The word for made a raid
can also be understood as to spread out,
to deploy themselves.
What seems in view is the Philistines took up their positions, ready to attack Lehi. They were hoping to either find Samson there or seize and occupy the town as a base for their next moves.1
The use of the verb to make a raid,
along with the earlier verb to encamp,
gives the first hint in the Samson narrative of military activity.2 It is a time of crisis; Samson’s activities have provoked an official confrontation between Israel and its enemy.
9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi.