Judges 3
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
3 These are the nations which the Lord left, that by them he might instruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the Chanaanites:
2 That afterwards their children might learn to fight with their enemies, and to be trained up to war:
3 The five princes of the Philistines, and all the Chanaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hevites that dwelt in mount Libanus, from mount Baal Hermon to the entering into Emath.
4 And he left them, that he might try Israel by them, whether they would hear the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses, or not.
5 So the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite:
6 And they took their daughters to wives, and they gave their own daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.
7 And they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their God, and served Baalim and Astaroth.
8 And the Lord being angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands of Chusan Rasathaim king of Mesopotamia, and they served him eight years.
9 And they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, and delivered them, to wit, Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb:
10 And the spirit of the Lord was in him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to fight, and the Lord delivered into his hands Chusan Rasathaim king of Syria, and he overthrew him.
11 And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel the son of Cenez died.
12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: who strengthened against them Eglon king of Moab: because they did evil in his sight.
13 And he joined to him the children of Ammon, and Amalec: and he went and overthrew Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
14 And the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years:
15 And afterwards they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour called Aod, the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, who used the left hand as well as the right. And the children of Israel sent presents to Eglon king of Moab by him.
16 And he made himself a two-edged sword, with a haft in the midst of the length of the palm of the hand, and was girded therewith under his garment on the right thigh.
17 And he presented the gifts to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was exceeding fat.
18 And when he had presented the gifts unto him, he followed his companions that came along with him.
19 Then returning from Galgal, where the idols were, be said to the king: I have a secret message to thee, O king. And he commanded silence: and all being gone out that were about him,
20 Aod went in to him: now he was sitting in a summer parlour alone, and he said: I have a word from God to thee. And he forthwith rose up from his throne,
21 And Aod put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly,
22 With such force that the haft went in after the blade into the wound, and was closed up with the abundance of fat. So that he did not draw out the dagger, but left it in his body as he had struck it in. And forthwith by the secret parts of nature the excrements of the belly came out.
23 But Aod carefully shutting the doors of the parlour and locking them,
24 Went out by a postern door. And the king's servants going in, saw the doors of the parlour shut, and they said: Perhaps he is easing nature in his summer parlour.
25 And waiting a long time till they were ashamed, and seeing that no man opened the door, they took a key: and opening, they found their lord lying dead on the ground.
26 But Aod, while they were in confusion, escaped, and passed by the place of the idols, from whence he had returned. And he came to Seirath:
27 And forthwith he sounded the trumpet in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel went down with him, he himself going in the front.
28 And he said to them: Follow me: for the Lord hath delivered our enemies the Moabites into our hands. And they went down after him, and seized upon the fords of the Jordan, which are in the way to Moab: and they suffered no man to pass over.
29 But they slew of the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand, all strong and Valiant men: none of them could escape.
30 And Moab was humbled that day under the hand of Israel: and the land rested eighty years.
31 After him was Samgar the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with a ploughshare: and he also defended Israel.
Juízes 3
O Livro
Os povos que Israel não expulsou
3 Segue-se uma lista dos povos que o Senhor deixou na terra para experimentar as novas gerações de Israel, que ainda não tinham passado pelas guerras de Canaã. 2 Porque Deus pretendia dar oportunidade à juventude de Israel de pôr à prova a sua fé e a sua obediência, dominando os inimigos. 3 São eles os filisteus, com cinco cidades, os cananeus, os sidónios e os heveus, que viviam nas montanhas do Líbano, desde o monte Baal-Hermon até à entrada de Hamate. 4 Estes povos foram um teste para a nova geração de Israel, para ver se obedeceriam aos mandamentos que o Senhor lhes tinha dado através de Moisés.
