What Does Judges 15:19 Mean in the King James?
But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The cry that seems to mark the end of life becomes the name of the spring where breath returns.
THE MEANING
This verse holds exhaustion without denying it: thirst brings Samson to the edge of collapse, and water reaches him where he is. The breath that returns and the spring named for his cry keep that moment of restored life present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A collapse in strength means life has already passed beyond restoration.
THE ROOT
רוּחוֹ
rûḥô
GROWS FROM
ר־ו־ח
r-w-ḥ
To blow or breathe; רוּחַ (rûaḥ) also means wind, breath, or spirit.
The word translated “spirit” is רוּחַ (rûaḥ), the same Hebrew word used for wind and breath. Here it returns after Samson drinks, holding bodily breath and inner vitality together in one word.
ALSO GROWS
rûaḥ: Moving air
רוּחַ
The same Hebrew word can name wind, so the verse’s “spirit” belongs to the language of moving air as well as inner life.
rûaḥ: Breath, the air of life
רוּחַ
Samson’s רוּחַ (rûaḥ) returns after he drinks: the verse joins water with the return of life-bearing breath.
rûaḥ: Spirit or inner vitality
רוּחַ
This is the KJV rendering here, while the Hebrew word also carries the concrete senses of breath and wind.
וַיִּקְרָא
vayyiqrāʾ
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־א
q-r-ʾ
To call, cry out, or name.
“called” in this verse is vayyiqrāʾ. The place-name עֵין הַקּוֹרֵא (ʿÊn haqqōrēʾ) means “spring of the caller.” The cry and the spring are joined in its name: the caller’s need remains attached to the place where water is found.
ALSO GROWS
qārāʾ: To call aloud or cry out
קָרָא
Samson calls to the LORD in the preceding verse, and the next verse preserves that caller in the spring’s name.
qōrēʾ: One who calls
קוֹרֵא
This participle appears in עֵין הַקּוֹרֵא (ʿÊn haqqōrēʾ), “spring of the caller,” turning a cry into the place’s lasting name.
וַיִּבְקַע
vayyivqaʿ
GROWS FROM
ב־ק־ע
b-q-ʿ
To split, cleave, or break open.
“clave” in this verse is vayyivqaʿ. The verb makes the opening itself part of the provision: the hollow is split open and water comes out. The same root describes other openings through which water is released.
ALSO GROWS
nibqəʿû: Were broken open
נִבְקְעוּ
Genesis 7:11 uses the root for the fountains of the great deep breaking open, again linking an opening with the release of water.
vayyibbāqəʿû: Were split apart
וַיִּבָּקְעוּ
Exodus 14:21 uses the root when the waters divide, showing the same word-shape opening a way through water.
THE PATTERN
At the edge of depletion, life is sustained by a source God opens or sets flowing.
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.THE THREAD
And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?Judges 15:18 uses קָרָא (qārāʾ), meaning “call” or “cry out,” for Samson’s plea. The next verse echoes that root in הַקּוֹרֵא (haqqōrēʾ), “the caller,” within the name עֵין הַקּוֹרֵא (ʿÊn haqqōrēʾ), “spring of the caller”: his cry becomes part of the name of the place where water appears.
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