Judges 16-18
Complete Jewish Bible
16 Shimshon went to ‘Azah, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people in ‘Azah were told that Shimshon had come, so they surrounded the place where he was and also set an ambush for him all night at the city gate. Their plan was to do nothing at night, but to wait until morning and then kill him. 3 However, Shimshon stayed in bed until midnight; then he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts as well, pulled them up, bar and all, hoisted them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill overlooking Hevron.
4 After this, he fell in love with a woman who lived in the Sorek Valley, whose name was D’lilah. 5 The chiefs of the P’lishtim went up to her and said, “Coax him into telling you where his great strength comes from and how we can overcome him, so that we can tie him up and subdue him. If you do, each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 D’lilah said to Shimshon, “Please tell me what it is that makes you so strong, and how someone could tie you up and subdue you.” 7 Shimshon replied, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have never been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.” 8 The chiefs of the P’lishtim brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 Now she had people lying in wait in the inside room. So she said to him, “Shimshon! The P’lishtim have come for you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of straw breaks when it touches fire, and the source of his strength remained unknown.
10 D’lilah said to Shimshon, “You’re making fun of me, telling me lies. Now, come on, tell me what it takes to tie you up.” 11 “All it takes,” he answered, “is to tie me up with new ropes that haven’t been used. Then I’ll become weak and be like anyone else.” 12 So D’lilah took new ropes, tied him up, and said to him, “Shimshon! The P’lishtim have come for you!” (The people lying in wait were in the inside room.) But he broke the ropes from off his arms like a thread.
13 D’lilah said to Shimshon, “Till now you’ve been making fun of me and telling me lies. Tell me what it takes to tie you up.” He said, “If you weave the seven locks of my hair across thread on a loom.” 14 So she fastened her cloth work in the loom with a pin and wove his hair in, then said to him, “Shimshon! The P’lishtim have come for you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled away the loom pin and the interwoven cloth. 15 She said to him, “How can you say you love me when your heart isn’t with me? Three times you’ve made fun of me, and you haven’t told me the source of your great strength.”
16 Every day she kept nagging at him and pressing at him, till it bothered him to death, 17 so that he finally told her everything. He said to her, “No razor has ever touched my head, because I have been a nazir of God since I was born. If someone shaves me, then my strength will leave me; and I will be like any other man.” 18 When D’lilah saw that he had really confided in her, she sent and summoned the chiefs of the P’lishtim with the message, “Come up this one last time, because he has finally told me the truth.” The chiefs of the P’lishtim went up to her and brought the money with them. 19 She had him go to sleep in her lap and called for a man to shave off his seven locks of hair. Then she began tormenting him, but his strength had gone away. 20 She said, “Shimshon! The P’lishtim have come for you!” He awoke from his sleep and said, “I’ll get out this time, just as I shook myself loose before.” But he didn’t know that Adonai had left him. 21 So the P’lishtim seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to ‘Azah. There they bound him with two bronze chains and put him to work grinding grain at the mill in the prison. 22 However, after the hair on his head had been cut off, it began growing back again.
23 The chiefs of the P’lishtim assembled to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. As they celebrated they sang,
“Our god has handed over to us
our enemy Shimshon.”
24 Upon seeing him, the people praised their god:
“Our god has handed over to us
our enemy, who destroyed our land
and killed so many of us.”
25 When they were in high spirits they said, “Summon Shimshon to amuse us.” So they called Shimshon out of the prison, and he amused them. When they put him between the columns, 26 Shimshon said to the boy holding him by the hand, “Let me feel the columns supporting the building, so that I can lean on them.” 27 The building was full of men and women; and all the chiefs of the P’lishtim were there; in addition to them, there were about three thousand men and women on the roof, watching, as Shimshon performed. 28 Shimshon called to Adonai, “Adonai Elohim, just this once, please, think of me, and please, give me strength, so that I can take revenge on the P’lishtim for at least one of my two eyes.” 29 Shimshon got a good hold on the two middle columns supporting the building and leaned on them, on one with his right hand and on the other with his left. 30 Then, crying, “Let me die with the P’lishtim!” he pushed with all his might; and the building collapsed on the chiefs and on all the people inside. So he killed more at his death than he had killed during his life.
