the time when man did not exist and there was no wickedness in it, when I said, \u201cLet the world be created and those who come into it will praise me. I will plant a great vineyard, and from it I will choose a plant; and I will transplant it and call it by my name, and it will be mine forever.\u201d Although I have done all the things that I said, nevertheless my plant that was called by my name will not recognize me, its planter, but will ruin its fruit and not yield me its fruit. \u201c \u2018This is what my father commanded me to say to this people.\u201d
\n5Cenaz and the elders and all the people lifted up their voices and wept together with great lamentation until evening and said, \u201cWill the shepherd destroy his flock for no reason, unless it has sinned against him? But now he is the one who will spare us in accord with the abundance of his mercy, because he has toiled so much over us.\u201d
\n6When they were sitting, the holy spirit came upon Cenaz and dwelled in him and took away his sense, and he began to prophesy, saying, \u201cBehold now I see what I had not hoped for, and I perceive what I did not understand. Give ear, you who dwell on the earth now, as to how those who resided on it prophesied before me and saw this hour even before the earth was corrupted, so that all of you who dwell in it may recognize the events foreordained by the prophecies.
\n7Behold now I see flames that do not burn, and I hear springs awakened out of sleep which have no foundation, and I perceive neither the tops of the mountains nor the roof of the firmament, but all things cannot be seen and are invisible and have no place whatsoever. Though my eye does not know what it sees, my heart will find what to say.
\n8From the flame that I saw (which did not burn) I saw, lo, a spark went down and, as it were, made for itself a platform below. The pattern was like a spider\u2019s or arachnid\u2019s spinning. When the foundation had been made, I saw there was stirred up from that spring, as it were, bubbling foam; and behold it was transformed, as it were, into another foundation. Between the upper foundation and the lower there came from the light of that invisible place, as it were, the images of men; and they walked about. And behold a voice said, \u2018These foundations will be for men, and they will dwell therein for 7,000 years.
\n9The lower foundation had been paved, the upper had stopped foaming. Those who went forth from the light of the invisible place, they will be the ones who will have the name \u201cman.\u201d But when he will sin against me and the time will be fulfilled, the spark will be extinguished and the spring will stop, and so they will pass away.\u2019 \u201d
\n10When Cenaz had spoken these words, he awakened, and his sense came back to him. He however did not know what he had spoken or what he had seen. But this alone he said to the people: \u201cIf such is the repose of the just after they have died, it is proper for them to die in the corruptible world so as not to see sins.\u201d When he had said these words, Cenaz died and lay with his fathers. The people mourned him thirty days.<\/p>\n
Zebul<\/p>\n
29:1Afterward the people appointed over themselves as leader Zebul. At that time he gathered the people together and said to them, \u201cBehold now we know all the toil that Cenaz toiled for us in the days of his life. Now if he had sons, they should have ruled the people. Since daughters survive, let them receive a great portion among the people, because in his lifetime their father was unwilling to give it to them lest he be called avaricious and greedy.\u201d The people said, \u201cDo everything that is pleasing in your eyes.\u201d
\n2Cenaz had three daughters, whose names were these: the first-born Ethema, the second Feila, the third Zelfa. Zebul gave to the first-born all that was around the land of palms, to the second he gave the olive grove of Ekron, to the third he gave the tilled lands that were around Ashdod. And he gave them husbands, namely, to the first-born Elisefan, to the second Odihel, to the third Doel.
\n3In those days Zebul established a treasury for the LORD and said to the people, \u201cBehold if anyone wishes to consecrate gold and silver to the LORD, let him bring it to the treasury of the LORD in Shiloh; only let no one who has anything belonging to idols wish to consecrate it to the treasuries of the LORD, because the LORD does not want the abominations of banned things lest you disturb the congregation of the LORD. For the wrath that has passed is sufficient.\u201d All the people, from men to women, brought what their heart prompted, gold and silver. Everything that was brought was weighed: twenty talents of gold and two hundred and fifty of silver.
\n4Zebul judged the people twenty-five years. When he had completed his time, he sent and assembled all the people and said, \u201cBehold now I go to die; look to the testimonies that our predecessors have testified, and let not your hearts be like the waves of the sea. But just as a wave of the sea understands nothing except what is in the sea, so let your heart ponder nothing else except what belongs to the Law.\u201d Zebul lay with his fathers, and he was buried in the tomb of his father.<\/p>\n
Deborah<\/p>\n
30:1Then the children of Israel did not have anyone to appoint for themselves as judge, and their heart turned away, and they forgot the promise and transgressed the ways that Moses and Joshua the servants of the LORD had commanded them, and they went astray after the daughters of the Amorites and served their gods.
\n2The LORD became angry at them and sent his angel and said, \u201cBehold I chose one people from all the nations of the earth, that my glory should abide in this world with it; and I sent to them Moses my servant, to declare my laws and statutes, but they transgressed my ways. And behold now I will rouse up their enemies and they will rule over them. Then all the people will say, \u2018Because we transgressed the ways of God and of our fathers, therefore these things have come upon us.\u2019 A woman will rule over them and enlighten them for forty years.\u201d
\n3After this the LORD roused up against them Jabin the king of Hazor and he began to fight against them. Sisera was the general of his army, who had eight thousand iron chariots, and he came to Mount Ephraim and fought against the people. Israel feared him very much, and the people could not hold their own all the days of Sisera.
\n4When Israel had been very much subdued, all the children of Israel gathered together to the mountain of Judah and said, \u201cWe said that we were blessed beyond the other nations, and behold now we have been so subdued, beyond all peoples, that we cannot dwell in our own land and our enemies have power over us. And now who has done all these things to us? Is it not our own sins, because we have forsaken the LORD of our fathers and have walked in those ways that have not profited us? Now come, let us fast for seven days, man and woman, infant and suckling. Who knows, perhaps God will be reconciled with his portion so as not to destroy the plant of his vineyard.\u201d
\n5When the people had fasted seven days, sitting in sackcloth, the LORD sent to them on the seventh day Deborah, who said to them, \u201cCan the sheep that is to be slaughtered make response before the one who will slaughter it, when both the slaughterer and the slaughtered are silent, since he sometimes gets angry at it? And now you became a flock before our LORD, and he led you to the height of the clouds and set the angels beneath your feet and established for you the Law and commanded you through the prophets and chastised you through the leaders and showed you not a few wonders; and for your sake he commanded the luminaries, and they stood still in their own places; and when your enemies came against you, he rained down hailstones on them and destroyed them. Moses and Joshua and Cenaz and Zebul commanded you, and you did not obey them.
\n6While these were alive, you showed yourselves as obedient to your God; but when these died, your heart also died. You became like iron cast into the fire, which when melted by the flame becomes like water, but when it comes out of the fire it reverts to its hardness. So you also, while those who admonish you fire you, you do what you are instructed; but after they have died you forget everything.
\n7Behold now the LORD will be favorably disposed to you today, not because of you but because of his covenant that he established with your fathers and the oath that he swore not to abandon you forever (Know, however, that after my death you will start sinning again in your later days). On account of this, the LORD will work wonders among you and deliver your enemies into your hands. For your fathers are dead, but he who established the covenant with them is the living God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sisera and Jael<\/p>\n
31:1Deborah sent and summoned Barak, and she said to him, \u201cRise and gird your loins like a man, and go down and attack Sisera, because I see the stars moving in their courses and preparing for battle on our side. I see too the shining stars that cannot be moved from their courses going forth to impede all the chariots of those who glory in the might of Sisera, who is saying, \u2018I will go down to attack Israel with my mighty arm, and I will divide their spoils among my servants, and I will take for myself beautiful women as concubines.\u2019 On account of this the LORD said about him that the arm of a weak woman would overcome him and girls would take his spoils and he himself would fall at the hands of a woman.\u201d
\n2When Deborah and the people and Barak went down to meet the enemies, immediately the LORD disturbed the movement of his stars. He said to them, \u201cHurry and go, for their enemies fall upon them. Confound their arms and let the strength of their heart be broken, because I have come that my people may prevail. For though my people have sinned, nevertheless I will have mercy on them.\u201d When these words had been spoken, the stars went forth as they had been commanded and burned up their enemies. The number of the slain in one hour was 8,730,000 men; but they did not destroy Sisera, because so they had been commanded.
\n3When Sisera on his horse had fled to save his life, Jael the wife of the Kenite adorned herself with her adornments and went out to meet him; now the woman was very beautiful. Seeing him, she said to him, \u201cEnter and take food and sleep; toward evening I will send my servants with you. For I know that you will remember me and repay me.\u201d Sisera went in, and when he saw roses scattered on the bed, he said, \u201cIf I will be saved, I will go to my mother, and Jael will be my wife.\u201d
\n4After this Sisera was thirsty and said to Jael, \u201cGive me a little water, because I am exhausted and my soul burns from the flame that I saw in the stars.\u201d Jael said to him, \u201cRest a bit and then you will drink.\u201d
\n5When Sisera had fallen asleep, Jael went out to the flock and got milk from it. When she was milking, she said, \u201cBehold now, remember, LORD, when you distributed all the peoples and nations of the earth, did you not choose Israel alone and liken it to no animal except to the ram that goes before and leads the flock? Look therefore and see that Sisera has made a plan and said, \u2018I will go and destroy the flock of the LORD.\u2019 I will take from the milk of these animals to which you have likened your people, and I will go and give him to drink. When he has drunk, he will grow weary, and afterward I will kill him. This will be the sign that you will perform for me, LORD, that, when I enter while Sisera is asleep, if he on waking will ask me immediately, saying, \u2018Give me water to drink,\u2019 then I know that my prayer has been heard.\u201d
\n6When Jael returned and went in, Sisera awakened and said to her, \u201cGive me to drink, because I am burning up very much and my soul is inflamed.\u201d Jael took wine and mixed it with milk and gave him to drink. He drank it and fell asleep.
\n7Jael took a stake in her left hand and approached him, saying, \u201cIf God will perform this sign for me, I know that Sisera will fall at my hands. Behold I will throw him on the ground from the bed on which he sleeps; if he does not sense this, I know that he has been handed over.\u201d Jael took Sisera and pushed him onto the ground from the bed. But he did not sense it, because he was very exhausted. Jael said, \u201cStrengthen in me today, LORD, my arm, for your sake and the sake of your people and those who trust in you.\u201d Jael took the stake and placed it above his temple and struck it with a hammer. While he was dying, Sisera said to Jael, \u201cBehold pain has seized me, Jael, and I die like a woman.\u201d Jael said to him, \u201cGo, boast before your father in the underworld and tell him that you have fallen at the hands of a woman.\u201d By so doing she killed him and left his body until Barak should return.
\n8Sisera\u2019s mother was named Themech; she sent to her women-friends, saying, \u201cCome, let us go out together to meet my son, and you will see the daughters of the Hebrews whom my son will bring here for himself as concubines.\u201d
\n9Barak returned from pursuing Sisera and was very disappointed because he had not found him. Jael went out to meet him and said, \u201cCome, enter in, you blessed by God, and I will hand over to you your enemy whom you pursued but were not successful.\u201d Barak entered and found Sisera dead and said, \u201cBlessed be the LORD, who sent his spirit and said, \u2018Into the hand of a woman Sisera will be delivered.\u2019 \u201d On saying these words he cut off Sisera\u2019s head and sent it to his mother and gave a message to her, saying, \u201cReceive your son, who you hoped would come with spoils.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deborah\u2019s Song<\/p>\n
32:1Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam and all the people together sang to the LORD on that day, saying, \u201cBehold the LORD has shown us his glory from on high, as he did from the high place when he sent forth his voice to confound the languages of men. He chose our nation and took Abraham our father out of the fire and chose him over all his brothers and protected him from the fire and freed him from the bricks of the building of the tower. He gave him a son in his late old age and took him out of a sterile womb. All the angels were jealous of him, and the serving hosts envied him.
\n2Since they were jealous of him, God said to him, \u2018Kill the fruit of your belly for me, and offer for me as a sacrifice what has been given to you by me.\u2019 Abraham did not dispute, but set out immediately. When he set out, he said to his son, \u2018Behold now, my son, I am offering you as a burnt offering and am delivering you into the hands of the one who gave you to me.\u2019
\n3The son said to the father, \u2018Hear me, father. If a lamb of the flock is accepted as an offering to the LORD as an odor of sweetness and if for the sins of men animals are appointed to be killed, but man is designed to inherit the world, how is it that you do not say to me, \u201cCome and inherit a secure life and time without measure\u201d? What if I had not been born into the world to be offered as a sacrifice to him who made me? Now my blessedness will be above that of all men, because there will be no other. Through me nations will be blessed and through me the peoples will understand that the LORD has deemed the soul of a man worthy to be a sacrifice.\u2019
\n4When he had offered his son upon the altar and had bound his feet so as to kill him, the LORD hastened and sent forth his voice from on high saying, \u2018Do not slay your son, do not destroy the fruit of your belly. For now I have made you known to those who do not know you and have shut the mouths of those who always malign you. Your memory will be before me always, and your name and his from generation to generation.\u2019
\n5He gave Isaac two sons, those also from a womb that was closed up. Their mother was then in the third year of her marriage; and it will not happen in this way to any woman, nor will any female so boast who has intercourse with her husband in the third year. Two sons were born, Jacob and Esau. God loved Jacob, but he hated Esau because of his deeds.
\n6In their father\u2019s old age Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Mesopotamia, and there he begot twelve sons. They went down into Egypt and dwelled there.
\n7When their enemies had dealt harshly with them, the people cried out to the LORD, and their prayer was heard, and he brought them out of there and brought them to Mount Sinai and brought forth for them the foundation of understanding that he had prepared from the creation of the world. Then when the terrestrial foundation was moved, the hosts speeded the lightnings on their courses, and the winds sounded from their storehouses, and the earth was shaken from its base, and the mountains and cliffs trembled in their fastenings, and the clouds raised their waters against the flame of fire so that it would not consume the world.
\n8Then the deep gathered together from its springs, and all the waves of the sea came together. Then paradise, giving off the scent of its fruit, and the cedars of Lebanon were shaken from their roots, and the beasts of the field were agitated in their dwelling places in the forest, and all his works came together to see the LORD establishing a covenant with the children of Israel. Everything that the LORD said, he kept, having Moses his beloved as a witness.
\n9When he was dying, God arranged the firmament for him and pointed out to him then what we now have as witnesses, saying, \u2018Let there be as a witness between me and you and my people the heaven that you have entered and the earth on which you have walked until now.\u2019 For the sun and the moon and the stars were servants to us.
\n10When Joshua arose to lead the people, on the day when he was fighting the enemies, the evening approached while the battle was still going on. Joshua said to the sun and moon, \u2018You who have been made ministers between the LORD and his children, behold now, when the battle is still going on, are you abandoning your duties? Therefore stand still today and give light to his children and darkness to his enemies.\u2019 And they did so, as they had been commanded.
\n11Now in these days Sisera arose to enslave us. We cried out to our LORD, and he commanded the stars and said, \u2018Depart from your positions and burn up my enemies so that they may know my power.\u2019 The stars came down and overcame their camp and protected us without any effort.
\n12Therefore we do not cease singing praise, nor will our mouths be silent in telling his wonders, because he has remembered both his new and his old promises and displayed his deliverance to us. And so Jael is proud among women, because she alone has been successful, killing Sisera with her own hands.
\n13Go, earth; go, heavens and lightnings; go, angels; go, you hosts; go and tell the fathers in the chambers of their souls and say, \u2018The LORD has not forgotten the least of the promises that he established with us, saying, \u201cMany wonders will I do for your children.\u201d \u2019 Now from this day on it will be known that, whatever God has said to a person that he will do, he will indeed do, even if the person dies.
\n14Sing praises, Deborah, sing praises, and let the favor of the holy spirit awaken in you, and begin to praise the works of the LORD, because there will not again arise such a day on which the stars will band together and overcome the enemies of Israel as they were commanded. From this hour, if Israel falls into distress, it will call upon those witnesses along with their servants, and they will perform an embassy to the Most High, and he will remember that day and send the redemption of his covenant.
\n15And you, Deborah, begin to speak of what you saw in the field, how the people walked and went forth in safety and the stars fought for them. Rejoice, earth, over those dwelling upon you, because the congregation of the LORD that burns incense on you is present. Not unjustly did God take the rib of the primordial man who was fashioned from you, knowing that from his rib Israel would be born. That which is created from you will be a testimony to what the LORD has done for his people.
\n16Tarry, you hours of the day, and do not want to hurry, that we may declare what our mind can bring forward, for night will be upon us. It will be like the night when God killed the first-born of the Egyptians on account of his own first-born.
\n17Then I will cease my song, for the time will be readied for his righteous ones. I will sing praise to him at the renewal of creation. The people will remember this deliverance, and it will be a testimony for them. Let the sea with its deep be a witness, because not only has God dried it up before our fathers, but also he has overthrown the army from its stations and defeated our enemies.\u201d
\n18When Deborah ceased her words, she went up to Shiloh together with the people, and they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings. When trumpets had been brought to be sounded along with the sacrifices, Deborah said, \u201cThis will be as a testimony of trumpets between the stars and their LORD.\u201d Deborah went down from there. She judged Israel forty years.<\/p>\n
Deborah\u2019s Farewell and Death<\/p>\n
33:1When the time of her death drew near, she sent and assembled all the people and said to them, \u201cListen now, my people. Behold I admonish you as a woman of God and enlighten you as a member of the female sex. Heed me like your mother and attend to my words as people who will also die.
\n2Behold I am going to die, the way of all flesh, whither you also will go. Only direct your heart to the LORD your God while you are still alive, because after your death in the world where you live you cannot repent.
