Iudicum 15
1 post aliquantum autem temporis cum dies triticeae messis instarent venit Samson invisere volens uxorem suam et adtulit ei hedum de capris cumque cubiculum eius solito vellet intrare prohibuit eum pater illius dicens
And it comes to pass after [some] days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looks after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and says, “I go in to my wife, to the inner chamber”; and her father has not permitted him to go in,
2 putavi quod odisses eam et ideo tradidi illam amico tuo sed habet sororem quae iunior et pulchrior illa est sit tibi pro ea uxor
and her father says, “I certainly said that you surely hated her, and I give her to your companion; is her younger sister not better than she? Please let her be to you instead of her.”
3 cui respondit Samson ab hac die non erit culpa in me contra Philistheos faciam enim vobis mala
And Samson says of them, “I am more innocent this time than the Philistines, though I am doing evil with them.”
4 perrexitque et cepit trecentas vulpes caudasque earum iunxit ad caudas et faces ligavit in medio
And Samson goes and catches three hundred foxes, and takes torches, and turns tail to tail, and puts a torch between the two tails, in the midst,
5 quas igne succendens dimisit ut huc illucque discurrerent quae statim perrexerunt in segetes Philisthinorum quibus succensis et conportatae iam fruges et adhuc stantes in stipula concrematae sunt in tantum ut vineas quoque et oliveta flamma consumeret
and kindles fire in the torches, and sends [them] out into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burns [it] from heap even to standing grain, even to vineyard [and] olive-yard.
6 dixeruntque Philisthim quis fecit hanc rem quibus dictum est Samson gener Thamnathei quia tulit uxorem eius et alteri tradidit haec operatus est ascenderuntque Philisthim et conbuserunt tam mulierem quam patrem eius
And the Philistines say, “Who has done this?” And they say, “Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken away his wife, and gives her to his companion”; and the Philistines go up, and burn her and her father with fire.
7 quibus ait Samson licet haec feceritis tamen adhuc ex vobis expetam ultionem et tunc quiescam
And Samson says to them, “Though you do thus, nevertheless I am avenged on you, and afterward I cease!”
8 percussitque eos ingenti plaga ita ut stupentes suram femori inponerent et descendens habitavit in spelunca petrae Aetham
And he strikes them hip and thigh [with] a great striking, and goes down and dwells in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 igitur ascendentes Philisthim in terra Iuda castrametati sunt et in loco qui postea vocatus est Lehi id est Maxilla eorum est fusus exercitus
And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi,
10 dixeruntque ad eos de tribu Iuda cur ascendistis adversum nos qui responderunt ut ligemus Samson venimus et reddamus ei quae in nos operatus est
and the men of Judah say, “Why have you come up against us?” And they say, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”
11 descenderunt ergo tria milia virorum de Iuda ad specum silicis Aetham dixeruntque ad Samson nescis quod Philisthim imperent nobis quare hoc facere voluisti quibus ille ait sicut fecerunt mihi feci eis
And three thousand men of Judah go down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and say to Samson, “Have you now known that the Philistines are rulers over us? And what [is] this you have done to us?” And he says to them, “As they did to me, so I did to them.”
12 ligare inquiunt te venimus et tradere in manus Philisthinorum iurate respondit mihi quod non me occidatis
And they say to him, “We have come down to bind you—to give you into the hand of the Philistines.” And Samson says to them, “Swear to me, lest you fall on me yourselves.”
13 dixerunt non te occidimus sed vinctum tradimus ligaveruntque eum duobus novis funibus et tulerunt de petra Aetham
And they speak to him, saying, “No, but we certainly bind you, and have given you into their hand, and we certainly do not put you to death”; and they bind him with two thick bands, new ones, and bring him up from the rock.
14 qui cum venisset ad locum Maxillae et Philisthim vociferantes occurrissent ei inruit spiritus Domini in eum et sicut solent ad odorem ignis lina consumi ita vincula quibus ligatus erat dissipata sunt et soluta
He has come to Lehi—and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him—and the Spirit of YHWH prospers over him, and the thick bands which [are] on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are melted from off his hands,
15 inventamque maxillam id est mandibulam asini quae iacebat arripiens interfecit in ea mille viros
and he finds a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and puts forth his hand and takes it, and strikes down one thousand men with it.
16 et ait in maxilla asini in mandibula pulli asinarum delevi eos et percussi mille viros
And Samson says, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heap on heaps—I have struck down one thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey!”
17 cumque haec canens verba conplesset proiecit mandibulam de manu et vocavit nomen loci illius Ramathlehi quod interpretatur elevatio Maxillae
And it comes to pass, when he finishes speaking, that he casts away the jawbone out of his hand, and calls that place Ramath-Lehi;
18 sitiensque valde clamavit ad Dominum et ait tu dedisti in manu servi tui salutem hanc maximam atque victoriam et en siti morior incidamque in manus incircumcisorum
and he thirsts exceedingly, and calls to YHWH, and says, “You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your servant; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.”
19 aperuit itaque Dominus molarem dentem in maxilla asini et egressae sunt ex eo aquae quibus haustis refocilavit spiritum et vires recepit idcirco appellatum est nomen loci illius Fons invocantis de maxilla usque in praesentem diem
And God cleaves the hollow place which [is] in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinks, and his spirit comes back, and he revives; therefore [one] has called its name “The fountain of him who is calling,” which [is] in Lehi to this day.
20 iudicavitque Israhel in diebus Philisthim viginti annis
And he judges Israel in the days of the Philistines [for] twenty years.