31 His brothers and all his father’s family came down, took him, brought him up and buried him between Tzor‘ah and Eshta’ol, in the tomb of his father Manoach. He had judged Isra’el twenty years.
17 There was a man from the hills of Efrayim named Mikhay’hu. 2 He said to his mother, “You know the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you — you pronounced a curse about it, and you told me about it? Well, the money is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May Adonai bless my son,” 3 as he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. Then his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate this money of mine to Adonai, in order for my son to make a carved image overlaid with silver. So now I’m giving it back to you.” 4 But he returned the money to his mother, and she took 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the metalworker, who made a carved image overlaid with silver which was put in Mikhay’hu’s house. 5 This man Mikhah owned a house of God; so he made a ritual vest and household gods and consecrated one of his sons, who became his cohen. 6 At that time there was no king in Isra’el; a man simply did whatever he thought was right.
7 There was a young man from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah, from the family of Y’hudah, who was a Levi. He had been staying 8 in Beit-Lechem, but he left there to find another place to live and came to the hills of Efrayim, where eventually he made his way to the house of Mikhah. 9 Mikhah asked him, “Where are you coming from?” He answered, “I am a Levi from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah, and I’m looking for a place to live.” 10 Mikhah replied, “Stay with me, and be a father and cohen for me; I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, in addition to your clothing and food.” So the Levi went in 11 and agreed to stay with the man; the young man became like one of his sons. 12 After Mikhah consecrated the Levi, the young man became his cohen and stayed there in Mikhah’s house. 13 Mikhah said, “Now I know that Adonai will treat me well, because I have a Levi for a cohen.
18 At that time there was no king in Isra’el, and it was also at that time that the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to claim ownership of and settle in, since they had not yet been given any land of their own among the tribes of Isra’el. 2 The people of Dan sent five leading men from Tzor‘ah and Eshta’ol, representing their whole tribe, to spy out and explore the land. They instructed them, “Go, and explore the land.” They came to the hills of Efrayim, to the house of Mikhah, and stayed there. 3 While they were at Mikhah’s house they recognized the accent of the young man, the Levi, so they approached him and said, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is there for you here?” 4 He answered, “Here’s the arrangement Mikhah has made with me: he pays me a wage, and I serve as his cohen.” 5 They said to him, “Please ask God whether our journey will be successful.” 6 The cohen replied, “Don’t worry. Adonai is with you on this journey.”
7 The five men left, came to Layish and saw the people there living securely according to the customs of the Tzidonim, quietly and securely; since no one in the land was exercising authority that might shame them in any respect; moreover, they were far away from the Tzidonim and had no dealings with other peoples. 8 When they returned to their kinsmen in Tzor‘ah and Eshta’ol, they asked them what they had to report. 9 They said, “Let’s go up and attack them. We’ve seen the land, and it’s excellent. Don’t delay; start moving! Go in, and take the land! 10 When you go, you will come to a people who feel safe. There’s plenty of land, the place lacks nothing, it has everything there is on earth, and God has given it to you.”
11 So from the tribe of Dan 600 men equipped for war set out from there, from Tzor‘ah and Eshta’ol. 12 They went up and camped at Kiryat-Ye‘arim, in Y’hudah, which is why that place is called Machaneh-Dan [the camp of Dan] to this day (actually, it’s behind Kiryat-Ye‘arim). 13 From there they passed on into the hills of Efrayim and came to Mikhah’s house. 14 The men who had gone to spy out the land of Layish then said to their kinsmen, “Are you aware that in these buildings there is a ritual vest, household gods and a carved image overlaid with silver? Decide what you ought to do.” 15 They turned off the road and went to the house of the young Levi, that is, to Mikhah’s house, and asked how he was doing. 16 The 600 soldiers from Dan stayed at the gate, 17 while the five who had spied out the land went in and took the idol overlaid with silver, the vest and the household gods. The cohen had stayed with the 600 soldiers by the gate. 18 But when they went into Mikhah’s house and took the silver-covered image, the vest and the household gods, the cohen asked them, “What are you doing?” 19 They replied, “Be quiet, keep your mouth shut, and come with us. Be a father and a cohen for us. Which is better? To be a cohen in the house of one man or to be cohen to a whole tribe and family in Isra’el?” 20 This made the cohen feel very good; so he took the ritual vest, the household gods and the image and went off with the people. 21 So they turned and left, with their children, cattle and belongings going ahead of them.