\n3For then death is fixed and the measure is complete, and time and years have returned their deposit. But if you seek to do evil in the underworld after your death, you will not be able, because the desire for sinning will cease and the evil inclination will lose its power, because the underworld too will not restore what it has received and has been entrusted to it unless it is demanded by the one who has made the deposit to it. Now therefore, my children, obey my voice while you have the time of life, and direct your ways according to the light of the Law.\u201d
\n4When Deborah said these words, all the people raised up their voices together and wept and said, \u201cBehold now, mother, you die, and when you leave your children to whom do you entrust them? Pray therefore for us, and after your death your soul shall be mindful of us forever.\u201d
\n5Deborah answered and said to the people, \u201cWhile a man is still alive he can pray for himself and for his children, but after his death he cannot pray or be mindful of anyone. Therefore do not put trust in your fathers. For they will not profit you unless you are found to be like them. But then you will appear like the stars of the heaven, which have now been made manifest among you.\u201d
\n6Deborah died and lay with her fathers and was buried in the city of her fathers. The people mourned her seventy days, and when they mourned her, they said these words as a dirge: \u201cBehold, a mother has perished from Israel, and a holy one who exercised leadership in the house of Jacob. She strengthened the fence about her people, and her people will long for her.\u201d After her death the land was quiet seven years.<\/p>\n
Aod the Magician<\/p>\n
34:1At that time there came up one of the priests of Midian, Aod, and he was a magician, and he spoke to Israel, saying, \u201cWhy do you pay attention to your Law? Come, I will show you something that your Law cannot match.\u201d The people said, \u201cWhat will you show us that our Law does not have?\u201d He said to the people, \u201cHave you ever seen the sun by night?\u201d They said, \u201cNo.\u201d And he said, \u201cWhenever you wish, I will show it to you so that you will know that our gods are powerful and do not deceive those who serve them.\u201d And they said, \u201cShow us.\u201d
\n2He went away and acted with his magic, giving orders to the angels who were in charge of magic, for he did sacrifice to them for a long time.
\n3It was demonstrated [?] by the angels before they were judged and lost the age without measure. Because they transgressed, the angels did not have power. After they had been judged, then the power was not given over to any others. They work through those who serve men by magic, until the age without measure comes.
\n4Then by the art of magic he showed the people the sun by night. The people were amazed and said, \u201cBehold, what great things can the gods of the Midianites do, but we did not know it!\u201d
\n5God wished to test if Israel was still in its sinfulness, and he let them be, and their work succeeded. The people of Israel were deceived and began to serve the gods of the Midianites. God said, \u201cI will deliver them into the hands of the Midianites, because they have been deceived by them.\u201d He delivered them into their hands, and the Midianites began to subjugate Israel.<\/p>\n
Gideon and the Angel<\/p>\n
35:1Gideon was the son of Joash; he was a valiant man among all his brothers. When it was summertime, he came to thresh the sheaves he had, by hiding in the mountain to escape the threatening Midianites. Behold the angel of the LORD met him and said to him, \u201cFrom where have you come, and where are you going?\u201d
\n2He said to him, \u201cWhy do you ask me whence I come, for distress has encompassed me? Israel has fallen into straits; they have been delivered into the hands of the Midianites. Where are the wonders that our fathers told us about, saying, \u2018The LORD has chosen Israel specially before all the peoples of the earth\u2019? Behold now he has delivered us up and forgotten the promises that he told our fathers. For we would prefer to be handed over to death once and for all than for his people to be punished thus time after time.\u201d
\n3The angel of the LORD said to him, \u201cYou have not been delivered up without reason, but your own schemes have done these things to you. For, as a result of your abandonment of the promises that you received from the LORD, these ills have come upon you. You have not been mindful of the commandments of God that those who were before you commanded you, and so you have come into the displeasure of your God. But he will have mercy, as no one else has mercy, on the people of Israel, though not on your account but on account of those who are asleep.
\n4Now come; I will send you, and you will free Israel from the hand of the Midianites. For the LORD says these words: \u2018Even if Israel is not just, nevertheless because the Midianites are sinners, for this reason I will pardon my people although I recognize their sinfulness. Afterward I will rebuke them because they have acted wickedly. But for the present I will take vengeance upon the Midianites.\u2019 \u201d
\n5Gideon said, \u201cWho am I and what is the house of my father that I should go against the Midianites to battle?\u201d The angel said to him, \u201cPerhaps you think that as is the way of men, so should be the way of God. But men look to worldly glory and riches, but God to that which is upright and good and to humility. Now therefore go and gird your loins, and the LORD will be with you. For he has chosen you to take vengeance upon his enemies, as, lo, he has commanded you.\u201d
\n6Gideon said to him, \u201cLet not my LORD be angry if I speak. Behold Moses the first of all the prophets asked the LORD for a sign, and it was given to him. But who am I, unless perhaps, because the LORD has chosen me, he will give me a sign so that I will know that I will be successful.\u201d The angel of the LORD said to him, \u201cRun and bring me water from that well and pour it on that rock, and I will give you a sign.\u201d He went and brought it, just as he had commanded him.
\n7The angel said to him, \u201cBefore you pour water on the rock, ask what you would like to come of it, that it become either blood or fire, or that it completely disappear.\u201d Gideon said, \u201cLet half become blood and half fire.\u201d Gideon poured out the water on the rock, and when he had poured it, half became flame and half blood, and they were both mixed together, that is, the fire and the blood; and the blood did not extinguish the fire nor did the fire consume the blood. Gideon saw these happenings and sought other signs, and they were given to him. Are these not written in the Book of Judges?<\/p>\n
Gideon\u2019s Victory and Death<\/p>\n
36:1Gideon took three hundred men and went out and came to the edge of the camp of Midian and heard them all speaking to each other, saying, \u201cYou will see incalculable disturbance caused by the sword of Gideon coming upon us because God has delivered into his hands the camp of the Midianites and he is going to destroy us, that is, mother along with children, because our sins have reached full measure as even our own gods have shown us but we did not believe them. Now let us rise up and save our own lives and flee.\u201d
\n2As soon as Gideon heard these words, the spirit of the LORD clothed him and he was strengthened and said to the three hundred men, \u201cRise up, let each one of you gird on his sword, because the Midianites have been delivered into our hands.\u201d The men went down with him. He approached and began to fight, and they blew the trumpets and cried out together and said, \u201cA sword for the LORD and Gideon!\u201d There fell about 120,000 men of the Midianites, and the rest of the Midianites fled.
\n3After this Gideon came and assembled the people of Israel and said to them, \u201cBehold the LORD sent me to fight your battle, and I went as he commanded me. Now I make one request of you\u2014do not turn your face away\u2014let each of you give me the golden rings that you have in your hands.\u201d Gideon spread out a garment, and each of them threw in his rings. All were weighed, and their weight turned out to be twelve talents. Gideon took them and made idols from them and worshiped them.
\n4God said, \u201cThere is now only one course, that I should not rebuke Gideon during his lifetime, because, when he destroyed the altar of Baal, then they all said, \u2018Let Baal fight for himself.\u2019 Now if I should chastise him because he has acted wickedly against me, they will say, \u2018Not God, but Baal has chastised him, because he sinned against him first.\u2019 And so now Gideon will die at a good old age so that they should have nothing to say. But afterward, when Gideon is dead, I will chastise him once and for all, because he sinned against me.\u201d Gideon died at a good old age and was buried in his own city.<\/p>\n
Abimelech<\/p>\n
37:1He had a son by a concubine who killed all his brothers, for he wished to be leader of the people.
\n2Then there came together [blank] all the trees of the field to the fig tree and said, \u201cCome, reign over us.\u201d The fig tree said, \u201cWas I born for kingship or rulership over the trees? Was I planted so as to reign among you? And so as surely as I cannot reign over you, so Abimelech will not get continuance for his rule.\u201d Afterward the trees came together to the vine and said, \u201cCome, reign over us.\u201d The vine said, \u201cI was planted to give sweetness to men. Come, await the fruit of my garden. But as surely as I cannot reign over you, so is the blood shed by Abimelech demanded from you.\u201d Then the trees came to the apple tree and said, \u201cCome, reign over us.\u201d It said, \u201cI have been commanded to provide sweet-smelling fruit for men. So I cannot reign over you and Abimelech will die by stoning.\u201d
\n3Then the trees came to the bramble and said, \u201cCome, reign over us.\u201d The bramble said, \u201cWhen the thorn was born, truth shone forth in the form of a thorn. When the first-formed was condemned to death, the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles. When the truth enlightened Moses, it enlightened him by means of a thorn bush. Now you will hear the truth from me. And if you have spoken truthfully to the bramble that it should in truth reign over you, sit in its shadow. But if deviously, let the fire go forth and devour and consume the trees of the field, for the apple tree represents the chastisers, and the fig tree represents the people, and the vine represents those who were before us.
\n4Now your fate at this hour will be as occurred with Abimelech, who killed his brothers unjustly and wishes to rule among you. If Abimelech be worthy of them over whom he wishes to rule, let him be like the bramble that was made to rebuke the depraved among the people.\u201d And the fire went forth from the bramble and consumed the trees that were in the fields.
\n5After this Abimelech ruled the people one year and six months, and he died when a woman threw down upon him from a wall half a millstone.<\/p>\n
Jair<\/p>\n
38:1[blank] built an altar to Baal, and he led the people astray, saying, \u201cEveryone who will not sacrifice to Baal will die.\u201d When all the people were sacrificing, only seven men were not willing to sacrifice. Their names are these: Defal, Abiesdrel, Getalibal, Selumi, Assur, Ionadab, Memihel.
\n2They answered and said to Jair, \u201cBehold we are mindful of the commandments that those who were before us and Deborah our mother commanded us, saying, \u2018Make sure that you do not turn your heart to the right or to the left, but pay attention to the Law of the LORD day and night.\u2019 And now why do you corrupt the people of the LORD and deceive them, saying, \u2018Baal is God; let us worship him\u2019? And now if he is God as you say, let him speak as God and then we will sacrifice to him.\u201d
\n3Jair said, \u201cBurn them in the fire, because they have blasphemed against Baal.\u201d His servants took them to burn them in the fire. When they put them in the fire, Nathaniel, the angel who was in charge of fire, came forth and extinguished the fire and burned the servants of Jair. But he caused the seven men to escape in such a way that none of the people saw them, because he had struck the people with blindness.
\n4When he came to the place of Jair, Jair was burned with the fire. Before he was consumed, the angel of the LORD said to him, \u201cHear the word of the LORD before you die. So says the LORD: \u2018I raised you from dust and made you leader over my people, but you got up and corrupted my covenant and led them astray and sought to burn up my servants with the flame because they chastised you. Those who were burned with corruptible fire now are quickened with a living fire and are free. But you will die, says the LORD, and in the fire by which you will die there you will have a dwelling place.\u2019 \u201d Afterward he burned him up, and he came to the pillar of Baal and demolished it and burned up Baal along with the people who stood by, that is, a thousand men.<\/p>\n
Jephthah<\/p>\n
39:1After this the children of Ammon came and began to overcome Israel, and they took many of their cities. The people were in great distress, and gathered together in Mizpah and said to each other, \u201cBehold now we see the oppression that encompasses us, and the LORD has departed from us and is no longer with us, and our enemies have captured our cities, and there is no leader to come in and go out before us. Now therefore let us see whom we should appoint over us to fight our battle.\u201d
\n2Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior. Since his brothers were envious of him and had driven him out of their land, he went and dwelled in the land of Tob. Worthless men gathered to him and abode with him.
\n3When Israel was overcome, they came to the land of Tob to Jephthah and said to him, \u201cCome, rule over the people. Who knows, perhaps for this reason you have been kept safe to this time and saved from the hands of your brothers, in order that you may rule your people in this time.\u201d
\n4Jephthah said to them, \u201cDoes love so return after hatred, or does time conquer all things, for you drove me out of my land and out of the house of my father and now you have come to me when you are in distress?\u201d They said to him, \u201cIf the God of our fathers, though we had sinned against him and he had delivered us up before our enemies and we were oppressed by them, was not mindful of our sins but freed us, why do you, a mortal man, want to recall our iniquities in the time of our distress? Therefore let it not be so with you, lord.\u201d
\n5Jephthah said, \u201cGod can be unmindful of our sins, for he has the time and place in which he as God may restrain himself as a result of his long-suffering; but I, a mortal man and made from the dust to which I will return, where shall I cast off my wrath and the injury that you have done me?\u201d The people said to him, \u201cLet the dove to which Israel has been compared instruct you, because when her young are taken from her, still she does not depart from her place, but she puts away the injury done her and forgets it as if it were in the depths of the deep.\u201d
\n6Jephthah arose and went with them and gathered all the people and said to them, \u201cYou know that, while our leaders were still alive, they warned us to follow our Law. But Ammon and his sons turned the people away from their way in which they walked, and they served strange gods who would destroy them. Now therefore set your hearts on the Law of the LORD your God, and let us beseech him together, and so we will fight against our enemies, trusting and hoping in the LORD that he will not deliver us up forever. Although our sins be abundant, nonetheless his mercy fills the earth.\u201d
\n7All the people prayed together, men and women, children and infants. When they prayed, they said, \u201cLORD, pay attention to the people that you have chosen, and do not destroy the vine that your right hand has planted, in order that this nation, which you have had from the beginning and always preferred and for whose sake you made the habitable world and which you brought into the land you promised them, should be before you as a portion; and do not deliver us up before your enemies, LORD.\u201d
\n8God turned from his wrath and strengthened the spirit of Jephthah. He sent a messenger to Getal the king of the children of Ammon and said, \u201cWhy are you troublesome to our land and have taken my cities? Or are you upset that the God of Israel did not instruct you to destroy the inhabitants of the land? Now restore to me my cities, and my anger will cease from you. But if not, know that I will come up to you and pay you back for your past actions and repay your wickednesses on your own head. Or do I not remember that you were deceitful to the people of Israel in the wilderness?\u201d The ambassadors of Jephthah spoke these messages to the king of the children of Ammon.
\n9Getal said, \u201cDid Israel think that it would keep the land of the Amorites that it captured? Therefore tell them, \u2018Be aware that now I will take the remaining cities from you and repay you your wickedness and avenge the Amorites whom you harmed.\u2019 \u201cJephthah sent another message to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, \u201cTruly I have learned that God has led you to destruction at my hands unless you cease from the iniquity by which you wish to harm Israel. Accordingly I will come to you and show myself to you. For they are not gods, as you say they are, who have given you the portion that you possess; but because you have been led astray after stones, fire will come after you to punish you.\u201d
\n10Because the king of the children of Ammon would not listen to the voice of Jephthah, Jephthah rose up and armed all the people to go out and fight equipped for battle, saying, \u201cWhen the children of Ammon have been delivered into my hands and I have returned, whoever meets me first will be a burnt offering to the LORD.\u201d
\n11God grew angry and said, \u201cBehold Jephthah has vowed that he will offer to me whatever meets him first. Now if a dog should meet Jephthah first, will the dog be offered to me? Now let Jephthah\u2019s vow be accomplished upon his own first-born, that is, upon the fruit of his own belly, and let his request be upon his only-begotten daughter. I however will free my people at this time, not on his account but because of the prayer that Israel prayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seila<\/p>\n
40:1Jephthah came and fought against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into his hands, and he smote sixty of their cities. Jephthah returned safely, and women came out to meet him with dances. He had an only-begotten daughter and she came out of the house first in the dancing to meet her father. When Jephthah saw her, he grew faint and said, \u201cRightly was your name called Seila, that you would be offered in sacrifice. And now who will put my heart in the balance and my soul on the scale, and I will stand and see which will weigh more, whether it is the joy that has taken place or the sadness that befalls me? Because I opened my mouth to my LORD with song and vows, I cannot call that back again.\u201d
\n2Seila his daughter said to him, \u201cWho is there who would be sad to die, seeing the people freed? Or have you forgotten what happened in the days of our fathers when the father placed the son as a burnt offering, and he did not dispute him but gladly gave consent to him, and the one being offered was ready and the one who was offering was rejoicing?
\n3Now do not annul anything you have vowed, but do it all. I make however one request of you before I die, a small petition I ask before I give back my soul, that I may go to the mountains and stay in the hills and walk among the rocks, I and my virgin companions, and I will pour out my tears there and tell of the sadness of my youth. The trees of the field will weep for me, and the beasts of the field will lament for me. For I am not sad that I am going to die nor does it pain me to give back my soul, but because my father was trapped by his vow. If I will not offer myself willingly for sacrifice, I fear that my death would not be acceptable and I would lose my life to no purpose. These things I will tell the mountains, and afterward I will return.\u201d Her father said, \u201cGo.\u201d
\n4Seila the daughter of Jephthah, she and her virgin companions, set out and came and reported to the wise men of the people, and no one could respond to her word. Afterward she came to Mount Telag, and the LORD thought of her by night and said, \u201cBehold now I have shut up the tongue of the wise men of my people in this generation so that they cannot respond to the word of Jephthah\u2019s daughter, in order that my word be fulfilled and my plan that I thought out not be foiled. I have seen that she is wiser than her father and that the virgin is smarter than all the wise men who are here. Now let her soul be given up in accord with her request, and her death will be precious before me always, and she will go and depart into the bosom of her mothers.\u201d
\n5When the daughter of Jephthah came to Mount Telag, she began to weep, and this is her lamentation that she lamented and wept over herself before she departed. She said, \u201cHear, you mountains, my lamentation, and behold, you hills, the tears of my eyes, and be witnesses, you rocks, to the weeping of my soul. Behold how I am condemned! But let not my life be taken in vain. May my words go forth to the heavens, and my tears be written before the firmament, in order that a father not venture to sacrifice a daughter whom he has vowed, and a ruler not let his only daughter be promised for sacrifice.
\n6I have not been satisfied by my marriage chamber nor have I been sated with the garlands of my wedding. I was not clothed in splendor in accord with my nobility, and I have not used myrrh and perfume, and my soul has not enjoyed the oil of anointing that was prepared for me. O mother, in vain have you borne your only daughter, since the underworld has become my bridal chamber. Let the perfumes be spilled upon the ground, as well as the blend of oil that you have prepared for me. Let the moth consume the white garment that my mother spun and let the crown that my nurse plaited for me for the occasion wither up. Let the worm devour the coverlet that my skill wove of purple and crimson. Let my virgin companions tell of me in sorrow and lament for me with moans through the days.
\n7You trees, bow down your branches and weep over my youth, you beasts of the forests, come and bewail my virginity, for my years have been cut short and the time of my life will grow old in darkness.\u201d
\n8After saying these things Seila returned to her father, and he did everything that he had vowed and offered burnt offerings. Then all the virgins of Israel gathered together and buried the daughter of Jephthah and wept for her. The women of Israel made a great lamentation and established that in that month on the fourteenth day of the month they should come together every year and weep for Jephthah\u2019s daughter for four days. They named her tomb in accord with her name, Seila.
