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
During the time that they harvested wheat, Samson took a young goat to Timnah as a present for his wife. He planned to sleep with [EUP] his wife, but her father would not let him go into [her room].
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
He said to Samson, “I really thought that you hated her. So I gave her to the man who had been your best man at the wedding, and she married him. But look, her younger sister is [RHQ] more beautiful than she is. You can marry her!”
3 cui respondit Samson ab hac die non erit culpa in me contra Philistheos faciam enim vobis mala
Samson replied, “No! And this time I have a right to get revenge on you Philistines!”
4 perrexitque et cepit trecentas vulpes caudasque earum iunxit ad caudas et faces ligavit in medio
Then he went out [into the fields] and caught 300 foxes. He tied their tails together, two-by-two. He fastened torches to each pair of tails.
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
Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the fields of the Philistines. The fire [from the torches] burned all the grain to the ground, including the grain that had been cut and piled in bundles. The fire also burned down their grapevines and their olive trees.
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
The Philistines asked, “Who did this?” Someone told them, “Samson did it. He married a woman from Timnah, but then his father-in-law gave her to the man who was Samson’s best man at the wedding, and she married him.” So the Philistines went [to Timnah] and got the woman and her father, and burned them to death.
7 quibus ait Samson licet haec feceritis tamen adhuc ex vobis expetam ultionem et tunc quiescam
Samson [found out about that, and he] said to them, “Because you have done this, I will not stop until I get revenge on you!”
8 percussitque eos ingenti plaga ita ut stupentes suram femori inponerent et descendens habitavit in spelunca petrae Aetham
So he attacked the Philistines furiously, and killed many of them. Then he went [to hide] in a cave in the large rock at a place called 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
The Philistines [did not know where he was, so they] went up to where the descendants of Judah lived, set up their tents near Lehi [town and then raided the town].
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
The men there asked the Philistines, “Why have you attacked us?” The Philistines replied, “We have come to capture Samson. We have come to get revenge on him for what he did 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
[Someone there knew where Samson was hiding]. So 3,000 men from Judah went down to get Samson at the cave in the rock where he was hiding. They said to Samson, “Do you not realize that the people of Philistia are ruling over us? Do you not realize what they will do to us?” Samson replied, “The only thing I did was that I got revenge on them for what they did to me.”
12 ligare inquiunt te venimus et tradere in manus Philisthinorum iurate respondit mihi quod non me occidatis
But the men from Judah said to him, “We have come to tie you up and put you in the hands of the Philistines.” Samson said, “All right, but promise me that you yourselves will not kill me!”
13 dixerunt non te occidimus sed vinctum tradimus ligaveruntque eum duobus novis funibus et tulerunt de petra Aetham
They replied, “We will just tie you up and take you to the Philistines. We will not kill you.” So they tied him with two new ropes, and led him away from the cave.
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
When they arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came toward him, shouting [triumphantly]. But Yahweh’s Spirit came upon Samson powerfully. He snapped the ropes on his arms as easily as if they were stalks of burned flax, and the ropes fell off his wrists.
15 inventamque maxillam id est mandibulam asini quae iacebat arripiens interfecit in ea mille viros
Then he saw a donkey’s jawbone lying on the ground. It was fresh, [so it was hard]. He picked it up and killed about 1,000 Philistine men with it.
16 et ait in maxilla asini in mandibula pulli asinarum delevi eos et percussi mille viros
Then Samson wrote this poem: “With the jawbone of a donkey I have made them like a heap of [dead] donkeys. With the jawbone of a donkey I killed 1,000 men.”
17 cumque haec canens verba conplesset proiecit mandibulam de manu et vocavit nomen loci illius Ramathlehi quod interpretatur elevatio Maxillae
When he finished killing those men, he threw the jawbone away, and later that place was called Jawbone Hill.
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
Then Samson was very thirsty, so he called out to Yahweh, “You have given me strength to win a great victory. So now must I die because of being thirsty, with the result that those heathen Philistines will take away my body [and mutilate it]?”
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
So God caused water to gush out of a depression in the ground at Lehi. Samson drank from it and soon felt strong again. He named that place ‘The spring of the one who called out’. That spring is still there at Lehi.
20 iudicavitque Israhel in diebus Philisthim viginti annis
Samson was the leader of the Israeli people for 20 years, but during that time the Philistines [were the ones who really ruled over the land].
