Bible Dictionary
HIP
The hip is the area around the upper leg or limb. “Hip and thigh” describes the great slaughter inflicted by Samson upon the Philistines.
Definition
The hip is the region of the upper leg or limb. The word may also refer more broadly to the leg or shoulder, depending on the underlying term.
Biblical Usage
When Samson smote the Philistines “hip and thigh,” the expression means that he inflicted a great slaughter. The Hebrew wording is literally “leg upon thigh,” portraying bodies violently heaped or piled together.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>(shoq, "leg," "limb," "hip," "shoulder"): Samson smote the Philistines "hip and thigh" (Hebrew "leg upon thigh"), which was indicative of "a great slaughter" (Jud 15:8), the bodies being hewed in pieces with such violence that they lay in bloody confusion, their limbs piled up on one another in great heaps.</p><p>See also SINEW.</p>