\n9Jephthah judged the children of Israel ten years, and he died and was buried with his fathers.<\/p>\n
Abdon and Elon<\/p>\n
41:1After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite arose as judge in Israel, and he also judged the sons of Israel, for eight years. In his days the king of Moab sent messengers to him, saying, \u201cBehold now you know that Israel took my cities; now restore them to freedom.\u201d Abdon said, \u201cHave you not learned from what happened to the sons of Ammon, unless perhaps the sins of Moab have reached full measure?\u201d Abdon sent and took from the people twenty thousand men and came out against Moab and fought with them and killed forty-five thousand men of them, but the rest fled before him. Abdon returned safely and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices to his LORD. He died and was buried in his city Effrata.
\n2At that time the people chose Elon and appointed him as judge for them. He judged Israel twenty years. In those days they fought against the Philistines and took from them twelve cities. Elon died and was buried in his city.
\n3But the children of Israel forgot the LORD their God and served the gods of the land\u2019s inhabitants. On account of this they were handed over to the Philistines and served them forty years.<\/p>\n
Manoah and Eluma<\/p>\n
42:1There was a man from the tribe of Dan whose name was Manoah, son of Edoc, son of Odon, son of Eriden, son of Fadesur, son of Dema, son of Susi, son of Dan. He had a wife whose name was Eluma the daughter of Remac, and she was sterile and did not bear children to him. Every day Manoah her husband would say to her, \u201cBehold the LORD has shut up your womb so that you do not bear children. Now let me take another wife so that I do not die without offspring.\u201d And she would say, \u201cIt is not me whom the LORD has shut up that I may not bear children, but you, so that I do not bear offspring.\u201d He said to her, \u201cOur test will make it clear.\u201d
\n2They quarreled daily and both were very sad, because they had no offspring. One night the wife went up to the upper chamber and prayed, saying, \u201cBehold, LORD God of all flesh, reveal to me whether it has not been granted to my husband or to me to produce children, to whom it has been forbidden and to whom it has been allowed to bear offspring, in order that the one who is forbidden may sigh over his sins because he remains without offspring. Or if both of us have been deprived, reveal this to us also so that we might bear our guilt and be silent before you.\u201d
\n3The LORD heard her voice and sent his angel to her in the morning, and he said to her, \u201cYou are the sterile one who does not bring forth, you are the womb that is forbidden to bear offspring. But now the LORD has heard your voice and seen your tears and opened your womb. Behold you will conceive and bear a son, and you will call his name Samson. He will be a Nazarite to your LORD. Make sure that he does not taste from any fruit of the vine or eat any unclean thing, because he himself will free Israel from the hand of the Philistines.\u201d When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words, he departed from her.
\n4She came into the house to her husband and said to him, \u201cBehold, I put my hand over my mouth, and I will be silent before you always because I boasted in vain and did not believe your words. For the angel of the LORD came to me today and informed me, saying, \u2018Eluma, you are sterile, but you will conceive and bear a son.\u2019 \u201d
\n5Manoah did not believe his wife, and being confused and sad he himself also went to the upper chamber and prayed and said, \u201cBehold, am I not worthy to hear the signs and wonders that God has done among us or to see the face of his messenger?\u201d
\n6While he was speaking these words, the angel of the LORD came again to his wife. She was in the field, and Manoah was in his house. The angel said to her, \u201cRun and summon your husband, for God has deemed him worthy to hear my voice.\u201d
\n7The wife ran and called to her husband, and he hurried and came to the angel in the field. The angel said to him, \u201cGo into your wife and do all these things.\u201d But he said, \u201cI am going, but see to it, sir, that your word be accomplished regarding your servant.\u201d And he said, \u201cIt will be done.\u201d
\n8Manoah said to him, \u201cIf I could, I would persuade you to enter my house and eat bread with me. When you would leave, I would give you gifts to take with you to offer as a sacrifice to the LORD your God.\u201d The angel said to him, \u201cI will not enter your house with you, nor eat your bread nor take your gifts. If you offer sacrifice from alien things, I cannot show favor to you.\u201d
\n9Manoah built an altar upon the rock and offered sacrifices and burnt offerings. When he had cut up the meats and placed them on the altar, the angel sent forth his hand and touched it with the tip of his staff. Fire came forth from the rock, and devoured the burnt offerings and sacrifices. The angel of the LORD went up from him in the flame of fire.
\n10When Manoah and his wife saw these things they fell on their faces and said, \u201cWe will die because we have seen the LORD face to face.\u201d Manoah said, \u201cIt was not enough that I saw him but I also asked his name, not knowing that he was the minister of God.\u201d The angel who had come was named Fadahel.<\/p>\n
Samson<\/p>\n
43:1In those days Eluma conceived and bore a son and called his name Samson, and the LORD was with him. When he had begun to grow up and sought to fight against the Philistines, he took for himself a wife from the Philistines. The Philistines burned her in the fire, because they had been badly humiliated by Samson.
\n2Afterward Samson got angry at Gaza, and they shut him in and surrounded the city and said, \u201cBehold now our enemy has been delivered into our hands, and now let us gather together and save our own lives.\u201d When Samson arose at night and saw the city closed in, he said, \u201cBehold, now those fleas have locked me up in their city, and now\u2014may the LORD be with me\u2014I will go out through their gates and fight against them.\u201d
\n3He came and put his left hand beneath the bar of the gate, and he shook the gate in the wall and dislodged it. He held one of the doors in his right hand as a shield; the other he put on his shoulders. Carrying it off, because he had no sword, he pursued the Philistines with it and killed 25,000 men with it. He brought up all the parts of the gate and set them on the mountain.
\n4Concerning the lion that he killed and concerning the jawbone of the ass with which he killed the Philistines and concerning the bonds that broke off from his arms as it were spontaneously and the foxes that he caught, are not these written in the Book of Judges?
\n5Then Samson went down to Gerar, a city of the Philistines, and he saw there a harlot whose name was Delilah, and he was led astray after her and took her to himself for a wife. And God said, \u201cBehold now Samson has been led astray through his eyes, and he has not remembered the mighty works that I did for him. He has mingled with the daughters of the Philistines and has not paid attention to Joseph my servant who was in a foreign land and became the crown of his brothers because he was not willing to profane his seed. Now Samson\u2019s lust will be a stumbling block for him, and his mingling a ruin. I will hand him over to his enemies, and they will blind him. But in the hour of his death I will remember him, and I will avenge him upon the Philistines just this once.\u201d
\n6After this his wife pressured him and said to him, \u201cShow me your power and in what your strength lies, and so I will know that you love me.\u201d When Samson had tricked her three times and she was pressuring him daily, the fourth time he revealed to her his heart. She got him drunk, and while he slept, she summoned a barber and he cut the seven locks of his head, and his strength left him, for he himself had so revealed. She called the Philistines, and they beat Samson and blinded him and put him in prison.
\n7On the day of their banquet they summoned Samson to mock him. He, in bonds by two pillars, prayed saying, \u201cLORD God of my fathers, hear me just this once and strengthen me in order that I may die with these Philistines, because the sight that they took from me was given freely to me by you.\u201d Samson added, saying, \u201cGo forth, my soul, and do not be sad; die, my body, and do not grieve for yourself.\u201d
\n8He grasped the two columns of the house and shook them. The house and all that was around it collapsed, and killed all who were around it. Their number was 40,000 men and women. Samson\u2019s brothers and his father\u2019s entire household went down and took him and buried him in the tomb of his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.<\/p>\n
Micah<\/p>\n
44:1In those days there was no leader in Israel, but each one did what was pleasing in his own eyes.
\n2At that time there arose Micah the son of Delilah the mother of Heliu, and he had one thousand shekels of gold and four wedges of molten gold and forty shekels of silver. Delilah his mother said to him, \u201cMy son, hear my voice, and you will make a name for yourself before death. Take that gold and melt it down and make for yourself idols, and they will serve as gods for you, and you will be their priest.
\n3Whoever wishes to ask anything through them will come to you, and you will respond to him. There will be an altar in your house and a column made out of that gold that you have; prepare frankincense for burning and sheep for sacrifice. Whoever wishes to offer a sacrifice will give seven shekels for sheep; for incense, if he wishes to burn it, he will give one shekel of silver in weight. Your title will be \u2018priest,\u2019 and you will be called \u2018reverer of the gods.\u2019 \u201d
\n4Micah said to her, \u201cYou have advised me well, mother, how to live. Now your name will be greater than mine, and in the last days all things will be asked of you.\u201d
\n5Micah set out and did everything that his mother had commanded him. He carved and made for himself three images of boys and calves, a lion, an eagle, a serpent, and a dove. All who were led astray would come to him. If a person wished to ask for a wife, he would ask him by means of the dove; if for sons, by the images of the boys; if for wealth, he would consult him through the likeness of the eagle; if for courage, through the image of the lion. If for boys and girls, he would ask through the images of the calves. But if for length of days, he would ask by the image of the dragon. His wickedness was manifold, and his impiety was full of guile.
\n6Then, when the sons of Israel were departing from the LORD, the LORD said, \u201cBehold I will uproot the earth and destroy the whole race of men, because, when I set my majesty on Mount Sinai, I showed myself to the children of Israel in a storm. I said that they should not make idols, and they agreed not to carve images of gods. I ordered them not to take my name in vain, and they chose not to take my name in vain. I commanded them to keep the day of the Sabbath, and they consented to sanctify it. I told them to honor father and mother, and they promised they would do it. I ordered them not to steal, and they agreed. I told them not to commit murder, and they accepted not to do it. I commanded them not to commit adultery, and they did not oppose it. I ordered them not to speak false testimony and not to covet each one his fellow\u2019s wife or house or anything that belonged to him, and they accepted.
\n7[blank] not to make idols nor to perform the service of those gods that have been born from corruption under the name of graven images and of those through which all things have become corrupt. For mortal men made them, and fire served to melt them down. The skill of a man produced them, and hands manufactured them, and mind has contrived them. By accepting these they took my name in vain, and they have given my name to graven images. As for the day of the Sabbath that they agreed to keep, they did abominable things on it. As for my telling them to honor father and mother, they have dishonored me, their creator. As for my telling them not to steal, they have stolen in their minds with graven images. Whereas I told them not to kill, they kill those whom they seduce. Though I commanded them not to commit adultery, they have adulterated their devotion. As for their choice not to speak false testimony, they accepted false testimony from those whom they destroyed. And they lusted for foreign women.
\n8Therefore, behold I abhor the race of men, and that I may uproot creation, those dying will outnumber those being born, because the house of Jacob is defiled in its wickedness and the sins of Israel are numerous. I cannot totally destroy the tribe of Benjamin on the grounds that they were the first to be led astray after Micah. The people of Israel will not go unpunished. But this will be an eternal stumbling block for them, to be remembered for generations.
\n9I will deliver Micah to the fire, and his mother will be rotting away before him while alive upon the earth, and worms will come forth from her body. Then, while they are speaking to each other, she will say as a mother chastising her son, \u2018Behold what a sin you have committed!\u2019 He will respond as a son who answers his mother and acts shrewdly, \u2018You have done greater wickedness.\u2019 The image of the dove that he made will be for putting out his eyes, and the image of the eagle will be for bringing fire upon him from its wings, and the images of the boys that he made will be for scratching his sides, and the image of the lion that he made will guarantee that his tormenters will be strong.
\n10I will not do this to Micah alone, but to all who sin against me. The race of men will know that they should not provoke me by their devices that they devise, but every man will be so punished, that in whatever sin he shall have sinned, with this he will be judged. If they have lied before me, I will command the heaven and it will deny them rain. If a man will covet the property of his neighbor, I will command death and it will deny him the fruit of his belly. If men will swear falsely in my name, I will not hear their prayers. When the soul is separated from the body, then they will say, \u2018Let us not be distressed over what we have suffered, but rather because whatever we ourselves have devised, that will we also receive.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
The Concubine\u2019s Rape and Murder<\/p>\n
45:1At that time a certain man from the tribe of Levi came to Gibeah, and when he wanted to stay there the sun set. He wanted to enter there, but those who dwelled there did not let him. He said to his servant, \u201cGo and lead the mule, and we will go to the city of Nob; perhaps they will let us enter it.\u201d He came there and sat down in the square of the city but no one said to him, \u201cEnter my house.\u201d
\n2There was there a certain Levite whose name was Bethac. When Bethac saw him, he said to him, \u201cAre you Beel from my tribe?\u201d He said, \u201cI am.\u201d He said to him, \u201cDon\u2019t you know the wickedness of those who dwell in this city? Who persuaded you to enter here? Leave here in a hurry and enter my house where I dwell, and stay today. The LORD will shut their minds before us as he shut up the Sodomites before Lot.\u201d Having entered the city, he remained there that night.
\n3All the inhabitants of the city came together and said to Bethac, \u201cBring out those who came to you today. Otherwise, we will burn in the fire both you and them.\u201d He went out to them and said to them, \u201cAre not these our brothers? Let us not do evil to them lest our sins be multiplied amongst us.\u201d They answered, \u201cIt has never happened that strangers give orders to the local inhabitants.\u201d They entered by force and dragged him and his concubine off, and they took them outside. After letting the man go, they abused his concubine until she died, for she had strayed from her man at one time when she committed sin with the Amalekites, and on account of this the LORD God delivered her into the hands of sinners.
\n4When it was morning, Beel went out and, finding his concubine dead, he put her on the mule and hurried away and came to Kedesh. He took her body and cut it up into pieces and sent it throughout the twelve tribes, saying, \u201cThese things were done to me in the city of Nob, and those dwelling there rose up against me to kill me, and they took my concubine while I was locked up and killed her. If it is good in your eyes to be silent, the LORD will judge. But if you wish to take vengeance, the LORD will help you.\u201d
\n5All the men of the twelve tribes were disturbed, and they gathered together in Shiloh, and said to each other, \u201cIf such depravity has been done in Israel, shall Israel remain quiet?\u201d
\n6The LORD said to the adversary, \u201cDo you see that this foolish people was not disturbed at a time when they ought to have died, when Micah acted craftily to lead the people astray with the dove and the eagle and the images of men and calves and lion and serpent? And so, because they were not zealous then, therefore let their plan turn out badly and their heart be confused so that those who allow evil will be destroyed along with the sinners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benjamin\u2019s Victory Over Israel<\/p>\n
46:1At morning, the people of Israel were disturbed and said, \u201cLet us go up and investigate the sin that has been committed in order that the evil be eliminated from us.\u201d After saying this, they said, \u201cLet us first ask the LORD and learn if he will deliver our brothers into our hands; if not, let us desist.\u201d Phinehas said to them, \u201cLet us bring out the Urim and Tummim.\u201d The LORD answered them, saying, \u201cGo up, because I will deliver them into your hands.\u201d But he led them astray so that he might fulfill his words.
\n2They went up to battle and came to the city of Benjamin and sent messengers saying, \u201cSend us the men who have done this evil deed, and we will spare you but repay to each his own evil.\u201d The people of Benjamin hardened their heart and said to the people of Israel, \u201cWhy should we deliver our brothers to you? If you spare them, we will not fight against you.\u201d The people of Benjamin went out to meet the children of Israel and put them to flight. The children of Israel fell before them, and they smote among them forty-five thousand men.
\n3The heart of the people was very despondent, and they came mourning and weeping to Shiloh. They said, \u201cBehold the LORD has delivered us before the inhabitants of Nob, and now let us ask the LORD who among us has sinned.\u201d They asked the LORD, and he said to them, \u201cIf you wish, go up and fight, and they will be delivered into your hands, and then you will be told why you fell before them.\u201d They went up the next day to fight against them, and the children of Benjamin went out and put Israel to flight and smote among them forty-six thousand men.
\n4The heart of the people grew very faint, and they said, \u201cHas God wished to lead his people astray? Or has he so decided, on account of the evil that was done, that the innocent as well as those who do wicked deeds should fall?\u201d On saying these words they fell before the ark of the covenant of the LORD and rent their garments and put ashes on their heads, they and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, who prayed and said, \u201cWhat is this deceit by which you have led us astray, LORD? If what the children of Benjamin have done is right in your eyes, why have you not told us so we might stop? But if it did not please you, why have you allowed us to fall before them?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fable of the Lion<\/p>\n
47:1Phinehas continued to speak, \u201cGod of our fathers, hear my voice and tell your servant today whether it has been done properly in your sight, or perchance the people have sinned and you wanted to do away with their evil deeds so as to chastise those of us who have sinned against you. For I remember in my youth when Zimri sinned in the days of Moses your servant, and he went in to the Midianite woman and I exercised the zeal of my soul, and hoisted both of them up on my spear. The rest wished to rise up against me and kill me, and you sent your angel and you smote of them twenty-four thousand men, and you saved me from their hands.
\n2Now you dispatched the eleven tribes, saying to them, \u2018Go and smite them,\u2019 but they went and were delivered up. Now they say that your Urim and Tummim are telling lies before you. Now, LORD God of our fathers, do not hide from your servant but tell us why you have done this injustice to us.\u201d
\n3The LORD saw that Phinehas had prayed earnestly before him, and he said to him, \u201cI swear by myself, says the LORD: if you had not prayed, I would not have been mindful of you in what you said, nor would I have answered you today. Now say to the people, \u2018Stand and hear the word of the LORD.\u2019
\n4So says the LORD: There was a mighty lion in the midst of the forest to whose power all the beasts entrusted the forest that he might guard it lest perhaps other beasts should come and destroy it. While the lion was guarding these, some beasts of the field came from another forest and devoured all the young of the animals and destroyed the fruit of their wombs. The lion saw and was silent. The beasts of the field were secure, because they had entrusted the forest to the lion and did not realize that their offspring had been destroyed.
\n5Some time later there arose from those who had entrusted the forest to the lion a small animal, and he ate up the small cub of another savage beast. Behold the lion roared and threw into confusion all the animals of the forest, and they fought among themselves, and each fought against the other.
