Hakim-hakim 15:1--17:13
Konteks15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, 1 Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. 2 He said to her father, 3 “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” 4 But her father would not let him enter. 15:2 Her father said, “I really thought 5 you absolutely despised 6 her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!” 7 15:3 Samson said to them, 8 “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” 9 15:4 Samson went and captured three hundred jackals 10 and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair. 11 15:5 He lit the torches 12 and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 15:6 The Philistines asked, 13 “Who did this?” They were told, 14 “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite 15 took Samson’s 16 bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. 17 15:7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this, 18 I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” 19 15:8 He struck them down and defeated them. 20 Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
15:9 The Philistines went up and invaded 21 Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle 22 in Lehi. 15:10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking 23 us?” The Philistines 24 said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 15:11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 15:12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me 25 you will not kill 26 me.” 15:13 They said to him, “We promise! 27 We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. 15:14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered 28 him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in 29 fire, and they 30 melted away from his hands. 15:15 He happened to see 31 a solid 32 jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it 33 and struck down 34 a thousand men. 15:16 Samson then said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps; 35
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
15:17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down 36 and named that place Ramath Lehi. 37
15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant 38 this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” 39 15:19 So God split open the basin 40 at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength 41 was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring 42 En Hakkore. 43 It remains in Lehi to this very day. 15:20 Samson led 44 Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence. 45
16:1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her. 46 16:2 The Gazites were told, 47 “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town 48 and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. 49 They relaxed 50 all night, thinking, 51 “He will not leave 52 until morning comes; 53 then we will kill him!” 16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. 54 He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. 55 He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. 56
16:4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 16:5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate 57 him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”
16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.” 58 16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh 59 bowstrings 60 that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they tied him up with them. 16:9 They hid 61 in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, 62 Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. 63 The secret of his strength was not discovered. 64
16:10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived 65 me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, 66 I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, 67 Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) 68 But he tore the ropes 69 from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.
16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair 70 into the fabric on the loom 71 and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, 72 Samson!” 73 He woke up 74 and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.
16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? 75 Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16:16 She nagged him 76 every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it. 77 16:17 Finally he told her his secret. 78 He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, 79 for I have been dedicated to God 80 from the time I was conceived. 81 If my head 82 were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.” 16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, 83 she sent for 84 the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me 85 his secret.” 86 So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap 87 and then called a man in to shave off 88 the seven braids of his hair. 89 She made him vulnerable 90 and his strength left him. 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, 91 Samson!” He woke up 92 and thought, 93 “I will do as I did before 94 and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 16:21 The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 16:22 His hair 95 began to grow back after it had been shaved off.
16:23 The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.” 16:24 When the people saw him, 96 they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” 97
16:25 When they really started celebrating, 98 they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. 99 They made him stand between two pillars. 16:26 Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple. 100 Then I can lean on them.” 16:27 Now the temple 101 was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain. 16:28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord, 102 remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge 103 against the Philistines for my two eyes!” 16:29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple 104 and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. 16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard 105 and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life. 106 16:31 His brothers and all his family 107 went down and brought him back. 108 They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led 109 Israel for twenty years.
17:1 There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country. 17:2 He said to his mother, “You know 110 the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen 111 from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole 112 it, but now I am giving it back to you.” 113 His mother said, “May the Lord reward 114 you, my son!” 17:3 When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate 115 this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.” 116 17:4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she 117 took two hundred pieces of silver 118 to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house. 119 17:5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine. 120 He made an ephod 121 and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest. 122 17:6 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right. 123
17:7 There was a young man from Bethlehem 124 in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah. 125 17:8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house. 126 17:9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.” 127 17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser 128 and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” 129 17:11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah. 130 17:12 Micah paid 131 the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house. 17:13 Micah said, “Now I know God will make me rich, 132 because I have this Levite as my priest.”
[15:1] 1 sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.
[15:1] 2 tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”
[15:1] 3 tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).
[15:1] 4 tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).
[15:2] 5 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 6 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 7 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
[15:3] 8 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”
[15:3] 9 tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”
[15:4] 10 tn Traditionally, “foxes.”
[15:4] 11 tn Heb “He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle.”
[15:5] 12 tn Heb “He set fire to the torches.”
[15:6] 14 tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
[15:6] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 16 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 17 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.
[15:7] 18 tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.
[15:7] 19 tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”
[15:8] 20 tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.
[15:9] 22 tn Or “spread out.” The Niphal of נָטָשׁ (natash) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
[15:10] 23 tn Or “come up against.”
[15:10] 24 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:12] 25 tn Or “swear to me.”
[15:12] 26 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
[15:13] 27 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
[15:14] 28 tn Heb “rushed on.”