22 When they were a good distance from Mikhah’s house, the men who lived in the houses near his got together [with him], overtook the people from Dan 23 and began shouting at them. The people from Dan turned and said to Mikhah, “What’s wrong with you, that you’ve gathered such a crowd?” 24 He answered, “You’ve taken away my god, which I made, and gone off with the cohen! What more have I got? How can you ask me, ‘What’s wrong with you?’” 25 The men from Dan replied, “You had best say no more to us, because some of us might get angry and attack you. You could lose your life, and so might the others in your household.” 26 Then the people from Dan went their way; and when Mikhah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. 27 So they took what Mikhah had made and his cohen.
They came to Layish, to a quiet and trusting people. They attacked, killed them and burned down the city. 28 No one came to rescue them, because it was far from Tzidon, and they had no dealings with other peoples. This was in the valley near Beit-Rechov.
Then the people of Dan rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named the city Dan, after Dan their ancestor, who was born to Isra’el; although the city had previously been called Layish. 30 The people of Dan set up the image for themselves. Y’honatan the son of Gershom, the son of M’nasheh, and his sons were cohanim for the tribe of the people of Dan until the day of the exile from the land. 31 Thus they erected for themselves Mikhah’s idol which he had made, and it remained there as long as the house of God was in Shiloh.
Shofetim 16-18
Orthodox Jewish Bible
16 Then went Shimshon to Azah (Gaza), and saw there a zonah, and went in unto her.
2 And it was told the Azah people, saying, Shimshon is come here. And they surrounded him, and laid wait for him kol halailah in the sha’ar HaIr, and were quiet kol halailah, saying, In the ohr haboker, we shall kill him.
3 And Shimshon lay till khatzot halailah, and arose at khatzot halailah, and took the daletot sha’ar HaIr, and the two mezuzot, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Chevron.
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he fell in love with an isha in the Sorek Valley, whose shem was Delilah.
5 And rulers of the Pelishtim came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, see wherein his ko’ach gadol lieth, by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of kesef.
6 And Delilah said to Shimshon, Tell me, now, wherein thy koach gadol lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to subdue thee.
7 And Shimshon said unto her, If they bind me with shivah fresh bowstrings that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as any adam.
8 Then the rulers of the Pelishtim brought up to her shivah fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the cheder. And she said unto him, The Pelishtim be upon thee, Shimshon. And he broke the bowstrings, as a piece of thread is broken when it toucheth the eish. So his ko’ach was not known.
10 And Delilah said unto Shimshon, Hinei, thou hast mocked me, and told me kezavim (lies); tell me, now, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with avotim chadashim that never were used, then shall I be weak, and be as any adam.
12 Delilah therefore took avotim chadashim, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Pelishtim be upon thee, Shimshon. For there were ambushers lying in wait abiding in the cheder. And he broke them from off his arms like thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Shimshon, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me kezavim; tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the sheva braids of my head with the web [fabric on the loom],
14 And fasten it with the pin... Again she called to him, The Pelishtim be upon thee, Shimshon. And he awakened out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the loom, and with the web.
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine lev is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy ko’ach gadol lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his nefesh was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his lev, and said unto her, There hath not come a morah (razor) upon mine head; for I have been a Nazir Elohim from my mother’s beten; if I be shaven, then my ko’ach will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other adam.
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his lev, she sent and called for the rulers of the Pelishtim, saying, Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his lev. Then the rulers of the Pelishtim came up unto her, and brought kesef in their yad.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for an ish, and she caused him to shave off the sheva braids of his head; and she began to torment him, and his ko’ach went from him.
20 And she said, The Pelishtim be upon thee, Shimshon. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he knew not that Hashem was departed from him.