\n6When many beasts were destroyed, another lion\u2019s cub from the other forest saw such great evils and said, \u2018Have you not destroyed so many animals? What wickedness is this, that when so many beasts and their offspring were unjustly destroyed at the beginning by other savage animals, and when all the beasts should have been moved to avenge themselves when their offspring were destroyed for no reason, then you were silent and did not speak? But now one cub of a savage beast has perished, and you have so aroused the whole forest that all the beasts unjustly destroy each other in turn, so that the forest is impoverished. Now you ought to be destroyed first, and so the remnant made secure.\u2019 The cubs of the animals heard this and killed the lion first, and they appointed the cub in his place, and all the other beasts together were made subject to him.
\n7There rose up Micah who caused you to transgress by the things that he and his mother made. Their deeds were sinful and wicked such that no one before them had devised, but by his own craftiness he made graven images such as have not been made until this day. No one acted zealously but all of you were led astray, and you saw the fruit of your belly ruined and you were silent like that evil lion.
\n8But now, on seeing how this man\u2019s concubine, who had done wicked deeds, died, you were all disturbed and came to me, saying, \u2018Will you deliver the children of Benjamin into our hands?\u2019 Therefore I deceived you and said, \u2018I will deliver them to you.\u2019 Now I have destroyed you, who were silent then. And so I will take vengeance on all who have acted wickedly.\u201d
\n9All the people rose up as one and went off. The children of Benjamin came out to meet them, thinking that they would conquer them as before, and they did not know that disaster was inevitably to befall them. When they had come out as at first and pursued them, the people fled from before them so as to give ground. Then they rose up from their hiding places, and the children of Benjamin were caught in between them.
\n10Those who had been fleeing turned around and the people of the city of Nob were killed, eighty-five thousand, men and women. The children of Israel burned the city, and they took their plunder and destroyed everything with the sword. None of the children of Benjamin survived except six hundred men who fled and were not captured in the battle. All the people returned to Shiloh, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest was with them.
\n11These are the ones who remained from the race of Benjamin, the leaders of the tribe according to the ten families; these are their names: Of the first family: Ashbel, Zieb, Bela, Rein, Debac, Belloch. Of the second family: Netach, Zenip, Fenoch, Demech, Gera, Saraz. From the third family: Jeremoth, Veloth, Amibel, Genuth, Nefuth, Fienna. From the fourth city: Gemuf and Eliel, Gemet, Soleph, Rafaf, and Doffo. From the fifth family: Anuel, Code, Fretan, Remmon, Peccan, Nabath. The sixth family: Refaz, Sefet, Arafaz, Metach, Adhoc, Balinoc. From the seventh family: Beninmefiz, Araf, Ruimel, Belon, Iaal, Abac [blank]. From the tenth family: Enoflasa, Melec, Meturia, Meac. All the leaders of the tribes who survived were sixty in number.
\n12At that time the LORD repaid to Micah and his mother all he had said. Micah melted in the fire and his mother wasted away, just as the LORD had said concerning them.<\/p>\n
Phinehas\u2019s Ascension<\/p>\n
48:1At that time Phinehas was verging toward death, and the LORD said to him, \u201cBehold you have passed the 120 years that have been established for every man. Now rise up and go from here and dwell in the desert on the mountain and dwell there many years. I will command my eagle, and he will nourish you there, and you will not come down again to mankind until the appointed time arrives and you will be tested at the appropriate time; and then you will shut up the heaven, and by your mouth it will be opened up. Afterward you will be raised up to the place where those who were before you were raised up, and you will be there until I remember the world. Then I will bring you, and you will get a taste of death.\u201d
\n2Phinehas went up and did all that the LORD commanded him. At the time when he appointed him as priest, he anointed him in Shiloh.
\n3At that time when he went up, the children of Israel were then celebrating Passover, and they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, \u201cGo up and win wives for yourselves, because we cannot give you our daughters. For we made a vow at the time of our anger. But let it not come about that one tribe be blotted out from Israel.\u201d The children of Benjamin went up and seized for themselves wives and built for themselves Gabaon and began to dwell there.
\n4The children of Israel were at rest in the meantime and had no leader in those days; each one did what was pleasing in his own eyes.
\n5These are the commandments and judgments and testimonies and teachings that were given in the days of the judges of Israel, before a king ruled over them.<\/p>\n
Elkanah<\/p>\n
49:1At that time the children of Israel began to make a request from the LORD, and they said, \u201cLet all of us cast lots to see who it is who can rule us as Cenaz did. For perhaps we will find a man who will free us from our distress, because it is not appropriate for the people to be without a ruler.\u201d
\n2They cast the lot. When no one was found, the people were very sad and said, \u201cThe people were not worthy to be heard by the LORD, for he did not answer us. Now let us cast lots at least by tribes, in the hope that perhaps God is reconciled by a large group. For we will learn that God will be reconciled with those who seek him.\u201d They cast the lot by tribes, and upon no tribe did the lot come forth. Israel said, \u201cLet us choose on our own, for we are in straits. For we know that God loaths his people and his soul detests us.\u201d
\n3A man by the name of Nethez answered and said to the people, \u201cHe does not hate us, but we made ourselves so hateful that God abandoned us. And so, even if we die, let us not abandon him, but let us take refuge in him. By walking in our evil ways we have not known him who created us, and so our plan will be in vain. But I know that God will not reject us forever, nor will he hate his people for all generations. Therefore be strong, and let us pray again, and let us cast lots by cities. For even if our sins are many, nevertheless his long-suffering will not fail.\u201d
\n4They cast lots by cities, and Ramathaim came out in the lot. The people said, \u201cSo Ramathaim is more just than all the cities of Israel, for he has chosen it above all the cities.\u201d And they said to each other, \u201cIn that city that came out in the lot let us cast a lot by men, and let us see whom the LORD chooses from it.\u201d
\n5They cast the lot by men, and it indicated no one except Elkanah. Because the lot fell out upon him, the people took him and said, \u201cCome, and be a leader for us.\u201d Elkanah said to the people, \u201cI cannot be a leader over this people, nor can I assess who could be a leader for you. But if my sins have caught up with me so that the lot fell upon me, I will kill myself so that you will not defile me. For it is just that I should die only for my own sins rather than to bear the burden of the people.\u201d
\n6The people saw that Elkanah was not willing to exercise leadership over them, and they prayed again to the LORD, saying, \u201cLORD God of Israel, why have you abandoned your people at a time of their enemy\u2019s victory, and in a time of trouble why have you neglected your portion? Behold even he who was indicated by the lot has not fulfilled your commands. But this man is the only one upon whom the lot fell out and we thought we would have a leader. But behold even he, it turns out, contends against the lot. Whom will we yet ask for? In whom will we take refuge? Where is the place of our rest? For if the covenant that you made with our fathers is true, saying, \u2018I will multiply your seed\u2019 and they will experience this, it would have been better to say to us then, \u2018I am cutting off your seed,\u2019 rather than that you should reject our root.\u201d
\n7God said to them, \u201cIf I rendered unto you according to your evil deeds, I should pay no attention even to your seed. But what am I to do, for my name has come to be called upon you? Now know that Elkanah, upon whom the lot has fallen, cannot rule over you, but rather his son who will be born from him, he will rule over you and will prophesy. From this time on, a ruler will not be lacking from you for many years.\u201d
\n8The people said, \u201cBehold, LORD, Elkanah has ten sons. Which of them will rule and prophesy?\u201d God said, \u201cNone of the sons of Peninnah can rule the people, but the one born from the sterile woman whom I gave to him as a wife will be a prophet before me. I will love him as I loved Isaac, and his name will be before me always.\u201d The people said, \u201cBehold perhaps now God has remembered us to rescue us from the hand of our enemies.\u201d On that day they made sacrifices, peace offerings, and rejoiced according to their customs.<\/p>\n
Hannah and Eli<\/p>\n
50:1Elkanah had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Peninnah. Because Peninnah had sons and Hannah did not, Peninnah mocked her, saying, \u201cWhat does it profit you that Elkanah your husband loves you, but you are a dry tree? I know that my husband will love me, because he delights in the sight of my sons standing around him like a plantation of olive trees.\u201d
\n2And so she would mock her daily, and Hannah was very dismayed, but she was God-fearing from her youth. When the holiday of Passover approached and her husband went up to sacrifice, Peninnah insulted Hannah, saying, \u201cA wife is not beloved even if her husband loves her or her beauty. Let Hannah not glory in her appearance; but she who glories, let her glory when she sees her offspring before her. When for a woman there will not thus be present the fruit of her womb, love will be in vain. For what did it profit Rachel that Jacob loved her? Had not the fruit of her womb been given her, his love would have been in vain.\u201d When Hannah heard these words, her soul grew faint and it was poured out in tears.
\n3Her husband saw her and said, \u201cWhy are you dismayed? Why do you not eat? Why does your heart become despondent within you? Is not your character worth more than the ten sons of Peninnah?\u201d Hannah listened to him, and she rose up after she ate and came to Shiloh to the house of the LORD, where Eli the priest abode whom Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest had appointed, as he had been commanded.
\n4Hannah prayed and said, \u201cDid you not, LORD, examine the heart of all generations before you formed the world? Now what womb is born opened or dies closed unless you wish it? Now let my prayer ascend before you today so that I do not go down from here empty-handed, for you know my heart, how I have walked before you from the days of my youth.\u201d
\n5Hannah did not want to pray out loud as all people do. For then she took thought, saying, \u201cPerhaps I am not worthy to be heard, and Peninnah in her envy of me will mock me more, just as she daily says, \u2018Where is your God in whom you trust?\u2019 I know that neither is the woman who has many sons rich nor is she who has few poor, but whoever abounds in the good will of God is rich. If anyone will know what I have prayed for and will learn that I am not heard in my prayer, he will blaspheme. My soul will not be my only witness, but my tears also will be, tears that are the ministers of my prayers.\u201d
\n6While she was praying, Eli the priest saw that she was afflicted in spirit and acting like a drunken woman, and he said to her, \u201cGo and remove your wine from yourself.\u201d She said, \u201cIs my prayer so heard that I am called a drunken woman? I am drunk with sorrow, and I have drunk the cup of my weeping.\u201d
\n7Eli the priest said to her, \u201cTell me of your shame.\u201d She said to him, \u201cI am the wife of Elkanah; and because God has shut up my womb, I prayed before him that I do not go forth to him from this world without offspring and that I do not die without leaving my image.\u201d Eli the priest said to her, \u201cGo, because I know for what you have prayed; your prayer has been heard.\u201d
\n8But Eli the priest did not want to tell her that a prophet had been foretold to be born from her. For he had heard, when the LORD spoke concerning him. Hannah came to her house, and her grief was softened, but she told no one what she had prayed.<\/p>\n
The Birth of Samuel and Hannah\u2019s Song<\/p>\n
51:1In those days she conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel, which means \u201cmighty,\u201d in accord with what God had called his name when he prophesied about him. Hannah stayed and nursed the infant until he was two years old. When she had weaned him, she went up with him and carried gifts in her hands. The child was very handsome, and the LORD was with him.
\n2Hannah placed the boy before Eli and said to him, \u201cThis is the desire I desired, and this is the request I sought.\u201d Eli said to her, \u201cYou have not asked alone, but the people have prayed for this. This is not your request alone, but it had been promised previously to the tribes. Through this boy your womb has been privileged so that you might provide profit for the people and establish the milk of your breasts as a fountain for the twelve tribes.\u201d
\n3On hearing this Hannah prayed and said, \u201cAttend to my voice, all you nations, and listen to my speech, all you kingdoms, because my mouth has been opened that I should speak and my lips have been commanded to sing praise to the LORD. Drip, my breasts, and relate your testimonies, because you have been commanded to give suck. For he who is milked from you will be established, and the people will be enlightened by his words, and he will show statutes to the nations, and his horn will be very much exalted.
\n4And so I will speak my words openly, because from me will arise the ordinance of the LORD, and all men will find the truth. Do not hurry to speak boastfully or to bring forth from your mouth lofty words, but delight in praise, for the light from which wisdom will be born will come forth, that not those who possess many things will be called rich, nor those who have borne in abundance will be called mothers. For the sterile one has been satisfied in childbearing, but she who had many children is wretched.
\n5For the LORD kills with righteous judgment, and brings to life with mercy. For the unjust exist in this world, but he brings the just to life when he wishes. The unjust he will shut up in darkness, but for the just he saves his light. When the unjust have died, then they will perish. After the just have slept, then they will be delivered. So will every judgment endure, until he who holds power be revealed.
\n6Speak, speak, Hannah, do not be silent. Sing praise, daughter of Batuel, about your miracles that God has performed for you. Who is Hannah that a prophet is born from her? Or who is the daughter of Batuel that she should bear a light to the people? Rise up, you also, Elkanah, and gird your loins. Sing praise about the wonders of the LORD, for Asaph prophesied in the wilderness about your son, saying, \u2018Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel was among them.\u2019 Behold the word has been fulfilled, and the prophecy has come to pass. These words will endure until the horn is given to his anointed one and power be present at the throne of his king. Let my son stay here and serve until he becomes a light for this nation.\u201d
\n7They departed thence and set out with gladness, rejoicing and exulting in heart over all the glory that God had brought about for them. The people came down to Shiloh together with timbrels and dances, lutes and harps, and they came to Eli the priest and presented Samuel to him. They stood Samuel before the LORD, anointed him, and said, \u201cMay the prophet live forever, and may he be a light to this nation for a long time!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sons of Eli<\/p>\n
52:1Samuel was a very young child and knew nothing of these things. While he was serving before the LORD, the two sons of Eli did not walk in the ways of their fathers and began to do wicked things to the people and multiplied their own iniquities. They resided near the sanctuary, and when the people assembled to sacrifice, Hophni and Phinehas came and provoked the people to anger by seizing their sacrificial offerings before they were offered as holy to the LORD.
\n2This was pleasing neither to the LORD nor to the people nor to their father. And so their father said to them, \u201cWhat is this report that I hear about you? Do you not know that I received this position from Phinehas as a pledge? If we wear down what we received, what shall we say if he who entrusted it asks for it back and should vex us over that which he committed to us? Now straighten out your ways and walk in good ways, and your actions will endure. But if you refuse and do not restrain your wicked devices, you will destroy yourselves, and the priesthood will be in vain and what has been sanctified will be reckoned at nought. Then people will say, \u2018Did the staff of Aaron flower in vain, has the flower born of it come down to nothing?\u2019
\n3And so while you still can, my sons, correct what you have done sinfully, and the men against whom you have sinned will pray for you. But if you are not willing and you persist in your wickedness, I will be guiltless and will only grieve lest perchance I hear of the day of your death before I die. But even if this happens, I will be free of guilt; and though I grieve, nevertheless you will perish.\u201d
\n4But his sons did not listen, because the LORD had passed judgment about them that they should die, because they had sinned. For when he said to them, \u201cTurn from your evil ways,\u201d they would say, \u201cWhen we grow old, then we will turn away.\u201d Because of this, though they were warned by their father, they were not permitted to turn, because they were always rebellious and acting very unjustly in despoiling Israel. The LORD was angry at Eli.<\/p>\n
Samuel and the Divine Voice<\/p>\n
53:1Samuel was serving before the LORD, and did not yet know what the words of the LORD were. He had not yet heard the words of the LORD. He was eight years old.
\n2When God took note of Israel, he wished to reveal to Samuel his words. Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD. When God was about to call to him, he planned it out first and said, \u201cBehold now, the youth Samuel, though he is beloved before me, nonetheless because he has not yet heard the voice or the speech of the LORD, he is not secure. Nevertheless he is like my servant Moses. I spoke to Moses as an eighty-year old, but Samuel is eight years old. Moses saw the fire first, and his heart was afraid. If Samuel should see fire now, how will he endure? And so now a voice will come to him like that of a man, and not like that of God. When he has understood, then I will speak to him like God.\u201d
\n3At midnight a voice from heaven called him. Samuel awoke and recognized it as the voice of Eli the priest, and he ran to him and said, \u201cWhy did you awaken me, Father? I was afraid, because you never called me at night.\u201d Eli said, \u2018Woe is me! Has an impure spirit led my son Samuel astray?\u201d And he said to him, \u201cGo, sleep. For I did not call you. Nevertheless, tell me this, if you remember: How often did he who summoned you call?\u201d He said, \u201cTwice.\u201d Eli said to him, \u201cTell me, whose voice did you recognize, my son?\u201d He said, \u201cYours. Therefore I ran to you.\u201d
\n4Eli said, \u201cIn you I see this sign that men will have from today on forever, that if one should call to another twice by night or in midday, they will know that it is an evil spirit. But if he should call again a third time, they will know that it is an angel.\u201d And Samuel went away and slept.
\n5A second time he heard a voice from heaven, and he rose up and ran to Eli and said to him, \u201cWho called me? For I heard the voice of my father Elkanah.\u201d Then Eli understood that God had begun to call him. And Eli said, \u201cWith the two voices by which God called to you, he was like a father and a master; now the third time he will be like God.\u201d
\n6He said to him, \u201cWith your right ear pay attention, with your left be deaf. For Phinehas the priest commanded us, saying, \u2018The right ear hears the LORD by night, but the left an angel.\u2019 And so if you hear with your right ear, say, \u2018Speak what you wish, because I am listening, for you fashioned me.\u2019 But if you hear with your left ear, come and tell me.\u201d Samuel went away and slept as Eli had commanded him.
\n7The LORD spoke again, a third time, and the right ear of Samuel was filled. When he realized that the word of his father had come down, Samuel turned on his other side and said, \u201cIf I am worthy, speak; for you know more than I.\u201d
\n8God said to him, \u201cI revealed myself to the house of Israel in Egypt and chose for myself then as a prophet Moses my servant and did wonders through him for my people and took vengeance on my enemies as I wished. I led my people in the wilderness and enlightened them, as they saw.
\n9When tribe rose up against tribe, saying, \u2018Why are the priests alone holy?\u2019, I did not want to destroy them and I said to them, \u2018Each one of you, give his staff, and the one whose staff will flower, him I have chosen for the priesthood.\u2019 When all had given the staffs as I had commanded, then I commanded that the staff of Aaron should flower in order that his family be established all the days. Now those who have flowered have defiled my sanctuary.