5 E assim viveu Israel entre os cananeus, os hititas, os amorreus, os perizeus, os heveus e os jebuseus. 6 Em vez de os destruir, o povo de Israel cruzou-se com eles através de casamentos. Os moços israelitas tomaram as raparigas deles como mulheres e vice-versa. E daí, até que Israel começasse a adorar também os seus deuses, foi um pequeno passo. 7 Por isso, o povo de Israel fez o que era mau aos olhos do Senhor, porque esqueceu-se do Senhor, seu Deus, e puseram-se a oferecer adoração a Baal e aos postes ídolos de Achera.
Otniel
8 A ira do Senhor inflamou-se contra Israel e permitiu que o rei Cusã-Risataim da Mesopotâmia os vencesse na guerra. E ficaram sob o seu domínio durante oito anos. 9 Mas quando Israel gritou ao Senhor por socorro, deu-lhes Otniel, filho de Quenaz, irmão mais novo de Calebe, que os salvou. 10 O Espírito do Senhor tomou posse dele e pôde assim reformar e limpar Israel, de tal forma que quando conduziu as forças militares de Israel contra Cusã-Risataim, rei de Aram, o Senhor ajudou Israel a vencê-lo duma forma absoluta.
11 Depois, durante os 40 anos que estiveram sob a chefia de Otniel, filho de Quenaz, houve paz na terra. 12 Quando Otniel faleceu, o povo de Israel começou de novo a fazer o que era mau aos olhos do Senhor, e o Senhor deixou que o rei Eglom de Moabe os vencesse. 13 Tinham-se aliado a esse rei os exércitos dos amonitas e dos amalequitas. Essas forças derrotaram os israelitas e tomaram posse de Jericó, frequentemente chamada a cidade das palmeiras. 14 E durante 18 anos o povo de Israel esteve sujeito ao rei Eglom.
Eude
15 Mas quando clamaram ao Senhor, mandou-lhes um libertador, Eude, filho de Gera, benjamita, que era canhoto. Eude era o homem que devia levar o imposto anual de Israel à capital moabita. 16 Antes de encetar a viagem mandou fazer uma espada de dois gumes com meio metro de comprimento e escondeu-a na roupa que vestia, junto à coxa direita. 17 Depois de ter entregado o dinheiro ao rei Eglom, que era muito gordo, 18 foi-se embora. Já fora da cidade, junto das pedreiras de Gilgal, despediu os companheiros 19 e voltou sozinho ter com o rei. “Tenho uma mensagem secreta para ti”, disse-lhe.
O rei mandou imediatamente sair toda a gente que ali se encontrava, de forma a poder conversar em privado com ele. 20 Estavam numa sala fresca nos andares superiores. Eude avançou então e disse: “É uma mensagem de Deus!”
O rei levantou-se logo. 21 Eude, com a mão esquerda, puxou da espada que tinha escondida junto à perna direita e cravou-lha no ventre. 22 O próprio punho da espada ficou enterrado na gordura do corpo. 23 Eude deixou a espada, fechou as portas atrás de si e escapou-se por uma saída secundária.
24 Quando os servos do rei chegaram, viram as portas fechadas e esperaram, pensando que talvez estivesse na casa de banho. 25 Mas depois de passar algum tempo sem que o rei aparecesse, começaram a ficar preocupados e foram buscar uma chave. Ao abrirem a porta depararam-se com o seu senhor morto, estendido no chão.
26 Entretanto, chegando de novo às pedreiras, Eude fugiu em direção a Seirá. 27 Quando chegou às colinas de Efraim fez um apelo às armas, ao som de trombetas, e organizou um exército sob o seu próprio comando.
28 “Sigam-me!”, gritou. “Porque o Senhor entregou já os vossos inimigos, os moabitas, nas vossas mãos!” Inicialmente a sua ação consistiu em ocupar os baixios do Jordão, perto de Moabe, para evitar que os outros passassem por ali, atravessando o rio a pé. 29 Depois foram atacar os moabitas, matando aproximadamente uns 10 000 dos seus mais fortes e hábeis guerreiros, não deixando escapar ninguém. 30 E dessa maneira Moabe foi conquistado por Israel naquele mesmo dia. A terra ficou em paz durante os 80 anos seguintes.