21 But the Pelishtim took him, and gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Azah (Gaza), and bound him with fetters of nechoshet; and he did grind in the prison house.
22 Howbeit after he was shaven, the hair of his head began l’tzameach [to spring up; Tzemach is Moshiach] again.
23 Then rulers of the Pelishtim gathered them together for to offer a zevach gadol unto Dagon eloheihem, and to rejoice; for they said, eloheinu hath delivered Shimshon oyveinu (our enemy) into our yad.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised eloheihem; for they said, eloheinu hath delivered into our hands oyveinu, and the destroyer of our country, which slaughtered many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Shimshon, that he may entertain us. And they called for Shimshon out of the prison house; and he entertained them; and they set him between the ammudim.
26 And Shimshon said unto the na’ar that held him by the yad, Put me where I may feel the ammudim whereupon the bais standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the bais (temple) was full of anashim and nashim; and all the rulers of the Pelishtim were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand ish and isha, that beheld while Shimshon entertained.
28 And Shimshon called unto Hashem, and said, Adonoi Hashem, remember me, now, and strengthen me, now, only this once, O HaElohim that I may be at once avenged of the Pelishtim for my two eyes.
29 And Shimshon took hold of the two middle ammudim upon which the bais stood and he braced himself against them, one with his right yad, and the other with his left.
30 And Shimshon said, Let me die with the Pelishtim. And he pushed himself with all his ko’ach; and the bais fell upon the rulers, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slaughtered at his death were more than they which he slaughtered in his life.
31 Then his brethren and all the bais of his av came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Tzorah and Eshtaol in the kever of Manoach his av. And he judged Yisroel esrim shanah.
17 And there was an ish from har Ephrayim, whose shem was Mikhay’hu.
2 And he said unto his em, The eleven hundred pieces of kesef that were taken from thee, about which thou did utter a curse, and spoke of also in mine ears, Hinei, the kesef is with me; I took it. And his em said, Baruch beni LaHashem.
3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred pieces of kesef to his em, his em said, I had wholly set apart as kodesh the kesef unto Hashem from my hand for beni (my son), to make a pesel (carved image, idol [See Ex 20:4]) and a masekhah (an image cast from a mold [See Ex 32:4]); now therefore I will return it unto thee.
4 So he restored the kesef unto his em; and his em took two hundred pieces of kesef and gave them to the tzoref (goldsmith), who made thereof a pesel and a masekhah; and they were in the bais Mikhay’hu.
5 And the ish Mikhay’hu had a bais elohim, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and ordained one of his banim, who became his kohen.
6 In those yamim there was no melech in Yisroel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7 Meanwhile there was a na’ar from Beit-Lechem Yehudah of the mishpakhat Yehudah, who was a Levi, and he sojourned there.
8 And the ish departed out of the Ir from Beit-Lechem Yehudah to sojourn where he could find a place; and he came to har Ephrayim to the bais Mikhay’hu, as he made his derech.
9 And Mikhay’hu said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levi of Beit-Lechem Yehudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
10 And Mikhay’hu said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me an av and a kohen, and I will give thee ten pieces of kesef a year, and a set of begadim, and mikhyah (maintenance, livelihood). So the Levi went in.
11 And the Levi agreed to dwell with the ish; and the na’ar was unto him as one of his banim.
12 And Mikhay’hu ordained (literally, filled the hands of, consecrated, appointed as his own priest) the Levi; and the na’ar became his kohen, and was in the bais Mikhay’hu.
13 Then said Mikhay’hu, Now I have da’as that Hashem will do me good, seeing I have a Levi as my kohen.
18 In those days there was no melech in Yisroel; and in those days the shevet (tribe) of the Dani sought them a nachalah to dwell in; for unto that day none had fallen for him [Dan] among the Shivtei Yisroel.
2 And the Bnei Dan sent of their mishpakhat five anashim out of their whole number, anashim, Bnei Chayil, from Tzorah, and from Eshta’ol, to spy out the land, and to explore it; and they said unto them, Go, explore the land; and when they came to har Ephrayim, to the bais Mikhay’hu, they lodged there.
