֵ֥יshenetwoשְׁנַיִםadjective, cardinal, masculine, dual, construct — “two”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8147two; also (as ordinal) twofoldboth, couple, double, second, twain, [phrase] twelfth, [phrase] twelve, [phrase] twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.הַזְּנָב֖וֹתhaznavotthe tailזָנָבdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “the tail”, the ordinary formH2180the tail (literally or figuratively)tail.בַּתָּֽוֶךְbatavekhin amongתָּוֶךְpreposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in among”, the ordinary formH8432a bisection, i.e. (by implication) the centreamong(-st), [idiom] between, half, [idiom] (there-, where-), in(-to), middle, mid(-night), midst (among), [idiom] out (of), [idiom] through, [idiom] with(-in).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between every two tails.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.

Young’s Literal Translation

And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst,

World English Bible

Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails.

Darby Translation

And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between the two tails.

Douay-Rheims

And he went and caught three hundred foxes, and coupled them tail to tail, and fastened torches between the tails.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between every two tails.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And Sampson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch between two tails, and fastened it.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ ἐπορεύθη Σαμψὼν, καὶ συνέλαβε τριακοσίας ἀλώπεκας, καὶ ἔλαβε λαμπάδας, καὶ ἐπέστρεψε κέρκον πρὸς κέρκον, καὶ ἔθηκε λαμπάδα μίαν ἀναμέσον τῶν δύο κέρκων καὶ ἔδησε,