‘ And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand between each set of two tails.'
Samson then caught three hundred jackals, which move in packs and are easier to catch than foxes (the word can mean either fox or jackal), and, tying them in twos, fitted a torch or firebrand between each pair, thus fitting about one hundred and fifty torches in all.
His task was carried out purposefully. The collecting of three hundred jackals would take some time, and he would then require assistance to attach the torches (or firebrands). But he knew what he was going to do and set his face to do it. The torches would smoulder and burst into flame when the jackals started running. And the more they flamed the more the jackals would run. It was not very pleasant for the jackals, and would certainly not have been appreciated today, but such scavenging animals were given little consideration in those days. The fastening in pairs was in order to prevent them from seeking refuge down holes.
“Three hundred.” It is noticeable throughout the account that ‘three' is predominant in numbering men and animals, and that there is progression as his impact increases. Thirty companions (Judges 14:11), thirty men slain in Ashkelon (Judges 14:19), three hundred jackals released among their crops, three thousand men of Judah who arrested him (Judges 15:11) followed by three thousand men and women on the roof of the Temple where Samson died (Judges 16:27). The stress is on completeness of judgment and God's progression towards that completeness.
There may here be another significance in the numbers. The jackals were tied in pairs making one hundred and fifty messengers of judgment, five times more than the initial ‘theft' from Samson. The Law stated that restitution for theft should be fivefold in the case of an ox (Exodus 22:1). Samson was exacting his own restitution for the theft of his wife.