גבולות בחיי יוסף ושמשון

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found favour in his sight, and he ministered unto him. And he appointed him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he appointed him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and, having him, he knew not aught save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon. And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said: ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife: ‘Behold, my master, having me, knoweth not what is in the house, and he hath put all that he hath into my hand; he is not greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to pass on a certain day, when he went into the house to do his work, and there was none of the men of the house there within, that she caught him by his garment, saying: ‘Lie with me.’ And he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spoke unto them, saying: ‘See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled, and got him out.’ And she laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. And she spoke unto him according to these words, saying: ‘The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me. And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled out.’ And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke unto him, saying: ‘After this manner did thy servant to me’; that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound; and he was there in the prison. But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed kindness unto him, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand, because the LORD was with him; and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph to be with them, and he ministered unto them; and they continued a season in ward. And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.

And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly with them; and he said unto them: ‘Whence come ye?’ And they said: ‘From the land of Canaan to buy food.’ And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them: ‘Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.’ And they said unto him: ‘Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man’s sons; we are upright men, thy servants are no spies.’ And he said unto them: ‘Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.’ And they said: ‘We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.’ And Joseph said unto them: ‘That is it that I spoke unto you, saying: Ye are spies. Hereby ye shall be proved, as Pharaoh liveth, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh liveth, surely ye are spies.’ And he put them all together into ward three days. And Joseph said unto them the third day.’ This do, and live; for I fear God: if ye be upright men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses; and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.’ And they did so. And they said one to another: ‘We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.’ And Reuben answered them, saying: ‘Spoke I not unto you, saying: Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required.’ And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for the interpreter was between them. And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.

And the children of Yisra᾽el continued to do evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Pelishtim for forty years. And there was a certain man of Żor῾a, of the family of the Dani, whose name was Manoaĥ; and his wife was barren, and bore not. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink neither wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing: for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazir to God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Yisra᾽el out of the hand of the Pelishtim. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not from where he was, neither did he tell me his name: but he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazir to God from the womb to the day of his death. Then Manoaĥ entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God whom Thou didst send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoaĥ; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoaĥ her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, that came to me the other day. And Manoaĥ arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Art thou the man that didst speak to the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoaĥ said, Now let thy words come to pass. What shall be the rule for the child, and what shall be done with him? And the angel of the Lord said to Manoaĥ, Of all that I said to the woman let her take heed. She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. And Manoaĥ said to the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of the Lord said to Manoaĥ, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it to the Lord. For Manoaĥ knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoaĥ said to the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is hidden? So Manoaĥ took the kid with the meal offering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord: and the angel did wondrously, and Manoaĥ and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoaĥ and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoaĥ and to his wife. Then Manoaĥ knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoaĥ said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said to him, If the Lord desired to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hands, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would as at this have told us such things as these. And the woman bore a son, and called his name Shimshon: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the spirit of the Lord began to move him in Maĥane-dan between Żor῾a and Eshta᾽ol.

And Shimshon went down to Timnat, and saw a woman in Timnat of the daughters of the Pelishtim. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnat of the daughters of the Pelishtim: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Pelishtim? And Shimshon said to his father, Get her for me; for she pleases me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought a pretext against the Pelishtim: for at that time the Pelishtim had dominion over Yisra᾽el. Then Shimshon went down, and his father and his mother, to Timnat, and came to the vineyards of Timnat: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Shimshon well. And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. And he scraped it out in his hands, and went on his way, eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. So his father went down to the woman: and Shimshon made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. And Shimshon said to them, I will now propound a riddle to you: if you can declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments: but if you cannot declare it me, then you shall give me thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments. And they said to him, Propound thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Shimshon’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have you called us to take possession of our goods? And Shimshon’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast propounded a riddle to the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother and shall I tell it thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she harassed him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle. And the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashqelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their clothing, and gave the changes of garments to them who had expounded the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. But Shimshon’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had as his friend.

But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Shimshon visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not permit him to go in. And her father said, I thought indeed that thou didst hate her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Shimshon said concerning them, Now shall I be blameless in regard to the Pelishtim, when I do them a mischief. And Shimshon went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Pelishtim, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, together with the oliveyards. Then the Pelishtim said, Who has done this? And they answered, Shimshon, the son in law of the Timni, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Pelishtim went up, and burnt her and her father with fire. And Shimshon said to them, If this is what you have done, I will be avenged on you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock ῾Etam. Then the Pelishtim went up, and pitched in Yehuda, and ranged themselves against Leĥi. And the men of Yehuda said, Why are you come up against us? And they answered, To bind Shimshon are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us. Then three thousand men of Yehuda went to the cleft of the rock ῾Etam, and said to Shimshon, Knowst thou not that the Pelishtim are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. And they said to him, We have come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Pelishtim. And Shimshon said to them, Swear to me, that you will not fall upon me yourselves. And they spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. And when he came to Leĥi, the Pelishtim shouted against him: and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him: and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands melted from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men with it. And Shimshon said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps; with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 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 that place Ramat-leĥi. And he was very thirsty, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of Thy servant: and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? But God split the hollow place that was in Leĥi, and water came out; and when he had drunk, his spirit was restored, and he revived: therefore he called the name of it ῾En-haqqore, which is in Leĥi to this day. And he judged Yisra᾽el in the days of the Pelishtim for twenty years.

Then Shimshon went to ῾Azza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her. And it was told the ῾Azzatim, saying, Shimshon has come here. And they surrounded him, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Shimshon lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is before Ĥevron. And it came to pass afterwards, that he loved a woman in the wadi of Soreq, whose name was Delila. And the lords of the Pelishtim came up to her, and said to her, Entice him, and see in what his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him and torture him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delila said to Shimshon, Tell me, I pray thee, in what thy great strength lies, and with what thou mightest be bound and tortured. And Shimshon said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Pelishtim brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said to him, The Pelishtim are upon thee, Shimshon. And he broke the bowstrings, as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. And Delila said to Shimshon, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou mightest be bound. And he said to her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that have never been used for work, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Delila therefore took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, The Pelishtim are upon thee, Shimshon. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like string. And Delila said to Shimshon, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with what thou mightest be bound. And he said to her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web of the loom. And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Pelishtim are upon thee, Shimshon. And he awoke out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the loom, and with the web. And she said to him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me in what thy great strength lies. And it came to pass, when she harassed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that he was sick to death; that he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazir to God from my mother’s womb: if I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. And when Delila saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Pelishtim, saying, Come up this once, for he has shown me all his heart. Then the lords of the Pelishtim came up to her, and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to torment him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Pelishtim are upon thee, Shimshon. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Pelishtim took him, and bored out his eyes, and brought him down to ῾Azza, and bound him with fetters of brass, and he ground at the mill in the prison house. But the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. Then the lords of the Pelishtim gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god has delivered Shimshon our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, and one who slew many of us. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Shimshon, that he may make sport for us. And they called for Shimshon out of the prison house; and he made sport for them: and they set him between the pillars. And Shimshon said to the lad that held him by the hand, Leave me alone, and let me feel the pillars on which the house is fixed, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Pelishtim were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Shimshon made sport. And Shimshon called to the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Pelishtim for one of my two eyes. And Shimshon took hold of the two central pillars upon which the house stood, and he supported himself on them, on the one with his right hand, and on the other with his left. And Shimshon said, Let me die with the Pelishtim. And he bowed with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those whom he slew in his life. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Żor῾a and Eshta᾽ol in the buryingplace of Manoaĥ his father. And he judged Yisra᾽el for twenty years.