\n10Therefore behold the time will come, and I will put an end to the flower that was born then and will attack them who transgress the word that I commanded Moses my servant, saying, \u2018If you come upon a bird\u2019s nest, do not take the mother with the young.\u2019 Therefore it will befall them that mothers will die with daughters and fathers will perish with sons.\u201d
\n11When Samuel heard these words, his heart grew faint, and he said, \u201cWill it thus fall to my youth that I should begin to prophesy with the destruction of my educator? And now why was I given in answer to my mother\u2019s prayer? Why has the one who sustains me commanded me to bear evil tidings?\u201d
\n12Samuel arose in the morning and did not want to tell Eli. Eli said to him, \u201cListen now, my son. Behold, before you were born God promised Israel that he would send you to them and that you would prophesy. Then when your mother came here and prayed, because she did not know what had happened, I said to her, \u2018Go, for what will be born from you will be a son for me.\u2019 So I spoke to your mother and so has the LORD prospered your way. Even should you chastise the one who has brought you up, do not, as surely as the LORD lives, hide from me whatever you have heard.\u201d
\n13Then Samuel was afraid and told him all the words that he had heard. And that one said, \u201cWill the object formed answer back him who formed it? So I cannot answer back when he, the faithful giver, wishes to take away what he has given. Holy is he who has prophesied; I am under his power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Capture of the Ark<\/p>\n
54:1In those days the Philistines assembled their camp to fight against Israel. The children of Israel went out to fight against them. When the people of Israel were put to flight in the first battle, they said, \u201cLet us bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and perhaps he will fight with us, because in it are the testimonies of the LORD that he established with our fathers on Horeb.\u201d
\n2When the ark went up with them and arrived at the camp, the LORD thundered and said, \u201cThis hour will be like that which occurred in the wilderness when they took the ark without my command, and destruction resulted for them. So also in this hour the people will fall and the ark will be captured so that I will destroy the enemies of my people on account of the ark and chastise my people because they have sinned.\u201d
\n3When the ark had come into the battle, the Philistines went out to meet the children of Israel and smote them. There was there a man, Goliath the Philistine, and he came up to the ark. Hophni and Phinehas the sons of Eli and Saul the son of Kish were holding the ark. Goliath grabbed it with his left hand and killed Hophni and Phinehas.
\n4But Saul, because he was swift of foot, fled from him. He tore his garments and put ashes on his head. He came to Eli the priest, and Eli said to him, \u201cTell me what happened in the camp.\u201d Saul said to him, \u201cWhy do you ask me this? For the people are overcome, and God has abandoned Israel, and even the priests have been killed by the sword, and the ark has been delivered to the Philistines.\u201d
\n5But when Eli had heard of the capture of the ark, he said, \u201cBehold, Samuel prophesied about my sons and about me that we should die together, but he did not mention the ark to me then. And now the tablets have been delivered to our enemies. What can I still say? Behold Israel is utterly ruined, for the statutes have been taken away from it.\u201d When Eli was greatly despairing, he fell from his seat. There died on one day Eli and his sons Hophni and Phinehas.
\n6The wife of Phinehas sat down to give birth. When she heard these things, all her insides became loose. The midwife said to her, \u201cBe strong, and let not your soul grow faint, because a son is born to you.\u201d The woman said to her, \u201cBehold now this one person is born and four of us die, that is, the father and the two sons and his daughter-in-law.\u201d She called his name Ichabod, saying, \u201cGlory is lost from Israel, because the ark of the LORD has been captured.\u201d When she had said this, her spirit departed.<\/p>\n
The Return of the Ark<\/p>\n
55:1Now Samuel knew nothing of all these matters, because three days before the battle God had sent him off, saying to him, \u201cGo and see Ramathaim where your dwelling will be.\u201d When Samuel heard what had happened to Israel, he came and prayed to the LORD, saying, \u201cBehold now, in vain is understanding kept hidden from me, that I should see the destruction of my people. Now I fear lest perhaps my days be brought to an end in suffering and my years be concluded in sorrow. When the ark of the LORD is not with me, why should I go on living?\u201d
\n2The LORD said to him, \u201cDo not be sad, Samuel, because the ark has been taken away. I will bring it back, and I will overthrow those who took it away, and I will avenge my people from my enemies.\u201d Samuel said, \u201cBehold even if you do take vengeance in time, in accord with your long-suffering, nevertheless what will we who die now do?\u201d God said to him, \u201cBefore you die, you will see the destruction that I will bring upon my enemies, wherein the Philistines will be destroyed by mice and all kinds of savage creeping things and will perish.\u201d
\n3When the Philistines had set up the captured ark of the LORD in the temple of Dagon, their god, and when they had come to inquire of Dagon concerning their fate, they found that he had fallen on his face and his hands and feet were lying before the ark. Early in the morning they went out and crucified his priests. The next day they came and found it as the day before [blank] and there was very much death among them.
\n4The Philistines gathered in Ekron and said to each other, \u201cBehold now we see that destruction is great among us, and the fruit of our womb will perish because the creeping things that have been sent upon us will destroy pregnant women and sucklings and those who give suck.\u201d They said, \u201cLet us see why the hand of the LORD has been strong upon us. Is it not because of the ark, for our god is found daily falling on his face before the ark? And we have killed the priests more than once to no avail.\u201d
\n5The wise men of the Philistines said, \u201cBehold now we can determine this, whether the LORD has sent destruction upon us on account of his ark or a fitting power has come upon us in a timely fashion.
\n6Now because all pregnant and nursing women die, and those who nurse are made childless and those who are nursed perish, let us take cows that give suck and yoke them to a new cart and put the ark on it and shut up the cows\u2019 young. If the cows will go forth in such a way as not to turn back to their young, we will know that we have suffered these things on account of the ark. But if they refuse to go forth out of longing for their calves, we will know that the time of ruin has come upon us.\u201d
\n7Some of the wise men and diviners answered, \u201cLet us not try only this, but let us set the cows at the head of the three roads that are by Ekron. The middle road goes straight to Ekron, the right-hand one to Judaea, and the left-hand one to Samaria. If they set out on the right-hand road and go straight to Judaea, we will know that truly the God of the Jews has destroyed us. But if they go forth by those other roads, we will know that a hard time has come upon us inasmuch as now we have denied our own gods.\u201d
\n8The Philistines took cows that were nursing and yoked them to a new cart and put the ark on it and set them at the head of the three roads and shut up their calves at home. The cows, although they lowed and yearned for their calves, nevertheless went forth on the right-hand road leading to Judaea. Then they knew they were being destroyed because of the ark.
\n9All the Philistines gathered together and returned the ark to Shiloh with timbrels and pipes and dances. Because of the savage creeping things that destroyed them they made golden hemorrhoids and [blank] they consecrated the ark.
\n10Through it the destruction of the Philistines took place. The number of pregnant women who died was seventy-five thousand, sucklings sixty-five thousand, nursing women fifty-five thousand, and men twenty-five thousand. And the land was quiet for seven years.<\/p>\n
Request for a King<\/p>\n
56:1At that time the children of Israel desired and sought a king, and they gathered to Samuel and said, \u201cBehold now you are old, and your sons do not walk in the ways of the LORD. Now appoint over us a king to judge us, because the word that Moses spoke to our fathers in the wilderness must be fulfilled, \u2018Appoint from your brothers a king over you.\u2019 \u201d
\n2When Samuel heard mention of kingship, he was very dismayed in his heart and said, \u201cBehold now I see that it is not yet the time for us to be ruled by a king forever and to build the house of the LORD our God; they seek a king before the proper time. If the LORD will completely refuse it, it seems to me that a king will not be established.\u201d
\n3The LORD said to him by night, \u201cDo not be dismayed. For I will send them a king who will destroy them, and he himself will be destroyed afterward. Now he who will come to you tomorrow at the sixth hour, he is the one who will rule over them.\u201d
\n4On the next day Saul the son of Kish came from mount Ephraim in search of his father\u2019s asses. When he came to Ramathaim, he went in to inquire from Samuel about the asses. He was walking near the shrine. Saul said to him, \u201cWhere is he who sees?\u201d (For in that time a prophet was called \u201cone who sees.\u201d) Samuel said to him, \u201cI am the one who sees.\u201d He said, \u201cCan you tell me about my father\u2019s asses, because they are lost?\u201d Samuel said to him, \u201cRefresh yourself with me today, and I will tell you in the morning that for which you have come to inquire.\u201d
\n5Samuel said to the LORD, \u201cDirect your people, LORD, and tell me what you have planned concerning them.\u201d Saul refreshed himself with Samuel on that day. He arose in the morning, and Samuel said to him, \u201cBehold, be aware that the LORD has chosen you as ruler for his people at this time and has directed your ways, and your time will be directed.\u201d
\n6Saul said to Samuel, \u201cWho am I and what is the house of my father that my lord should say to me this word? I do not understand what you are saying, for I am young.\u201d Samuel said to Saul, \u201cMay your word endure forever, so that you have a long life. Nevertheless, consider this, that your words will be like the words of the prophet whose name will be Jeremiah.\u201d
\n7Saul went away, and on that day the people came to Samuel and said, \u201cGive us a king as you promised us.\u201d He said to them, \u201cBehold your king will come to you in seven days.\u201d And behold Saul came, and all the signs that Samuel had told him happened to him. Are these not written in the Book of Samuel?<\/p>\n
Saul<\/p>\n
57:1Samuel sent and gathered all the people and said to them, \u201cBehold you and your king. I am in your midst as God commanded me.
\n2And so I say to you before your king, as my master Moses the servant of God said to your fathers in the wilderness when the company of Korah rose up against him, \u2018You know that I have not taken anything from you, nor have I harmed any one of you.\u2019 Because they lied then and said, \u2018You did take,\u2019 the earth swallowed them up.
\n3And now you, who have not been punished by the LORD, testify before the LORD and before his anointed whether you have sought a king because I treated you badly; and the LORD will be the witness against you. But if now the word of the LORD has been fulfilled, I and the house of my father are free from blame.\u201d
\n4The people answered, \u201cWe are your servants and our king along with us. Because we are not worthy to be governed by a prophet, we said then, \u2018Now appoint over us a king who will govern us.\u2019 \u201d All the people and the king wept with great lamentation and said, \u201cLong live Samuel the prophet!\u201d and the king stood by. And they brought sacrifices to the LORD.
\n5Afterward Saul fought with the Philistines for one year and the battle went well.<\/p>\n
Saul\u2019s Sin<\/p>\n
58:1At that time the LORD said to Samuel, \u201cGo and say to Saul, \u2018You have been sent to destroy Amalek, in order to bring to fulfillment the words my servant Moses spoke, saying, \u201cYou shall destroy the name of Amalek from the earth,\u201d which he spoke with zeal. Do not forget, but rather destroy every one of them as you have been commanded.\u2019 \u201d
\n2Saul went off and fought against Amalek. But he let Agag, the king of Amalek, live, because he had said to him, \u201cI will show you hidden treasures.\u201d On account of this he spared him and let him live and brought him to Ramathaim.
\n3God said to Samuel, \u201cYou have seen how in an instant the king was corrupted by silver, and he let the king of Amalek and his wife live. Now let them be, so that Agag may come together with his wife tonight; you will kill him tomorrow. But his wife will be kept alive until she bears a male child, and then she too will die. He who will be born from her will become a stumbling block for Saul. Now you get up tomorrow and kill Agag, because Saul\u2019s sin is written before me for all the days.\u201d
\n4When Samuel arose on the morrow, Saul went out to meet him and said to him, \u201cThe LORD has delivered our enemies into our hands just as you said.\u201d Samuel said to Saul, \u201cHow badly has Israel acted by demanding you for themselves as a king before the time came for a king to rule over them! And you, sent to do the will of the LORD, have transgressed it. Therefore, he who was allowed to live by you will die now, and those hidden treasures of which he spoke he will not show you, and one who will be born of him will be for you a stumbling block.\u201d Samuel came to Agag with a sword, and killed him and returned to his house.<\/p>\n
The Anointing of David<\/p>\n
59:1The LORD said to him, \u201cGo, anoint him whom I will tell you, because the time is fulfilled in which his kingdom will come.\u201d Samuel said, \u201cBehold will you now destroy the kingdom of Saul?\u201d And he said, \u201cI destroy it.\u201d
\n2Samuel went to Bethel and consecrated the elders and Jesse and his sons. Eliab, Jesse\u2019s first-born son, came and Samuel said, \u201cBehold now the holy anointed one of the LORD.\u201d The LORD said to him, \u201cWhere is your vision that your heart has seen? Are you not the one who said to Saul, \u2018I am the one who sees\u2019? Why do you not know whom you are to anoint? Now the shame is sufficient for you. Seek out the shepherd, the youngest of them all, and anoint him.\u201d
\n3Samuel said to Jesse, \u201cSend and bring your son from the flock, for God has chosen him.\u201d Jesse sent and brought David, and Samuel anointed him in the midst of his brothers. The LORD was with him from that day.
\n4Then David undertook to sing this song, and he said, \u201cFrom the ends of the earth I will give praise, and from the days of old I will extol. When Abel at the beginning shepherded flocks, his sacrifice was more acceptable than his brother\u2019s, and his brother was jealous of him and killed him. But for me it has not gone so, because God protected me and delivered me to his angels and to his guardians to protect me. For my brothers were jealous of me, and my father and my mother abandoned me. When the prophet came, they did not call to me. When \u2018the anointed one of the LORD\u2019 was mentioned, they forgot me. But God extended to me his right hand and his mercy. Therefore I will not cease singing praises all the days of my life.\u201d
\n5While David was still speaking, behold a fierce lion from the forest and a bear from the mountain seized the oxen of David. David said, \u201cBehold this will be a sign for me and a mighty beginning of my triumph in battle. I will go out after them and rescue what has been snatched away and kill them.\u201d David went out after them and took stones from the forest and killed them. God said to him, \u201cBehold, with stones I have delivered up these beasts for you. This will be a sign for you that hereafter you will kill the enemy of my people with stones.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Exorcism of Saul\u2019s Evil Spirit<\/p>\n
60:1At that time the spirit of the LORD was taken away from Saul, and an evil spirit was terrifying him. Saul sent and brought David, and he played a song on his lyre by night. This is the song he played for Saul so that the evil spirit would depart from him.
\n2\u201cDarkness and silence were before the world was made, and silence spoke and the darkness became visible. The foundation was created by the fastening together of what had been spread out; its upper part was called heaven and the lower earth. The upper part was commanded to bring down rain according to its season, and the lower part was commanded to produce food for all created things. After this was the tribe of your spirits made.
\n3Now do not be troublesome, since you are a secondary creation. Otherwise, remember Tartarus wherein you walk. Or is it not enough for you to hear that by means of what resounds before you, I sing to many? Or do you not remember that your brood was created from an echo in the abyss? But the new womb, from which I was born, will rebuke you, from which in time one will be born from my loins and will rule over you.\u201d When David sang praises, the spirit spared Saul.<\/p>\n
David and Goliath<\/p>\n
61:1After this the Philistines came to fight Israel, and David returned to the wilderness to shepherd the sheep. The Midianites happened upon him and wanted to take his sheep. He went down to them and fought against them, and he killed fifteen thousand of their men. This is the first battle that David fought while he was in the wilderness.
\n2A man by the name of Goliath went forth from the camp of the Philistines, and he looked upon Saul and Israel and said, \u201cAre you not the Israel that fled before me when I took the ark from you and killed your priests? Now that you are king, come down like a man and a king, and fight against us. Otherwise, I will come to you and take you captive and make your people serve our gods.\u201d When Saul and Israel heard this, they feared greatly. The Philistine said, \u201cIn accord with the number of days during which Israel rejoiced when it received the Law in the wilderness, forty days, so long will I mock them and afterward I will fight with them.\u201d
\n3When the forty days had been completed and David came to see his brothers\u2019 battle, he heard the words that the Philistine had spoken and said, \u201cIs this the time about which God said to me, \u2018I will deliver into your hands by stones the enemy of my people?\u2019 \u201d
\n4Saul heard these words and sent and received him and said, \u201cWhat is this speech that you spoke to the people?\u201d David said, \u201cDo not fear, O King, because I will go and fight the Philistine, and God will take away hatred and disgrace from Israel.\u201d
\n5David set out, and he took seven stones and wrote on them the names of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, and his own name and that of the LORD. God sent Zeruel, the angel in charge of power.
\n6David went out to Goliath and said to him, \u201cHear this word before you die. Were not the two women, from whom you and I were born, sisters? Your mother was Orpah, and my mother Ruth. Orpah chose for herself the gods of the Philistines and went after them, but Ruth chose for herself the ways of the LORD and walked in them. Now there have been born from Orpah you and your brothers. Because you rose up today and have come to destroy Israel, behold I too, your kinsman, have come, to avenge my people. For after your death your three brothers too will fall into my hands. Then you will say to your mother, \u2018He who was born from your sister has not spared us.\u2019 \u201d
\n7David put a stone in the sling and struck the Philistine on his forehead. He ran toward him and unsheathed his sword. Goliath, while he still had life in him, said to him, \u201cHurry and kill me, and rejoice.\u201d
\n8David said to him, \u201cBefore you die, open your eyes and see your slayer who has killed you.\u201d The Philistine looked and saw the angel and said, \u201cNot you alone killed me, but also he who was present with you, whose appearance is not like the appearance of a man.\u201d Then David cut off his head.
\n9The angel of the LORD changed David\u2019s appearance, and no one recognized him. When Saul saw David, he asked him who he was, and there was no one who recognized him.<\/p>\n
David\u2019s and Jonathan\u2019s Covenant<\/p>\n
62:1After this Saul was jealous of David and sought to kill him. But David and Jonathan, Saul\u2019s son, made a covenant together. When David saw that Saul was seeking to kill him, he fled to Ramathaim, and [blank] went out after him.
\n2A spirit came upon Saul, and he prophesied, saying, \u201cWhy are you led astray, Saul, and whom are you pursuing without cause? The time of your kingdom has been completed. Go to your place. For you will die, and David will reign. Will not you and your son die together? Then the kingdom of David will appear.\u201d Saul went away and did not know what he had prophesied.
\n3David came to Jonathan and said to him, \u201cCome, and let us make a covenant before we are separated from one another. For Saul, your father, seeks to kill me unjustly, and from the time that he realized that you love me he does not tell you what he plans about me.
\n4For this reason he hates me, because you love me and out of fear that I will reign in his place. Although I have done him good, he pays me back with evil. Though I killed Goliath by the word of the LORD, look at the end that he designates for me, for he has marked out my father\u2019s house for destruction. Would that the judgment of truth might be placed in the balance, so that the assemblage of wise men might hear of his resolution.
