The Hebrew lechi means the jaw, jawbone, or cheek. It is most famously the weapon Samson used to slay a thousand Philistines (Judges 15:15–17) and also appears in contexts of humiliation (striking the cheek) and physical description.
Lechi appears at one of the most dramatic moments in the book of Judges. Samson, finding 'a fresh jawbone of a donkey,' slays a thousand men with it — naming the place 'Ramath Lechi' (Hill of the Jawbone). The story is not primarily about Samson's strength but about God empowering the unlikely and the lowly: a jawbone, the most humble of weapons, becomes the instrument of divine deliverance. This foreshadows 1 Corinthians 1:27 — 'God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.' The striking of the cheek also plays a profound role in the suffering servant motif (Isaiah 50:6) and Jesus' teaching on non-retaliation (Matthew 5:39), inverting cultural honor-shame dynamics through vulnerability.