And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. He found a new jaw-bone of an ass - I rather think that the word טריה teriyah, which we translate new, and the margin moist, should be understood as signifying the tabia or putrid state of the ass from which this jawbone was taken. He found there a dead ass in a state of putrefaction; on which account he could the more easily separate the jaw from its integuments; this was a circumstance proper to be recorded by the historian, and a mark of the providence of God. But were we to understand it of a fresh jaw-bone, very lately separated from the head of an ass, the circumstance does not seem worthy of being recorded.
With the jaw-bore of an ass, heaps upon heaps - I cannot see the propriety of this rendering of the Hebrew words בלחי החמור חמור חמרתים bilchi hachamor, chemor chamorathayim; I believe they should be translated thus: -
"With the jaw-bone of this ass, an ass (the foal) of two asses;
"With the jaw-bone of this ass I have slain a thousand men."
This appears to have been a triumphal song on the occasion; and the words are variously rendered both by the versions, and by expositors.