\n5Now I fear that he will kill me and on my account lose his own life. For he will never escape the shedding of innocent blood. Why is my soul pursued? For I, the youngest among my brothers, was tending sheep, and why should I be in danger of death? For I am just and have no wickedness, and why does your father hate me? But the righteousness of my father helps me that I not fall into the hands of your father. Since I am young and tender of age, Saul envies me for no reason.
\n6Had I harmed him, I would ask that he forgive me my sins. For if God forgives wicked deeds, how much more should your father, who is flesh and blood. I went to his house with total devotion, and I was brought before him as an insignificant boy. I put my hands to the lyre, and I blessed him with songs. But he planned to kill me, and like a bird who flees before the hawk, so I fled from him.
\n7To whom did I say these words, or to whom have I told what I have suffered, except to you and Michal, your sister? As for the two of us, let us go forth together in truth.
\n8It would have been better, brother, if I had been slain in battle than that I should fall into the hands of your father. For in the battle my eyes would look everywhere that I might protect him from his enemies. Jonathan my brother, hear my words. If there is wickedness in me, chastise me.\u201d
\n9Jonathan answered and said to David, \u201cCome to me, my brother David, and I will tell you of your judgment. My soul pines away greatly over your sadness, because we are now separated from each other. Our sins have caused this, that we should be separated from each other. But let us be mindful of one another night and day while we live. Even if death separates us, I know that our souls will recognize each other. For your kingdom is in this world, but from you will be the beginning of a kingdom which will come in its time.
\n10Now like an infant who is taken away from the milk of its mother, so will our separation be. Let the heaven be witness and let the earth be witness to those words that we have spoken between ourselves, and let us weep each one over the other, and let us collect our tears into one vessel and commit that vessel to the earth, and it will be a testimony for us.\u201d
\n11They wept, greatly, one over the other, and they kissed one another. But Jonathan was afraid, and he said to David, \u201cLet us remember, my brother, the covenant established between us and the oath set in our heart. If I die before you and you will reign as the LORD has said, do not remember the anger of my father but your covenant that has been established between me and you. Do not remember the hatred with which my father hated you for no reason, but my love with which I have loved you. Do not remember that my father was ungrateful toward you, but remember the table at which we ate together. Do not remember the jealousy with which he was evilly jealous of you but the truth that you and I hold. Do not care about the lie that Saul has lied but the oaths that we have sworn to one another.\u201d They kissed each other. Afterward, David went off into the wilderness, and Jonathan entered the city.<\/p>\n
Doeg and Abimelech<\/p>\n
63:1At that time the priests who dwelled in Nob were profaning the holy things of the LORD and took for themselves the firstfruits from the people. God became angry and said, \u201cBehold I will destroy the inhabitants of Nob, because they walk in the ways of the sons of Eli.\u201d
\n2At that time Doeg the Syrian, who was in charge of Saul\u2019s mules, came and said to him, \u201cAre you unaware that Abimelech the priest takes counsel with David, and he gave him a sword and sent him off in peace?\u201d Saul sent and called Abimelech and said to him, \u201cYou will die, because you have taken counsel with my enemy.\u201d Saul killed Abimelech and the house of his father, and not one of his family was saved except only Abiathar his son. He went off to David and told him all that had happened to him.
\n3And God said, \u201cBehold in the year when Saul began to reign, when Jonathan had sinned and he wanted to kill him, this people rose up and did not let him. Now when 385 priests were killed, they are silent and say nothing. Therefore behold the time will come soon, and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies, and they will fall dead with their king.\u201d
\n4The LORD spoke thus about Doeg the Syrian: \u201cBehold the time will come soon and a fiery worm will go up into his tongue and make him rot away, and his habitation will be with Jair in the inextinguishable fire forever.\u201d
\n5All the things that Saul did, and the rest of his deeds, and how he pursued David, are they not written in the Book of Samuel?<\/p>\n
The Witch of Endor<\/p>\n
64:1After this Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and wept over him and buried him. Then Saul thought and said, \u201cIf I remove the wizards from the land, Israel will remember me after my death.\u201d Saul scattered all the wizards from the land. God said, \u201cBehold Saul has removed the wizards out of the land not for fear of me, but to make a name for himself. Behold he will go to those whom he has dispersed, to obtain divination from them, because he has no prophets.\u201d
\n2Then the Philistines said to each other, \u201cBehold Samuel the prophet is dead, and who prays for Israel? David, who fought on their behalf, is Saul\u2019s enemy, and he is not with them. Now let us rise up and go and fight against them and avenge the blood of our fathers.\u201d The Philistines gathered together and came to do battle.
\n3When Saul saw that Samuel was dead and David was not with him, he grew despondent and he inquired of the LORD, but he did not answer him. He sought prophets, but none appeared to him. Saul said to the people, \u201cLet us seek out some diviner and inquire of him what I should plan.\u201d The people answered him, \u201cBehold now there is a woman, Sedecla by name, and she is the daughter of the Midianite diviner who led the people of Israel astray with sorceries, and behold she dwells in Endor.\u201d
\n4Saul put on ordinary clothing and went off to her, he and two men with him, by night and said to her, \u201cRaise up Samuel for me.\u201d She said, \u201cI fear King Saul.\u201d Saul said to her, \u201cYou will not be harmed by Saul in this matter.\u201d Saul said to himself, \u201cWhen I was king in Israel, even if people had not seen me, they knew nevertheless that I was Saul.\u201d Saul asked the woman, saying, \u201cHave you ever seen Saul?\u201d She said, \u201cI have seen him often.\u201d Saul went outside and wept and said, \u201cBehold now I know that my appearance has changed, and the glory of my kingship has passed from me.\u201d
\n5When the woman saw Samuel rising up and she saw Saul with him, she shouted out and said, \u201cBehold you are Saul; why have you deceived me?\u201d He said to her, \u201cDo not be afraid, but tell what you have seen.\u201d She said, \u201cBehold, it is forty years that I have been raising the dead for the Philistines, but this sight has never been seen, nor will it be seen in the future.\u201d
\n6Saul said to her, \u201cWhat is his appearance?\u201d She said, \u201cYou are asking me about divine beings. For behold his appearance is not that of a man. He is clothed in a white robe with a mantle placed over it, and two angels are leading him.\u201d Saul remembered the mantle that Samuel, when he was alive, had rent, and, clapping his hands together, had thrown it on the ground.
\n7Samuel said to him, \u201cWhy have you disturbed me to raise me up? I thought that the time of the payment for my deeds had arrived. And so do not boast, King, nor you, woman. It is not you who have brought me, but rather that order that God spoke to me while I was still alive, that I should come and tell you that you have scornfully sinned now a second time against God. Therefore, after rendering up my soul, my bones were disturbed so that I should speak to you and though dead be heard as one living.
\n8Now therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me when the people have been delivered into the hands of the Philistines; and because your heart was envious what is yours will be taken from you.\u201d
\n9Saul heard the words of Samuel and grew faint and said, \u201cBehold I go to die with my sons, for my destruction will be an atonement for my wickedness.\u201d Saul rose up and went away from there.<\/p>\n
The Death of Saul<\/p>\n
65:1The Philistines fought against Israel, and Saul went out to battle, and Israel fled before the Philistines. Saul, seeing that the battle was very adverse, said in his heart, \u201cWhy are you striving to live when Samuel has announced death for you along with your sons?\u201d
\n2Saul said to his armor-bearer, \u201cTake your sword and kill me before the Philistines come and abuse me.\u201d The armor-bearer was not willing to lay his hands upon him.
\n3He fell upon his own sword, but was not able to die. He looked behind him. He saw a man running, and he called to him and said, \u201cTake my spear and kill me; my soul is still in me.\u201d
\n4He came to kill him and Saul said to him, \u201cBefore you kill me, tell me who you are.\u201d He said to him, \u201cI am Edabus, son of Agag, king of the Amalekites.\u201d Saul said, \u201cBehold now the words of Samuel have come to pass upon me, for he said, \u2018He who will be born of Agag will be a stumbling block for you.\u2019
\n5Go and tell David, \u2018I have killed your enemy\u2019. And say to him, \u2018So says Saul, \u201cDo not remember my hatred and my injustice.\u201d \u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Pseudo-Daniel<\/p>\n
John J. Collins<\/p>\n
In 1956, J. T. Milik published several fragments of three manuscripts, all written in Aramaic, that mention the name of Daniel. Two of these manuscripts (4Q243 and 4Q244, or Pseudo-Daniela and Pseudo-Danielb) share some language and content, and certainly belong to the same text. The third, 4Q245 (or Pseudo-Danielc), appears to belong to a different text. We have, then, two different Pseudo-Daniel texts. The manuscripts date to the 1st century CE.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Collins, J. J. \u201cPseudo-Daniel Revisited.\u201d RevQ 17 (1996): 111\u201336.
\nCollins, J. J., and P. W. Flint. \u201c243\u201345. 4Qpseudo-Daniela\u2013c ar.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XVII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 3, by G. Brooke et al., 95\u2013164. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 22. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.
\nDiTommaso, L. \u201c4Qpseudo-Daniela\u2013b (4Q243\u20134Q244) and the Book of Daniel.\u201d DSD 12 (2005): 101\u201333.
\nFlint, P. W. \u201c4Qpseudo-Daniel ar,c (4Q425) and the Restoration of the Priesthood.\u201d RevQ 17 (1996): 137\u201350.
\nMilik, J. T. \u201c \u2018Pri\u00e8re de Nabonide\u2019 et autres \u00e9crits d\u2019un cycle de Daniel.\u201d RB 63 (1956): 407\u201315.
\nWise, M. O. \u201c4Q425 (PsDanc ar) and the High Priesthood of Judas Maccabaeus.\u201d DSD 12 (2005): 313\u201362.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Pseudo-Daniela\u2013b<\/p>\n
There are 40 fragments of 4Q243, many of them tiny, and 14 of 4Q244. They represent an overview of the biblical history, apparently based on a writing delivered by Daniel at the Babylonian court. Some of the narrative is in the past, but part is a prediction of the future. While the setting and the character of the text resemble what we find in the biblical book of Daniel, the actual content is very different. It includes the primeval history and the pre-exilic period, whereas the biblical Daniel only \u201cpredicts\u201d the period after the exile. Milik claimed to find allusions to the biblical motifs of four kingdoms and 70 years. However, there is no reference to four kingdoms, and the \u201cseventy years\u201d mentioned at 4Q243 16 1 is not necessarily related to the exile. Milik also believed that the text ended with a reference to resurrection, but this supposed reference is actually in 4Q245, and probably does not imply resurrection in any case. The author of 4Q243\u201344 is clearly familiar with traditions about Daniel at the Babylonian court. Whether the text presupposes the biblical book is doubtful. The text is no earlier than the Hellenistic period, and probably dates to the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE.<\/p>\n
THE COURT SETTING<\/p>\n
4Q243 2 1 ]Daniel befo[re
\n4Q243 2 2 ] Belshazzar [
\n4Q244 1\u20133 1 ]before the nobles of the king and the Assyrians [\u2026] of [the] ki[ng
\n4Q244 1\u20133 2 ] He appointed[
\n4Q244 1\u20133 3 ]and how [
\n4Q244 1\u20133 4 ]O (or the) king[
\n4Q244 4 1 ]east[
\n]Daniel said[
\n4Q243 1 1 He asked Daniel saying \u201cOn ac[count] of[
\n4Q243 1 2 your God, and a number[
\n4Q243 1 3 he will pray[
\n4Q243 3 1 ]there is[
\n4Q243 3 2 ]O King (or: the king)
\n4Q243 5 1 ]Daniel[
\n4Q243 6 2 ]and in it was written[
\n4Q243 6 3 ]Daniel, who[
\n4Q243 6 4 it] was writte[n<\/p>\n
THE PRIMEVAL HISTORY<\/p>\n
4Q243 9 ]to Enoch[
\n4Q244 8 2 ]from after the Flood[
\n4Q244 8 3 ]Noah from [Mount] Lubar[
\n4Q244 8 4 ]a city[
\n4Q244 9 2 ]the tower, [whose] heig[ht
\n4Q243 10 2 o]n the tower, and he se[nt(?)
\n4Q243 10 3 to] inspect a building[
\n4Q243 10 4 th]rone (?)[
\n4Q244 13 1 ]and he scattered them[<\/p>\n
From the Patriarchs to the Exile<\/p>\n
4Q243 35 1 ]his reward[
\n4Q243 35 2 o]f the land [
\n4Q243 11 ii 1 and wis[e me]n, and he sa[id
\n4Q243 11 ii 2 Egypt, by the hand of[
\n4Q243 11 ii 3 rule (or: dominion) in the la[nd
\n4Q243 12 1 fo]ur hundred [years,] and from
\n4Q243 12 2 ]their [\u2026]and they will come out of
\n4Q243 12 3 ]their crossing the rive[r] Jordan
\n4Q243 12 4 ]and their children [
\n4Q243 28 1 ]el and Qa[hat
\n4Q243 28 2 Phineha]s, Abish[ua
\n4Q243 34 1 ] from the tabernacle[
\n4Q243 13 + 4Q244 12
\n1 The Israelites chose their presence rather than [the presence of God]
\n2 [and they were sacri]ficing their children to the demons of error, and God became angry at them and sa[id] to give
\n3 them into the hand of Neb[uchadnezzar king of Ba]bylon, and to make their land desolate of them, because[
\n4 ] the exiles [
\n4Q243 14 1 After] this it will be don[e
\n4Q243 14 2 ]hundred king[s
\n4Q243 14 3 ]them in the midst of [the] p[eoples
\n4Q243 7 2 ]the Chaldeans, indeed the children of[
\n4Q243 7 3 ]the way of t[ruth
\n4Q243 8 1 thr]one
\n4Q243 8 2 from I]srael, men
\n4Q243 8 3 ]which is not to be changed.<\/p>\n
THE HELLENISTIC ERA<\/p>\n
4Q243 21 1 shall]rule for years [
\n4Q243 21 2 ]Balakros
\n4Q243 19 1 y]ears [
\n4Q243 19 2 ]rhos
\n4Q243 19 3 ]os for thir[ty (or three or thirteen) years
\n4Q243 19 4 ]they will speak[
\n4Q243 22 1 so]n, and his name [
\n4Q243 22 2 ]to them two[
\n4Q243 22 3 ]spoke\/speak[
\n4Q243 20 1 ]son of [the] king[
\n4Q243 20 2 ]twenty [yea]rs[
\n4Q243 20 3 ]which[<\/p>\n
THE END-TIME<\/p>\n
4Q243 16 1 ]oppressed (?) for [seven]ty years [
\n4Q243 16 2 with] his great [ha]nd and he will save th[em
\n4Q243 16 3 ]powerful [\u2026] and the kingdoms of [the] peoples[
\n4Q243 16 4 ]It is the h[oly]kingdom [
\n4Q243 25 2 ]until [
\n4Q243 25 3 ]and [the] land will be filled[
\n4Q243 25 4 ]all their decayed carcasses [
\n4Q243 33 1 ]they [l]eft the wa[y of
\n4Q243 24 1 the sons of ev]il have led astray[
\n4Q243 24 2 after] this the elect shall be assembled [
\n4Q243 24 3 ]the peoples, and there will be from [that] day [
\n4Q243 24 4 ]and the kings of the peoples[
\n4Q243 24 5 ]are doing until [this] day[
\n4Q243 26 1 ] the[ir] numbers[
\n4Q243 26 2 ] without number [
\n4Q243 26 3 Is]rael[<\/p>\n
Pseudo-Danielc<\/p>\n
Only four fragments of this text survive, and the fourth has only three letters. Again, the content purports to come from a writing and relates to time before and after Daniel. The first fragment has a list of priests and kings. The second is eschatological. The third has only the word \u201cthirty-five.\u201d
\n4Q245 1 i
\n2 ] and what
\n3 ] Daniel
\n4 ]a book\/writing that was given
\n5 Lev]i, Qahat
\n6 ]Bukki, Uzzi
\n7 ]Zado]k, Abiathar
\n8 ]Hi[l]kiah
\n9 ] and Onias
\n10 ] Jona]than, Simon
\n11 ]and David, Solomon
\n12 ]Ahazia[h, Joa]sh 4Q245 2
\n2 ] to exterminate wickedness
\n3 ]these in blindness, and they have gone astray
\n4 th]ese then will arise
\n5 ]the [h]oly [\u2026], and they will return
\n6 ] wickedness
\n4Q245 3 2]thirty-five[<\/p>\n
Son of God<\/p>\n
John J. Collins<\/p>\n
The fragmentary Aramaic text 4Q246 is variously known as \u201cthe Son of God text,\u201d the Aramaic Apocalypse, or the Aramaic Apocryphon of Daniel. While identifying a text by a single motif is not very satisfactory, the first of these titles may be the least problematic. Since the beginning and end are missing, it is difficult to be sure of the genre, although this text is apocalyptic in character. Least satisfactory is the title, Apocryphon of Daniel (4QapocrDan ar). Daniel is not named in 4Q246, although the text has several points of affinity to the book of Daniel.
\nThe text consists of two columns, of which the first is torn down the middle so that only the second half of each line survives. The second column is virtually intact but ends with a construct form, which means that it does not contain the end of the text. The first column introduces a prophetic speech by an individual in the presence of a king, apparently interpreting a vision. He speaks of distress and carnage on earth. At the end of the first column a figure is introduced, who will be great on earth, and at the beginning of the second column he is called \u201cson of God\u201d and \u201cson of the Most High.\u201d Upheavals will continue \u201cuntil the people of God arise.\u201d Then there will be a lasting kingdom, and war will cease.