3 When they were at the bais Mikhah, they recognized the voice of the na’ar the Levi; so they turned in there, and said unto him, Who brought thee here? And what doth thou in this place? And what is thy business here?
4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Mikhah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his kohen.
5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel of Elohim, that we may have da’as of whether our derech shall succeed.
6 And the kohen said unto them, Go in shalom; your derech wherein ye go is nokhach Hashem (straight in the sight of Hashem).
7 Then the five anashim departed, and came to Layish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the mishpat of the Tzidonim, quiet and unsuspecting; and there was no one in authority in the land, that might put them to shame for anything; but they were far from the Tzidonim, and had no ties with adam.
8 And they returned unto their achim to Tzorah and Eshta’ol; and their achim said unto them, Mah atem (What do you [report]?)
9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them; for we have seen ha’aretz, and, hinei, it is tovah me’od; and will ye do nothing? Be not slothful to go, but enter in to possess ha’aretz.
10 When ye go, ye shall come unto an Am bote’ach (unsuspecting people), and to ha’aretz rachavat; for Elohim hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no lack of any thing that is in ha’aretz.
11 And there went from thence of the mishpakhat HaDani, out of Tzorah and out of Eshta’ol, 600 men armed with keli milchamah.
12 And they went up, and encamped in Kiryat-Yearim, in Yehudah; wherefore they called that place Machaneh Dan unto this day; hinei, it is behind Kiryat-Yearim.
13 And they passed thence unto har Ephrayim, and came unto the bais Mikhah.
14 Then answered the five anashim that went to spy out ha’aretz Layish, and said unto their achim, Do ye know that there is in these batim ephod, teraphim, pesel, and maskhah? Now therefore consider what ye have to do.
15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the bais hana’ar haLevi, even unto the bais Mikhah, and gave him a shalom greeting.
16 And the 600 men armed with their keli milchamah, which were of the Bnei Dan, stood by the petach hasha’ar.
17 And the five anashim that went to spy out ha’aretz went up, and came in thither, and took the pesel, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the masekhah; and the kohen stood in the petach hasha’ar with the 600 men that were armed with keli milchamah.
18 And these went into bais Mikhah, and fetched the pesel, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the masakhah. Then said the kohen unto them, What are ye doing?
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine yad upon thy mouth, and come with us, and be to us an av and a kohen; is it better for thee to be a kohen unto the bais ish echad, or that thou be a kohen unto a shevet and a mishpakhat in Yisroel?
20 And the lev hakohen was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the pesel, and went in the midst of the people.
21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the mikneh and the belongings in front of them.
22 And when they were a good way from the bais Mikhah, the men that were in the batim (houses) near to bais Mikhah were gathered together, and overtook the Bnei Dan.
23 And they cried unto the Bnei Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Mikhah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
24 And he said, Ye have taken away my g-ds which I made, and the kohen, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? And what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
25 And the Bnei Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry anashim run upon thee, and thou lose thy nefesh, with the nefesh of thy household.
26 And the Bnei Dan went their way; and when Mikhah saw that they were chazakim, too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his bais [T.N. By now we are seeing the point of the story, which is how Dan became infected with apostate religion; see their omission Rev chp 7].
27 And they took the things which Mikhah had made, and the kohen which he had, and came unto Layish unto a people that were peaceful and unsuspecting and they struck them with the edge of the cherev, and burnt the ir with eish.
28 And there was no matzil (deliverer, rescuer), because it was far from Tzidon, and they had no tie with adam (any man); and it was in the valley that lieth near Beit-Rechov. And they built an ir, and dwelt therein.
29 And they called the shem of the Ir Dan, after the shem of Dan their av, who was born unto Yisroel; howbeit the shem of the Ir was Layish previously.
30 And the Bnei Dan set up the pesel; and Y’honatan ben Gershom ben Menasheh, he and his banim were kohanim to the shevet haDani until the yom Golus HaAretz [722 B.C.E.].
31 During all the time that the Bais HaElohim was in Shiloh they set up for them pesel Mikhah, which he made.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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