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15 След известно време, когато се жънеше пшеницата, Самсон посети жена си, като ѝ донесе едно яре. Той каза на баща ѝ: Ще вляза при жена си в спалнята. Но баща ѝ не му позволи да влезе.

(A)И баща ѝ му каза: Аз си помислих, че ти си я намразил. Затова я дадох на приятеля ти. По-малката ѝ сестра не е ли по-хубава от нея? Вземи нея вместо другата.

А Самсон отговори: Този път ще бъда невинен спрямо филистимците, като им сторя и аз зло.

И така, Самсон отиде и хвана триста лисици. След това взе главни, обърна ги с опашките една към друга и прикачи по една главня в средата между двете опашки.

След това запали главните, пусна лисиците по посевите на филистимците и изгори копните и неожънатите класове, също и маслините.

(B)Тогава филистимците попитаха: Кой стори това? И им отвърнаха: Самсон, зетят на тамнатеца, затова, че той взе жена му и я даде на другаря му. Тогава филистимците дойдоха и изгориха нея и баща ѝ с огън.

А Самсон им каза: Щом направихте така, аз ще си отмъстя на вас. Само тогава ще престана.

И той ги порази с голямо клане надлъж и нашир[a]; след това отиде и остана в процепа на скалата Итам.

(C)Тогава филистимците отидоха, разположиха стан в Юда и се разпростряха до Лехий.

10 Юдовите мъже им казаха: Защо сте дошли против нас? А те отговориха: Дошли сме да вържем Самсон, за да постъпим с него, както той направи с нас.

11 (D)Затова три хиляди мъже от Юда слязоха в процепа на скалата Итам и казаха на Самсон: Не знаеш ли, че филистимците са ни господари? Какво е това, което правиш на нас? А той им отвърна: Каквото те ми сториха, това им сторих и аз.

12 Тогава те му казаха: Ние сме дошли да те вържем и да те предадем на филистимците. Самсон отговори: Закълнете ми се, че вие самите няма да ме нападнете.

13 А те се уговориха с него: Ние само ще те вържем и ще те предадем на тях; но в никакъв случай няма да те убием. И така, вързаха Самсон с две нови въжета и го изведоха от скалата.

14 (E)Когато стигнаха в Лехий, филистимците го посрещнаха с викове. А Господният Дух дойде със сила на него; и въжетата на ръцете му станаха като прегорял лен и връзките му паднаха от ръцете му.

15 (F)И Самсон намери една челюст на осел, още прясна, протегна ръката си, взе я и уби с нея хиляда мъже.

16 Тогава Самсон каза:

С челюст на осел унищожих купове, купове.
С челюст на осел убих хиляда мъже.

17 И като спря да говори, хвърли челюстта от ръката си. Затова онова място бе наречено Рамат-Лехий[b].

18 (G)След това той много ожадня; и извика към Господа: Ти даде чрез ръцете на слугата Си това голямо избавление. Сега да умра от жажда ли и да падна в ръката на необрязаните?

19 (H)Но Бог разтвори процепа, който е в Лехий, и от него потече вода. След като пи, духът му се съвзе и Самсон се съживи. Затова той нарече мястото, което е Лехий, Енакоре[c], както се нарича и до днес.

20 (I)И той беше двадесет години съдия над Израил през времето на филистимското господство.

Footnotes

  1. 15:8 От евр. пречупи пищялите и бедрата им.
  2. 15:17 Т.е. хвърлянето или хълм на челюстта.
  3. 15:19 Т.е. изворът на викащия.

15 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of katzir chittim, that Shimshon visited his isha with a young goat; and he said, I will go in to my isha into the cheder. But her av would not allow him to go in.

And her av said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion; is not her younger achot fairer than she? Take her now, instead of her.

And Shimshon said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Pelishtim, though I do them ra’ah.

And Shimshon went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned them tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between two tails.

And when he lit eish to the torches, he let them go into the standing grain of the Pelishtim, and burned up both the harvested grain and also the standing grain, and also olive orchards.

Then the Pelishtim said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Shimshon, the choson of the Timni, because he had taken his isha, and given her to his companion. And the Pelishtim came up, and burned her and her av with eish.

And Shimshon said unto them, Since ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you and after that I will cease.

And he struck them hip and thigh with a makkah gedolah; and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Then the Pelishtim went up and encamped in Yehudah, and spread themselves out in Lechi.

10 And the ish Yehudah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Shimshon are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

11 Then three thousand men of Yehudah went to the top of the rock Etam and said to Shimshon, Knowest thou not that the Pelishtim are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the yad Pelishtim. And Shimshon said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

13 And they spoke unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their yad; but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two avotim chadashim (new ropes), and brought him up from the rock.

14 And when he came unto Lechi, the Pelishtim shouted against him; and the Ruach of Hashem came mightily upon him, and the avotim that were upon his arms became as flax that was burned with eish, and his binding loosed from off his hands.

15 And he found a new jawbone of a chamor, and put forth his yad and took it and slaughtered a thousand men therewith.

16 And Shimshon said, With the lechi (jawbone) of a chamor heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of a chamor have I slain a thousand men.

17 And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking that he cast away the jawbone out of his yad, and called that place Ramat Lechi (Jawbone Hill).

18 And he was very thirsty, and called on Hashem, and said, Thou hast given this teshu’ah hagedolah (great victory, rescue, salvation) into the yad of thy eved; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the yad of the arelim?

19 But Elohim split open the hollow place that is at Lechi, and there came mayim thereout; and when he had drunk, his ruach came again, and he revived; wherefore he called the shem thereof En HaKorei (Spring of the Caller), which is in Lechi unto this day.

20 And he judged Yisroel in the days of the Pelishtim esrim shanah.

15 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

15 But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I will go in to my wife’s room.”

But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in. Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.”

Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in the case of the Philistines when I harm them.” Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails. When he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves.

Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?”

They said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” The Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire.

Samson said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.” He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock. Then the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

10 The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?”

They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”

11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in Etam’s rock, and said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?”

He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

12 They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.”

Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”

13 They spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will bind you securely and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burned with fire; and his bands dropped from off his hands. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, put out his hand, took it, and struck a thousand men with it. 16 Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.” 17 When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi.[a]

18 He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

19 But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day. 20 He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Footnotes

  1. 15:17 “Ramath” means “hill” and “Lehi” means “jawbone”.

Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines

15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest,(A) Samson(B) took a young goat(C) and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.”(D) But her father would not let him go in.

“I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion.(E) Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”

Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” So he went out and caught three hundred foxes(F) and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch(G) to every pair of tails, lit the torches(H) and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks(I) and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.(J)

So the Philistines went up and burned her(K) and her father to death.(L) Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock(M) of Etam.(N)

The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.(O) 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?(P) What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me(Q) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes(R) and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi,(S) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.(T) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,(U) and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.(V)

16 Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have made donkeys of them.[a](W)
With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have killed a thousand men.”

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.[b](X)

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,(Y) “You have given your servant this great victory.(Z) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.(AA) So the spring(AB) was called En Hakkore,[c] and it is still there in Lehi.

20 Samson led[d] Israel for twenty years(AC) in the days of the Philistines.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.
  2. Judges 15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.
  3. Judges 15:19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring.
  4. Judges 15:20 Traditionally judged