[15:14] 29 tn Heb “burned with.”
[15:14] 30 tn Heb “his bonds.”
[15:15] 32 tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.
[15:15] 33 tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”
[15:15] 34 tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:16] 35 tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).
[15:17] 36 tn Heb “from his hand.”
[15:17] 37 sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”
[15:18] 38 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
[15:18] 39 tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.
[15:19] 40 tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.
[15:19] 42 tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:19] 43 sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”
[15:20] 44 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[15:20] 45 tn Heb “in the days of the Philistines.”
[16:1] 46 tn Heb “and he went in to her.” The idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations.
[16:2] 47 tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”
[16:2] 48 tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.
[16:2] 49 tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”
[16:2] 50 tn Heb “were silent.”
[16:2] 52 tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[16:2] 53 tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”
[16:3] 54 tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”
[16:3] 55 tn Heb “with the bar.”
[16:3] 56 tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”
[16:5] 57 tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”
[16:6] 58 tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”
[16:7] 60 tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.
[16:9] 61 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vÿha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).
[16:9] 62 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:9] 63 tn Heb “when it smells fire.”
[16:9] 64 tn Heb “His strength was not known.”
[16:10] 65 tn See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II תָּלַל, talal), which also occurs in v. 13.
[16:11] 66 tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”
[16:12] 67 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:12] 68 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”
[16:12] 69 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:13] 70 tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.
[16:13] 71 tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.
[16:14] 72 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:14] 73 tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.
[16:14] 74 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:15] 75 tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”
[16:16] 76 tn Heb “forced him with her words.”
[16:16] 77 tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”
[16:17] 78 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:17] 79 tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”
[16:17] 80 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
[16:17] 81 tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”
[16:17] 82 tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).
[16:18] 83 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:18] 84 tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”
[16:18] 85 tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).
[16:18] 86 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:19] 87 tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.
[16:19] 88 tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.
[16:19] 89 tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.
[16:19] 90 tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.
[16:20] 91 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:20] 92 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:20] 94 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
[16:22] 95 tn Heb “the hair of his head.”
[16:24] 96 tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.
[16:24] 97 tn Heb “multiplied our dead.”
[16:25] 98 tn Heb “When their heart was good.”
[16:25] 99 tn Heb “before them.”
[16:26] 100 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”
[16:28] 102 tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).
[16:28] 103 tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”
[16:29] 104 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house was founded.”
[16:30] 105 tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”
[16:30] 106 tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”
[16:31] 107 tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”
[16:31] 108 tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”
[16:31] 109 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[17:2] 110 tn The words “You know” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[17:2] 113 tn In the Hebrew text the statement, “but now I am giving it back to you,” appears at the end of v. 3 and is spoken by the mother. But v. 4 indicates that she did not give the money back to her son. Unless the statement is spoken by the woman to the LORD, it appears to be misplaced and fits much better in v. 2. It may have been accidentally omitted from a manuscript, written in the margin, and then later inserted in the wrong place in another manuscript.
[17:2] 114 tn Traditionally, “bless.”
[17:3] 115 tn Heb “dedicating, I dedicate.” In this case the emphatic infinitive absolute lends a mood of solemnity to the statement.
[17:3] 116 tn Heb “to the LORD from my hand for my son to make a carved image and cast metal image.” She cannot mean that she is now taking the money from her hand and giving it back to her son so he can make an image. Verses 4-6 indicate she took back the money and used a portion of it to hire a silversmith to make an idol for her son to use. The phrase “a carved image and cast metal image” is best taken as referring to two idols (see 18:17-18), even though the verb at the end of v. 4, וַיְהִי (vayÿhi, “and it was [in the house of Micah]”), is singular.
[17:4] 117 tn Heb “his mother.” The pronoun (“she”) has been substituted for the noun (“mother”) in the translation because of English style.
[17:4] 118 tn The Hebrew text has “and gave it.” The referent (the pieces of silver) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[17:4] 119 tn Heb “and it was in Micah’s house.”
[17:5] 120 tn Heb “house of God.”
[17:5] 121 sn Here an ephod probably refers to a priestly garment (cf. Exod 28:4-6).
[17:5] 122 tn Heb “and he filled the hand of one of his sons and he became his priest.”
[17:6] 123 tn Heb “Each was doing what was right in his [own] eyes.”
[17:7] 124 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
[17:7] 125 tn Heb “There was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, from the tribe of Judah, and he was a Levite, and he was temporarily residing there.”
[17:8] 126 tn Heb “He came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, making his way.”
[17:9] 127 tn Heb “And I am going to reside in a place I can find.”
[17:10] 128 tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).
[17:10] 129 tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.
[17:11] 130 tn Heb “the young man became like one of his sons.”
