Judges 15:8

He smote them hip and thigh - This also is variously understood; but the general meaning seems plain; he appears to have had no kind of defensive weapon, therefore he was obliged to grapple with them, and, according to the custom of wrestlers, trip up their feet, and then bruise them to death. Some translate heaps upon heaps; others, he smote horsemen and footmen; others, he wounded them from their legs to their thighs, etc., etc. See the different versions. Some think in their running away from him he kicked them down, and then trod them to death: thus his leg or thigh was against their hip; hence the expression.

The top of the rock Etam - It is very likely that this is the same place as that mentioned 1 Chronicles 4:32; it was in the tribe of Simeon, and on the borders of Dan, and probably a fortified place.

Hip and thigh - A proverbial expression of doubtful origin, meaning all the "great" and "mighty," all the choice pieces like the thigh and shoulder.

In the top of the rock - Rather, "the cleft of the rock." These clefts of the rock were the natural fortresses and hiding places of the land. (Isaiah 2:21; Isaiah 57:5. Compare 1 Samuel 13:6; 1 Kings 18:13.)

Etam - Not the same as the place in the territory of Simeon 1 Chronicles 4:32. Its situation is uncertain, but a site near Eleutheropolis ("Beth-jibrin") is required; and there exist some extraordinary caverns in the soft limestone or chalky rock, fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides, opening into extensive excavations in the rock, about two hours from Eleutheropolis. (Conder conjectures it to be the same as Atab, a village 12 miles southwest of Jerusalem, in the ‛arkub or Ridge.)

15:8 Hip and thigh - It seems to be a phrase, to express a desperate attack, attended with the utmost hurry and confusion: and perhaps intimates, that they all fled before him. So he smote them in the hinder parts.Rock Etam - A natural fortress, where he waited to see what steps the Philistines would take.