Sangar
31 O juiz que veio a seguir a Eude foi Sangar, filho de Anate. Duma vez conseguiu matar 600 filisteus com uma vara de bois. Com esse golpe salvou Israel dum desastre.
Judges 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 3
1 These are the nations the Lord allowed to remain, so that through them he might test Israel, all those who had not experienced any of the Canaanite wars— 2 to teach warfare to those generations of Israelites who had never experienced it: 3 (A)the five lords of the Philistines,[a] and all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountain region of the Lebanon between Baal-hermon and Lebo-hamath. 4 These served as a test for Israel, to know whether they would obey the commandments the Lord had enjoined on their ancestors through Moses. 5 So the Israelites settled among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.(B) 6 They took their daughters in marriage, and gave their own daughters to their sons in marriage,(C) and served their gods.
II. Stories of the Judges
Othniel. 7 (D)Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they forgot the Lord, their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs,[b] 8 and the anger of the Lord flared up against them. He sold them into the power of Cushan-rishathaim,[c] king of Aram Naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. 9 But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord,(E) he raised up a savior for them, to save them. It was Othniel, son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz.(F) 10 The spirit of the Lord came upon him,(G) and he judged Israel. When he marched out to war, the Lord delivered Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram, into his power, and his hold on Cushan-rishathaim was firm. 11 So the land was at rest for forty years,(H) until Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.
Ehud. 12 Again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so he strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel because they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 Taking the Ammonites and Amalek as allies, he went and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms. 14 So the Israelites served Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a savior, Ehud, son of Gera, a Benjaminite who was left-handed.[d] The Israelites would send their tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, by him. 16 Ehud made himself a two-edged dagger a foot long, and strapped it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab; now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When he had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the troops who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And the king said, “Silence!” Then when all his attendants had left his presence, 20 Ehud went in to him where he sat alone in his cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a word from God for you.” So the king rose from his throne. 21 Then Ehud with his left hand drew the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’s belly. 22 The hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not withdraw the dagger from the body.
23 Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shutting the doors of the upper room on Eglon and locking them. 24 When Ehud had left and the servants had come, they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, and thought, “He must be easing himself in the cool chamber.” 25 They waited until they were at a loss when he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened them, and there was their lord lying on the floor, dead.
26 During their delay Ehud escaped and, passing the sculptured stones, took refuge in Seirah. 27 On his arrival he sounded the horn in the mountain region of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the mountains with him as their leader. 28 “Follow me,” he said to them, “for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your power.”(I) So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, permitting no one to cross. 29 On that occasion they slew about ten thousand Moabites, all of them strong warriors. Not one escaped. 30 So Moab was brought under the power of Israel(J) at that time; and the land had rest for eighty years.(K)
Shamgar. 31 After him there was Shamgar,[e] son of Anath,(L) who slew six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.(M) He, too, was a savior for Israel.
Footnotes
- 3:3 The Philistines: a people of Aegean origin who settled on the coastal plain of southern Canaan in the twelfth century B.C.; from their name derives the geographic designation Palestine. Israel competed for control of the country against a group of their cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron.
- 3:7 The Asherahs: Asherah was an important goddess, whose presence in the cult was represented by a wooden pole, also called an “asherah”; see notes on Ex 34:13 and Dt 7:5. Here the plural is used to refer to goddesses in general.
- 3:8 Cushan-rishathaim: this king is not known from other biblical or extrabiblical sources. His title, “king of Aram Naharaim,” indicates that he was a Mesopotamian ruler.
- 3:15 Left-handed: this detail is important because it shows why Ehud is able to conceal a weapon on his right thigh (3:16). There is also a wordplay involved, since “Benjaminite” in Hebrew could also mean “right-handed man.”
- 3:31 Shamgar is the first of the so-called minor judges; cf. Introduction.
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