\nThere has been considerable controversy over the identity of the figure, who will be called \u201cson of God.\u201d Milik suggests that he was a Syrian king, and a number of scholars have rallied to that position. They appeal especially to two considerations: he is said to be called (rather than just to be) Son of God, and there is an indentation in the text before the rise of the people of God. This is taken to indicate a turning point in the text, so that all that precedes it is negative. Neither of these considerations is sound. Nothing in the text itself suggests that the titles are inappropriate, and since this kind of literature is notoriously repetitive, it is simplistic to suggest that everything before the alleged turning point must be negative. The closest parallels are found in Luke 1:32\u201335: \u201cHe will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the LORD God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David \u2026 he will be called Son of God.\u201d The titles are clearly messianic in Luke, and they are most plausibly understood to refer to the Davidic messiah also in 4Q246.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
The manuscript dates from the late 1st century BCE. It is not clearly sectarian; that is, it is not clearly a product of a group such as the one described in the Damascus Document or in Rule of the Community from Qumran. It was acquired in 1958 and entrusted to J. T. Milik, who lectured on it at Harvard in December 1972. It was partially published by J. A. Fitzmyer in 1974, on the basis of Milik\u2019s handout. It was eventually published in full by Emile Puech in 1992 and again in the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert series in 1996.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Collins, J. J. The Scepter and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature, 154\u201372. Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday, 1995; revised edition: Grand Rapids mi: Erdma-ns, 2010, pp. 171\u201390.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cThe Background of the \u2018Son of God\u2019 Text.\u201d BBR 7 (1997): 51\u201362.
\nCook, E. M. \u201c4Q246.\u201d BBR 5 (1995): 43\u201366.
\nCross, F. M. \u201cThe Structure of the Apocalypse of \u2018Son of God\u2019 (4Q246).\u201d In Emanuel: Studies in Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, and Dead Sea Scrolls in Honor of Emanuel Tov, edited by Shalom M. Paul, Robert A. Kraft, Lawrence H. Schiffman, and Weston W. Fields, with the assistance of Eva Ben-David, 151\u201358. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 94. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\nFitzmyer, J. A. \u201cThe Contribution of Qumran Aramaic to the Study of the New Testament.\u201d NTS 20 (1973\u201374): 382\u2013407. Reprinted in A Wandering Aramean: Collected Aramaic Essays, by Joseph A. Fitzmyer, edited by Leander E. Keck, 85\u2013113. Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 25. Chico ca: Scholars Press, 1979.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201c4Q246: The \u2018Son of God\u2019 Document from Qumran.\u201d Bib 74 (1993): 153\u201374.
\nGarc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, F. \u201cThe Eschatological Figure of 4Q246.\u201d In Qumran and Apocalyptic: Studies on the Aramaic Texts from Qumran, by F. Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, 162\u201379. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 9. Leiden: Brill, 1992.
\nPuech, E. \u201cFragment d\u2019une Apocalypse en Aram\u00e9en (4Q246=pseudo-Dand).\u201d RB 99 (1992): 98\u2013131.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201c246. 4Qapocryphe de Daniel ar.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XVII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 3, edited by G. Brooke, et al., 165\u201384. DJD 22. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.
\nZimmermann, J. \u201cMessianische Texte aus Qumran,\u201d 128\u201370. Wissenschlaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2\/104. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
.\u2026 1:1settled on him. He fell before the throne \u2026 2O King, forever. Wrath is coming and your years.\u2026 3your vision, and all that comes forever \u2026 4great \u2026 distress is coming to the earth \u2026 5great carnage in the provinces \u2026 6king of Assyria [and E]gypt \u2026 7will be great on earth.\u2026 8they will do, and all will serve \u2026 9gr]eat shall he be called and by his name he shall be named. 2:1Son of God he will be called and son of the Most High they will name him. Like comets 2that you saw, so shall their kingdom be. For years they shall reign 3on earth, and shall trample all. People shall trample people, and province (shall trample) province, 4until the people of God arise, and all rest from the sword. 5His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all his ways in truth. He shall judge 6the earth in truth and all shall make peace. The sword shall cease from the earth 7and all provinces shall pay him homage. The great God will be his help 8He will make war for him, and give peoples into his hand, and all of them 9He will cast before him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and all the depths \u2026<\/p>\n
Pesher Nahum<\/p>\n
Shani Berrin Tzoref<\/p>\n
Pesher Nahum (4Q169)\u2014one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran\u2014is a commentary upon the short biblical book of Nahum, one of the 12 minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Like the other \u201ccontinuous pesharim\u201d from Qumran, this composition adapts a biblical prophet\u2019s message about divine retribution to circumstances in the Hasmonean era. \u201cContinuous pesharim\u201d such as Pesher Nahum consist of a series of sequential biblical citations, each followed by a formulaic phrase that includes the word pesher (interpretation): \u201cits pesher concerns.\u201d This linking phrase introduces an interpretation in which the text is applied to the author\u2019s own historical context, which is presumed to be situated in the end-time.
\nThe biblical book of Nahum predicts the impending downfall of mighty Assyria as punishment for Assyrian oppression. The author of this pesher indicates that the true message of Nahum\u2019s prophecies is the triumph of his present-day community over its evil opponents, which include groups termed \u201cthe Kittim,\u201d \u201cEphraim,\u201d and \u201cManasseh.\u201d The author perceives that these prophecies have begun to be fulfilled in events of the recent past, and anticipates the total eradication of his adversaries and the imminent salvation of his community.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
As with all known continuous pesharim from Qumran, the Pesher Nahum has been preserved in a single Hebrew copy. The manuscript is dated by its script to the latter half of the 1st century BCE. The six surviving columns of the pesher contain comments upon all three chapters of Nahum. The scroll employs many expressions that are typical of the polemical compositions of the Qumran community. The author is unknown.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
Qumran pesher compositions provide information about the transmission of biblical texts, about techniques of early biblical interpretation, and about ideology, historical events, and socioreligious realities of the Second Temple period.
\nThe biblical citations in Pesher Nahum are quite similar to those of the Masoretic Text (MT), but there are some minor differences. Some of these reflect typical Qumran spelling, pronunciation, or grammar, while others appear to be simply the result of scribal error. There is some debate over whether pesherists adapted biblical citations to better accommodate pesher interpretations. Thus, for example, the Heb. keura (translated as \u201cdespicable\u201d) in 4Q169 3\u20134 iii 1 differs from the Heb. kerei (meaning, perhaps, \u201clike excrement,\u201d or, as taken by the Septuagint, \u201cas a spectacle\u201d) in the MT of Nah. 3:6. This could reflect the pesherist\u2019s dependence upon a variant text, or a scribal error, or perhaps an intentional emendation of the difficult word in the MT.
\nThe pesher\u2019s citations and comments upon biblical texts indicate the authoritative nature of the prophetic texts for the Qumran community. The use of identifying formulas, wordplay, and recontextualization show some affinity with Rabbinic midrash. For example, in column 3, the biblical metaphor concerning the \u201cexposure\u201d of Assyria is recast as portraying the anticipated \u201cexposure\u201d of the doctrinal falsehoods of the Seekers-after-Smooth-Things, one of the enemy groups identified in the scroll (see comment on 4Q169 3\u20134 iii 8\u201312).
\nAn unusual feature of the Pesher Nahum is that it explicitly names historical figures\u2014the Greek kings Demetrius and Antiochus\u2014in addition to relying upon the more typical pesherist use of oblique epithets. In general, the indirect references to historical figures and events found in pesher compositions do not enable the modern reader to uncover new historical data, but they do allow for an enhanced picture of information already known from other sources, especially Josephus and Rabbinic writings. Since the historical events are described in veiled terms, modern researchers differ in their interpretations of the specific historical contexts. Most scholars agree that the Pesher Nahum includes references to the reign of the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus (ruled 103\u201376 BCE) and that of his wife and successor Salome Alexandra (76\u201367 BCE), and to the civil war between their sons that led to the Roman takeover of Judea under Pompey (63 BCE).
\nIn descriptions of sectarian conflict, the Rabbis focus on halakhic disputes, and Josephus emphasizes philosophy and politics. The Dead Sea Scrolls reflect both theological and political spheres of discord, and also illustrate social realities and the extent of the enmity between various groups. The Pesher Nahum provides a firsthand perspective of an \u201cout-group\u201d that is persuaded of its own inherent superiority even as it is aware of its sociopolitical inferiority. Two key, interrelated mechanisms for dealing with this potential identity crisis are found in the scroll\u2014the contrast between hidden and revealed reality, and the belief in eschatological salvation. One example of the implementation of these mechanisms in the Pesher Nahum is the recurring polemic against a group termed, cryptically, \u201cthe Seekers-after-Smooth-Things,\u201d an epithet derived from biblical characterizations of false prophets (e.g., in Isa. 30:10). The pesherist understands the true meaning of the biblical text of Nahum to be a prediction of the catastrophic downfall for this influential group. If the Seekers-after-Smooth-Things represent the Pharisees, as most scholars believe, then the Pesher Nahum corroborates images of the Pharisees as having enjoyed the following of the masses. This depiction emerges in the works of Josephus and Rabbinic writings, but its accuracy has been challenged in recent years. The association of the pesherist\u2019s opponents with hypocrisy and deception also matches descriptions of Pharisees in Josephus, the Talmud, and the New Testament.
\nThe most controversial portion of the pesher is the reference to hanging \u201cpeople alive\u201d (4Q169 3\u20134 i 7). Prior to the initial publication of the scroll, its original editor, J. M. Allegro, reported that the Pesher Nahum described the crucifixion of the Teacher of Righteousness in a manner prefiguring the death of Jesus. This claim does not appear in his official publications, and his subsequent attribution of the \u201changings\u201d to Alexander Jannaeus has been generally accepted (cf. Ant. 13.380; J.W. 1.97). Much debate has persisted about whether the pesher\u2019s author approves or condemns Jannaeus\u2019s crucifixion of his Jewish opponents. Some crucial words of the pesher are missing, so that the phrase describing the event, \u201c[\u2026] in Israel aforetimes,\u201d has been restored in two opposite manners: (1) \u201cas was the law in Israel aforetimes\u201d or (2) \u201cas was not done in Israel aforetimes.\u201d Of course, the underlying scholarly concern is whether crucifixion was ever viewed as a valid form of capital punishment in ancient Judaism. However, the pesher does not seem to have any implications for evaluating the historicity or significance of the Christian Passion narrative. Most likely the pesher expresses approval of the executions mentioned, but this does not signal approval of the means of execution, nor of the executioner. The point of the pesher is the fulfillment of Nahum\u2019s predictions of retribution.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Pesher compositions have often been described as \u201catomizing,\u201d that is, commenting on individual words or phrases in isolation from their original context. Although such a tendency is discernible, the overall structure of this pesher does in fact follow the framework of its biblical base-text, Nahum. Three main sections may be discerned in the preserved portions of the composition: a single column of text is preserved in fragments 1\u20132; this is the first section. Four columns of text are preserved in fragments 3\u20134; of these four columns, column i of fragments 3\u20134 constitutes a second literary unit, and the third unit is found in columns ii\u2013iv of fragments 3\u20134.
\nThe first surviving column of the composition is not in good condition. Bits of comments (lines 1\u201311) upon Nah. 1:3\u20136 remain. The prophet\u2019s vivid predictions about the divine punishment of Nineveh are applied by the pesherist to his own contemporary opponents. Regrettably, the names of these opponents have not survived. The \u201cElect\u201d of the author\u2019s community are pitted against a \u201cwicked\u201d group or groups then in power. It is unclear whether the author here refers to the Roman rulers, or to rival Jewish groups, or to both.
\nThe four well-preserved columns of fragments 3\u20134 polemicize against Jewish opponents of the author:<\/p>\n
Column i (lines 1\u201312) comments upon Nahum 2:12\u201314, in which Assyria is compared to a mighty lion. The pesherist applies the biblical message of this extended metaphor\u2014essentially, \u201cthe bigger they are, the harder they fall\u201d to the Jerusalem establishment.
\nColumns ii\u2013iv comment upon Nah. 3:1\u201312. Verses 1\u20135 of Nah. 3 are a vivid description of Nineveh\u2019s culpability and downfall. Verses 6\u201311 compare Nineveh to Thebes, which had fallen earlier. The pesher describes the guilt and downfall of \u201cEphraim,\u201d alluding to the earlier defeat of \u201cManasseh,\u201d probably representing the Pharisees and Sadducees respectively.
\nFragment 5 (lines 1\u20133) is a small fragment containing only part of Nah. 3:12, and a few words of the preceding pesher interpretation.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Allegro, John M. Qumr\u00e2n Cave 4.I (4Q158\u20134Q186). DJD 5. Oxford: Clarendon, 1968.
\nBerrin, Shani L. The Pesher Nahum Scroll from Qumran: An Exegetical Study of 4Q169. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 53. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
\nDoudna, Gregory L. 4Q Pesher Nahum: A Critical Edition. JSPSup 35. Copenhagen International Series 8. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.
\nHorgan, Maurya P. Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books. CBQMS 8. Washington: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1979.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cPesharim.\u201d In The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations, Vol. 6B, Pesharim, Other Commentaries, and Related Documents, edited by James H. Charlesworth, et al. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr Siebeck; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002.
\nKnibb, Michael. \u201cThe Commentary on Nahum.\u201d In The Qumran Community. Cambridge Commentaries on Writings of the Jewish and Christian World 200 bc to ad 200. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
\nLim, Timothy. Pesharim. Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls 3. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002.
\nParry, Donald W., and Emanuel Tov, The Dead Sea Scrolls Reader, Vol. 2: Exegetical Texts. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
\nYadin, Yigael. \u201cPesher Nahum (4QpNahum) Reconsidered.\u201d IEJl 21 (1971): 1\u201312.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Fragments 1\u20132<\/p>\n
1 [\u2026 He travels in whirlwind and storm, and] clouds are the d[ust of his feet (Nah. 1:3b) Its pesher \u2026
\n2 [\u2026]t v[ault]s of his heavens and his earth which b[\u2026]
\n3 He rebu[kes] the sea and dr[ies it up (Nah. 1:4a) Its p]esher: the sea is all the [\u2026]
\n4 to exe[cute] judgment upon them and to destroy them from upon the face of [the world And all the rivers he parches dry \u2026 (Nah. 1:4a) Its pesher \u2026
\n5a with [\u2026] their [ru]lers, that their dominion will end [\u2026]
\n5 Bashan and Carmel languish] and the blossom of Lebanon wither (Nah. 1:4b) [Its pesher: \u2026]
\n6 peri]sh in it many, the height of wickedness. For the [\u2026
\n7 to Car]mel and to its rulers. Lebanon and the blossom of Lebanon is \u2026
\n8 \u2026]tm and will perish from before [\u2026] Elect[\u2026
\n9 a]ll the inhabitants of the world Moun[tains quake because of him and the hills melt;
\n10 the earth [heaves] before him, and before hi[m (rises) the world and al]l [that dwell therein. Who can stand before his wrath, and who
\n11 can resist] his fury? [\u2026] (Nah. 1:5\u20136)<\/p>\n
Fragments 3\u20134<\/p>\n
i.1 \u2026]a dwelling-place for the wicked of the Gentiles. Where lion and lion\u2019s breed walked, and lion\u2019s cub\u2014
\n2 with none to disturb them (Nah. 2:12b) Its pesher: concerning Deme]trius King of Greece who sought to come (upon) Jerusalem at the counsel of the Seekers-after-Smooth-Things
\n3 \u2026] yd the kings of Greece from Antiochus until the rising of the rulers of the Kittim. And afterward will be trampled
\n4 \u2026] The lion tears at his cubs, and strangles his lionesses for prey; (Nah. 2:13a)
\n5 \u2026] upon the Young Lion of Wrath who will smite his great ones, and the men of his counsel
\n6 \u2026] and he fills with prey his] holes and his lairs with torn flesh (Nah. 2:13b) Its pesher concerns the Young Lion of Wrath
\n7 \u2026]mwt on the Seekers-after-Smooth-Things, that he will hang people alive.
\n8 \u2026] in Israel aforetimes, for of one hanged alive upo[n the tree is to be re]ad: \u201cBehold I am against you,\u201d
\n9 it is the declar[ation of the LORD of Hosts. \u201cI will burn in smoke you]r [multitude], and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut [off p]rey [from the land],
\n10 and no [longer will be heard the sound of your messengers.\u201d (Nah. 2:14) Its pes]her: Your multitude: they are the legions of his army[ ] and his young lions: they are
\n11 his great ones[\u2026] and his prey: it is the [\u2026 weal]th which q[\u2026] y Jerusalem that
\n12 th]ey will give it [\u2026] Ephraim. Israel will be given [\u2026<\/p>\n
ii.1 and his messengers are his envoys, that their voice will no longer be heard among the nations. Woe, city of blood! She is all [deception, with violence] she is filled (Nah. 3:1a)
\n2 Its pesher: \u201cshe\u201d is the city of Ephraim, the Seekers-after-Smooth-Things at the end of days, that the[y will] conduct themselves in deception and falsehoo[ds].
\n3 There will not cease predation, nor crack of whip and rattle of wheel, galloping steed, and bounding chariot! Charging horsemen! Flame
\n4 and flash of spear! Hosts of slain and heaps of corpses, dead bodies without number\u2014they stumble over their bodies (Nah. 3:1b\u20133) Its pesher concerns the dominion of the Seekers-after-Smooth-Things
\n5 that there shall not cease from the midst of their congregation the sword of Gentiles, captivity, and plunder, and fever among them, and exile from fear of the enemy; and a multitude of
\n6 guilty corpses will fall in their days, and there will be no end to the sum of their slain, and even over their fleshly bodies they shall stumble, by their guilty counsel.
