< Judges 15 >

1 And it came to pass, after a time, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson went to visit his wife, with a kid, and he said—I will go in unto my wife, in the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
Post aliquantulum autem temporis, cum dies triticeæ messis instarent, venit Samson, invisere volens uxorem suam, et attulit ei hœdum de capris. Cumque cubiculum eius solito vellet intrare, prohibuit eum pater illius, dicens:
2 And her father said—I, thought, that thou didst, hate, her, so I gave her to thy companion, —Is not, her younger sister, fairer than she? Pray let her be thine, in her stead.
Putavi quod odisses eam, et ideo tradidi illam amico tuo: sed habet sororem, quæ iunior et pulchrior illa est, sit tibi pro ea uxor.
3 And Samson said of them, I shall be more blameless, this time, than the Philistines, —though I should do them a mischief.
Cui Samson respondit: Ab hac die non erit culpa in me contra Philisthæos: faciam enim vobis mala.
4 So Samson went, and caught three hundred jackals, —and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put one torch between the two tails, in the midst.
Perrexitque et cepit trecentas vulpes, caudasque earum iunxit ad caudas, et faces ligavit in medio:
5 And, when he had set fire to the torches, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, —and set fire, both to the stack of sheaves and to the standing corn, and besides to the olive plantation.
quas igne succendens, dimisit, ut huc illucque discurrerent. Quæ statim perrexerunt in segetes Philisthinorum. Quibus succensis, et comportatæ iam fruges, et adhuc stantes in stipula, concrematæ sunt, in tantum, ut vineas quoque et oliveta flamma consumeret.
6 Then said the Philistines—Who hath done this? And they said—Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his companion. So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father, with fire.
Dixeruntque Philisthiim: Quis fecit hanc rem? Quibus dictum est: Samson gener Thamnathæi: quia tulit uxorem eius, et alteri tradidit, hæc operatus est. Ascenderuntque Philisthiim: et combusserunt tam mulierem quam patrem eius.
7 And Samson said to them, Though ye do the like of this, yet will I be avenged upon you, and, afterwards, will I cease.
Quibus ait Samson: Licet hæc feceritis, tamen adhuc ex vobis expetam ultionem, et tunc quiescam.
8 So he smote them, leg on thigh, with a great smiting, —and went down and dwelt in a cleft of the crag Etam.
Percussitque eos ingenti plaga, ita ut stupentes suram femori imponerent. Et descendens habitavit in spelunca petræ Etam.
9 Then went up the Philistines, and encamped in Judah, —and were spread abroad in Lehi.
Igitur ascendentes Philisthiim in Terram Iuda castrametati sunt in loco, qui postea vocatus est Lechi, id est, Maxilla, ubi eorum effusus est exercitus.
10 And the men of Judah said, Wherefore have ye come up against us? And they said—To bind Samson, are we come up, to do unto him as he hath done unto us.
Dixeruntque ad eos de tribu Iuda: Cur ascendistis adversum nos? Qui responderunt: Ut ligemus Samson, venimus, et reddamus ei quæ in nos operatus est.
11 Then went down three thousand men out of Judah, unto the cleft of the crag Etam, and said unto Samson—Knowest thou not that the Philistines are lording it over us? What, then, is this thou hast done to us? And he said unto them, As they have done to me, so, have I done to them.
Descenderunt ergo tria millia virorum de Iuda, ad specum silicis Etam, dixeruntque ad Samson: Nescis quod Philisthiim imperent nobis? Quare hoc facere voluisti? Quibus ille ait: Sicut fecerunt mihi, sic feci eis.
12 And they said to him—To bind thee, are we come down, to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that ye will not fall upon me, yourselves.
Ligare, inquiunt, te venimus, et tradere in manus Philisthinorum. Quibus Samson, Iurate, ait, et spondete mihi quod non occidatis me.
13 And they answered him, saying—Nay; but we will, bind, thee, and deliver thee into their hand, but we will not, put thee to death. So they bound him with two new ropes, and took him up from the crag.
Dixerunt: Non te occidemus, sed vinctum trademus. Ligaveruntque eum duobus novis funibus, et tulerunt eum de petra Etam.
14 He, was coming in as far as Lehi, and, the Philistines, came shouting to meet him, —when the Spirit of Yahweh came suddenly over him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as threads of flax which have been ignited with fire, so that his bonds melted from off his hands.
Qui cum venisset ad locum Maxillæ, et Philisthiim vociferantes occurrissent ei, irruit Spiritus Domini in eum: et sicut solent ad odorem ignis lina consumi, ita vincula quibus ligatus erat, dissipata sunt et soluta.
15 Then found he the jawbone of an ass newly-slain, —so he thrust forth his hand, and took it, and smote therewith, a thousand men.
Inventamque maxillam, id est, mandibulam asini, quæ iacebat, arripiens, interfecit in ea mille viros,
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, —have I piled them up in heaps! With the jawbone of an ass, have I smitten a thousand men!
et ait: In maxilla asini, in mandibula pulli asinarum delevi eos, et percussi mille viros.
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 the name of that place, Ramath-lehi.
Cumque hæc verba canens complesset, proiecit mandibulam de manu, et vocavit nomen loci illius Ramathlechi, quod interpretatur Elevatio Maxillæ.
18 And he was sore athirst, so he cried unto Yahweh, and said, Thou thyself, hast given, into the hand of thy servant, this great salvation, —and, now, must I die of thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
Sitiensque valde, clamavit ad Dominum, et ait: Tu dedisti in manu servi tui salutem hanc maximam atque victoriam: en siti morior, incidamque in manus incircumcisorum.
19 So then God clave open the hollow that is in Lehi, and there came therefrom water, and he drank, and his spirit came back, and he revived, —for this cause, called he the name thereof—Ain-hakkore, which is in Lehi, until this day.
Aperuit itaque Dominus molarem dentem in maxilla asini, et egressæ sunt ex eo aquæ. Quibus haustis, refocillavit spiritum, et vires recepit. Idcirco appellatum est nomen loci illius, Fons invocantis de maxilla, usque in præsentem diem.
20 And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, twenty years.
Iudicavitque Israel in diebus Philisthiim viginti annis.

< Judges 15 >