\n7 Because of the countless harlotries of the harlot, charmingly pleasing, and mistress of sorceries, who betrays nations with her harlotries and peoples with her sor[ce]ries (Nah. 3:4)
\n8 [Its] pesher concer[ns] the misleaders of Ephraim, who, by their false teaching, and their lying tongue and their deceitful lip, mislead many
\n9 kings, princes, priests, and populace together with the resident alien. Cities and families will perish through their counsel, n[ob]les and rul[ers]
\n10 will fall [by the fur]y of their tongue. \u201cBehold I am against you,\u201d it is the declaration of the LORD of H[os]ts, \u201cand you will uncover
\n11 [your] skirts up over your face; you will sh[ow nat]ions [your] nakedness and kingdoms your shame (Nah. 3:5) Its pesher: [
\n12 \u2026]cities of the east, for the skir[t]s [\u2026]<\/p>\n
iii.1: the nations in their de[file]ment and in their det]estable abominations. And I will throw loathsome things over you, and I will [de]grade you and I will make you
\n2 despicable All who see you will recoil from you (Nah. 3:6\u20137a)
\n3 Its pesher concerns the Seekers-after-Smooth-Things that at the end of time their evil deeds will be revealed to all Israel,
\n4 and many will discern their iniquity and hate them and despise them because of their insolent guilt. And upon the revelation of the glory of Judah,
\n5 the simple ones of Ephraim will flee from the midst of their congregation and will leave those who mislead them and will join themselves to Israel. \u201cAnd they will say,
\n6 \u2018Nineveh has been ravaged!\u2019 Who will console her? Where shall I look for anyone to comfort (Nah. 3:7b) Its pesher [concerns] the Seekers-after-
\n7 Smooth-Things that their council will perish and their assembly will be broken up and they will not continue to mislead [the] congregation and the simp[le ones]
\n8 will not maintain their counsel any more.\u2026 Are you better than Am[on situated among] the rivers? (Nah. 3:8a)
\n9 Its pesher: \u201cAmon\u201d: they are Manasseh and \u201cthe rivers\u201d: they are the nobles of Manasseh, the honored ones of the [\u2026
\n10 surrounded by waters, its rampart was the sea and its walls were waters (Nah. 3:8b)
\n11 Its [pe]sher: they are her [w]arriors, her mighty men o[f w]ar. Ethiopia was her might [and Egypt, and it was without limit.
\n12 [\u2026 P]ut and the [Libyans were in your aid. (Nah. 3:9)<\/p>\n
iv.1 Its pesher: they are the wicked ones of its[\u2026], the House of Peleg who have joined themselves to Manasseh. Yet even she w[as] exiled, she we[nt into captivity. Also
\n2 her young children were dashed to pieces at every street corner. And they cast lots for her honored men and all [her g]reat men [were bound
\n3 in chains. (Nah. 3:10) Its pesher concerns Manasseh at the final age when his kingdom will be brought low in y [\u2026
\n4 his women, his infants, and his children will go into captivity, his warriors and his nobles by the sword [\u2026 You too will be drunken
\n5 you will be obscured (Nah. 3:11a) Its pesher concerns the evil ones of E[phraim
\n6 that their cup will come after Manasseh [\u2026 you too will seek
\n7 refuge in the city from the enemy (Nah. 3:11b) Its pesh[er: upo]n [
\n8 their enemies in the city [\u2026 All your fortresses
\n9 are fig trees with [tripe fruit; (Nah. 3:12)
\n10 [\u2026]
\n11 [\u2026]
\n12 [\u2026]<\/p>\n
Fragment 5<\/p>\n
1:1 \u2026] ym [\u2026]
\n2 [] wl the boundary of Israe[l] m[\u2026
\n3 [\u201cstrengthen your fortresses, tread the clay \u2026\u201d (Nah. 3:14)<\/p>\n
Pesher Habakkuk<\/p>\n
Bilhah Nitzan<\/p>\n
Pesher Habakkuk from Qumran (scroll 1QpHab) is a verse-by-verse commentary on the first two chapters of the biblical book of Habakkuk. The commentary shows how the events foretold by the prophet have come to pass in the time and life of the Qumran community. The scroll holds 13 columns, written in Herodian script dating from the second half of the 1st century BCE. The text is well preserved except for columns 1 and 2. The right half of column 1 was lost, and column 2 was torn into two separate pieces and damaged along its center; in addition, damage occurred to the two bottom lines (16\u201317) of columns 1\u201312.
\nThe Qumran pesharim present interpretations of the mysteries hidden in prophetic and other biblical texts concerning events that occurred during the Second Temple period (the \u201cpresent age\u201d of the Qumran community), as well as events that are expected to happen at the end-time (1QpHab 2:7\u201310; 7:4\u20135).
\nThe author of Pesher Habakkuk uses homiletic techniques to reveal these mysteries. Habakkuk\u2019s prophecies referring to treachery are applied to the rivalry between the different Jewish congregations, especially between the Qumran community (the Essenes, called the yahad in the scrolls) and the Pharisees (1:16\u20132:10; 5:8\u201312; 10:5\u201313). His pronouncements concerning the intimidating offensive of the Chaldeans are applied to the Kittim, which refers here to the Romans (2:10\u20134:15; 5:12\u20136:12). Verses that mention robbery and assassination are referring to actions taken by Hasmonean priests and rulers (8:3\u201310:5; 11:2\u201310). Thus the scroll reflects the political and religious criticism directed by the Qumran community against both regional and worldwide political events during the Hasmonean era.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The main figures dealt with in the pesharim are designated by sobriquets, which makes their exact historical identification difficult. These are the Teacher of Righteousness (the leader of the yahad), the Man of the Lie (seemingly a leader of the Pharisees), and especially the Wicked Priest (a Hasmonean ruler or rulers). Probably this last sobriquet refers to the Hasmonean rulers in power from 152 BCE (Jonathan) through 76 BCE (Alexander Jannaeus), before the Roman occupation of Judea in 63 BCE: Roman occupation of other nations is described in Pesher Habakkuk (2:10\u20134:14; 6:5\u201312), along with a prediction of ultimate Roman domination over the Hasmonean rulers (9:6\u20137). The rivalry between the Qumran community and its opponents persisted during this period, as is clear from pesharim on other biblical books. For example, in Pesher Nahum 3\u20134 iv 1\u20135 Menashe is a sobriquet of the Sadducees, and Ephraim is a sobriquet of the Pharisees.
\nIdeologically, the historical events are discussed in light of the deterministic-dualistic philosophy of the Qumran community. Both the righteous (the members of the yahad, who observe the Torah) and the wicked (of Israel, along with the Gentiles) are expected to stand trial before God, who will judge them righteously at the end-time. The author expresses this expectation in many comments. However, the Qumran community was clearly bothered by the postponement of the Messianic Era beyond the time expected by apocalyptic calculations (cf. Dan. 9:24) (see the comments on Hab. 2:3 in 1QpHab 7:7\u20138). The pesher reflects the author\u2019s acknowledgment that not all the mysteries of God are revealed to human beings. However, he reassures the community\u2019s members that \u201call of God\u2019s periods will come according to their fixed order, as he decreed\u201d (7:13).
\nThe wording of the pesharim retains some wordings of the biblical verses for verifying the connection between the biblical verse and its pesher. Such interpretive techniques became traditional in other Jewish homiletic biblical interpretation.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Bernstein, Moshe J. \u201cIntroductory Formulas for Citation and Re-citation of Biblical Verses in the Qumran Pesharim: Observations on a Pesher Technique.\u201d Dead Sea Discoveries 1 (1994): 30\u201370.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cPesher Habakkuk.\u201d In Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, edited by L. H. Schiffman and J. C. VanderKam, 647\u201350. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
\nBrooke, George J. \u201cThe Kittim in the Qumran Commentaries.\u201d In Images of Empire, edited by L. C. Alexander, 135\u201359. Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series 122. Sheffield: JSOT, 1991.
\nBrownlee, William H. The Midrash Pesher of Habakkuk: Text, Translation, Exposition with an Introduction. Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 24. Missoula MT: Scholars Press, 1979.
\nElliger, Karl. Studien zum Habakuk-Kommentar vom Toten Meer. Beitr\u00e4ge zur historischen Theologie 15. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr (Siebeck), 1953.
\nFlusser, David. \u201cThe Roman Empire in Hasmonean and Essene Eyes.\u201d In his Judaism of the Second Temple Period, translated by Azzan Yadin, 175\u2013206. Grand Rapids MI: Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2007.
\nHorgan, Maurya P. Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books. Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 8. Washington DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1979.
\nLim, Timothy H. Pesharim. Companion to the Qumran Scrolls 3. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002.
\nNitzan Bilhah. Pesher Habakkuk: A Scroll from the Wilderness of Judaea (1QpHab). [In Hebrew.] Jerusalem: The Bialik Institute, 1986.
\nRabinowitz, I. \u201c \u2018Pessher\/Pittaron\u2019: Its Biblical Meaning and Its Significance in the Qumran Literature.\u201d Revue de Qumran 8 (1973): 219\u201332.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Section 1<\/p>\n
1:1[The burden that Habakkuk the prophet saw:
\nHow long, Yahweh,] have I cried out for help, but you do not
\n2[hear? (Hab. 1:1\u20132) Its interpretation concerns everything that
\nHabakkuk prophesied concerning the expec]tation of the
\ngeneration of
\n3[the last days all the things
\nthat are going to co]me upon them
\n4[I cry out to you \u201cViolence\u201d but you
\ndo not save (Hab. 1:2b)
\nIts interpretation is that] they [c]ry out against
\n5[the violence Why do you make me see
\nevil, and] do you [g]aze at [tr]ibulation? (Hab. 1:3a)
\n6[Its interpretation concerns who rebelled against] God
\nwith oppression and treachery.
\n7[And destruction and violence are before me;
\nand there is strife, and contention arises.] (Hab. 1:3b)
\n8[Its interpretation concerns] wg. [ ]ly h[ ] and strife
\n9[ qu]arrel, and h[ ]h is
\n10[ ]Therefore the Torah is numbed,
\n11[and judgment does not go forth to victory. (Hab. 1:4a)
\nIts interpretation is] that they rejected the Torah of God
\n12[ For the wicked surrou]nd the righteous. (Hab. 1:4b)
\n13[Its interpretation is: the wicked one is the Wicked Priest,
\nand the righteous one] is the Teacher of Righteousness.
\n14[ The]refore the judgment goes forth
\n15[perverted (Hab. 1:4b) Its interpretation \u2026] and not m[ ]<\/p>\n
Section 2<\/p>\n
1:16[ Look, O traitors, and] s[ee]
\n17[wonder (and) be amazed, for I am doing
\na deed in your days that you would not
\nbelieve if ]
\n2:1it were told. (Hab. 1:5) [The interpretation of the passage concerns]
\nthe traitors together with the Man of
\n2the Lie, for [they did] not [hearken to the words of] the Teacher of
\nRighteousness (which were) from the mouth of
\n3God. And it concerns the trai[tors to] the new [covenant,] f[o]r they
\nwere not
\n4faithful to the covenant of God, [and they profaned] his holy name.
\n5Likewise, the interpretation of the passage [concerns the
\ntrai]tors at the end of
\n6days. They are the ruthless [ones of the coven]ant who will not believe
\n7when they hear all that is going to co[me up]on the last generation
\nfrom the mouth of
\n8the priest to whom God gave into [his heart insig]ht to interpret all
\n9the words of his servants the prophets, by [whose] hand God foretold
\n10all that is going to come upon his people and up[on the nations.]<\/p>\n
Section 3<\/p>\n
2:10b For behold I am raising up
\n11the Chaldeans, that bitter [and ha]sty nation. (Hab. 1:6a)
\n12Its interpretation concerns the Kittim, wh[o ar]e swift and
\nstrong
\n13in battle, so as to destroy many [who will fight] against the
\ndominion of
\n14the Kittim, and the wick [ed ones (that) will betray the covena]nt, and will
\nnot be faithful
\n15to the statutes of [Go]d [ ]
\n16l[ Who go through the breadth of the land]
\n17[to take possession of dwelling places that are
\nnot their own. (Hab. 1:6b) Its interpretation concerns the Kittim ]
\n3:1and by (way of) the level plain they come to smite and to loot the
\ncities of the land,
\n2for this is what it says: To take possession of dwelling
\nplaces not their own. (Hab. 1:6b) Fearful
\n3and terrible are they. From them goes
\nout their judgment and guile. (Hab. 1:7)
\n4Its interpretation concerns the Kittim, fear and dread of
\nwhom are upon all
\n5the nations. And in the council their whole plan is to do evil,
\nand with cunning and deceit
\n6they shall deal with all the peoples. And their horses are
\nswifter than leopards and more fierce
\n7than the wolves of the evening. They paw the
\nground, and their riders spread out from a
\ndistance.
\n8They fly like the eagle, (which) hastens to
\ndevour all. They come for violence. The horror
\n9of their faces is an east wind. (Hab. 1:8\u20139a) Its in[terpretation]
\nconcerns the Kittim, who
\n10trample the earth with [their] horses and with their beasts. And
\nfrom a distance
\n11they come, from the islands of the sea, to devour all the peoples
\nlike an eagle,
\n12and there is no satiety. And with rage [they] gr[ow hot, and with]
\nburning anger and fury
\n13they speak with all [the peoples, fo]r this is what it
\n14says: The horro[r of their faces is an east
\nwind. And they gather] captives [like sa]nd. (Hab. 1:9b)
\n15[ Its interpreta]tion [concerns the kittim, who ]
\n16[ ]
\n17[ ]<\/p>\n
Section 4<\/p>\n
3:17[ And at kings]
\n4:1They scoff, and princes are to them a laughing
\nmatter. (Hab. 1:10a) Its interpretation is that
\n2they mock great ones, and they despise honored ones; kings,
\n3and princes they mock, and they scoff at a great people. And
\nThey
\n4laugh at every fortress, and they heap up
\nearth to capture it. (Hab. 1:10b)
\n5Its interpretation concerns the rulers of the Kittim, who despise
\n6the fortifications of the peoples and laugh with derision at them;
\n7and with many (people) they (i.e., the rulers of the Kittim)
\nsurround them (i.e., the fortifications) to capture them. And
\nwith terror and dread
\n8they (i.e., the fortifications) are given into their hand, and
\nthey tear them down, because of the guilt of those who dwell
\n9in them. The wind then swept on and passed by
\nand laid waste and these made their power
\n10their God. (Hab. 1:11) Its interpretation [con]cerns the rulers
\nof the Kittim
\n11who, according to the decision of [their] guilty house,
\npass one
\n12before the other. [Their] rulers come [on]e after another
\n13to ruin the l[and. And] these [made] their power
\ntheir God. (Hab. 1:11b)
\n14Its interpretation [\u2026 al]l the people
\n15l[ ]l
\n16[ ]<\/p>\n
Section 5<\/p>\n
4:16b [Are you not from of old,]
\n17[Yahweh, my holy God? We shall not die,
\nYahweh,]
\n5:1for judgment you have set him up, and a rock
\nas his reprover you have established. (Hab. 1:12) (You are)
\ntoo pure of eyes
\n2to look on evil, and to gaze at tribulation you
\nare not able. (Hab. 1:13)
\n3The interpretation of the passage is that God will not destroy
\nhis people by the hand of the nations,
\n4but into the hand of his chosen ones God will give the judgment
\nof all the nations. And by means of their rebuke
\n5all the wicked ones of his people will be convicted (by those)
\nwho have kept his commandments
\n6in their distress. For this is what it says: (You are) too pure
\nof eyes to look
\n7on evil. (Hab. 1:13a) Its interpretation is that they did not whore
\nafter their own eyes in the time of
\n8wickedness.<\/p>\n
Section 6<\/p>\n
5:8b Why do you heed traitors, but are
\nsilent when
\n9a wicked one swallows up one more righteous
\nthan he? (Hab. 1:13b) Its interpretation concerns the House of Absalom
\n10and the men of their council, who were silent at the rebuke of the Teacher
\nof Righteousness
\n11and did not support him against the Man of the Lie who
\nrejected
\n12the Law in the midst of all their council.<\/p>\n
Section 7<\/p>\n
5:12b And you make
\nhumanity like the fish of the sea,
\n13like creeping things to rule over it. He
\nbrings everythi[ng] up [with the fish]hook
\nand drags it into his net.
\n14And he gathers it in [his] se[ine. Therefore he
\nsacri] fices to his net; therefore he is glad
\n15[and shouts for jo] y, [and he burns incense
\nto his fishing net, for on account of them]
\nhis portion grows fat
\n16[and his food is rich. (Hab. 1:14\u201316) Its interpretation \u2026]
\n17[ ]
\n6:1the Kittim, and they increase their wealth with all their booty
\n2like the fish of the sea. And when it says, Therefore he
\nsacrifices to his net
\n3and burns incense to his seine, (Hab. 1:16a) Its
\ninterpretation is that they
\n4sacrifice to their standards, and their weapons of war are
\n5the objects of their reverence. For on account of
\nthem his portion grows fat and his food
\nis rich. (Hab. 1:16b)
\n6Its interpretation is that they divide up their yoke and
\n7their tribute\u2014their food\u2014upon all the peoples
\nyear by year
\n8to lay waste many lands. Therefore he draws his
\nsword continually
\n9to slaughter nations, and he has no
\ncompassion. (Hab. 1:17)
\n10Its interpretation concerns the Kittim, who destroy
\nmany with the sword
\n11\u2014young men, mature men and old men, women and toddlers\u2014
\nand on the fruit of
\n12the womb they have no compassion.<\/p>\n
Section 8<\/p>\n
6:12b At my station
\nshall I stand,
\n13and I shall post myself at my fortification,
\nand I shall watch to see what he says
\n14to me and what [he answers re]garding my
\nobjection. And Yahweh did answer me,
\n15[and he said: \u201cWrite the vision and make it.
\npl]ain upon the tablets so that he can run
\n16[who reads it.\u201d (Hab. 2:1\u20132) Its interpretation ]t.[ ]
\n17[ ]
\n7:1and God told Habakkuk to write down the things that are going
\nto come upon
\n2the last generation, but the fulfillment of the end-time he did not
\nmake known to him.
\n3 And when it says, so that he can run who
\nreads it, (Hab. 2:2b)
\n4its interpretation concerns the Teacher of Righteousness,
\nto whom God made known
\n5all the mysteries of the words of his servants the prophets.<\/p>\n
Section 9<\/p>\n
7:5b For there is yet a vision
\n6concerning the appointed time. It speaks of\/
\ntestifies on\/to the end-time, and it will not
\ndeceive. (Hab. 2:3a)
\n7Its interpretation is that the last period will be prolonged,
\nand it will be greater than anything
\n8of which the prophets spoke, for the mysteries of God are awesome.
\n9If it tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come,
\nand it will not
\n10be late. (Hab. 2:3b) Its interpretation concerns the men of truth,
\n11those who observe the Torah, whose hands do not grow slack
\nin the service of
\n12the truth, when the last period is drawn out for them, for
\n13all of God\u2019s periods will come according to their fixed order,
\nas he decreed
\n14for them in the mysteries of his prudence. Behold [his soul]
\nis heedless, not upright
\n15[within him.] (Hab. 2:4a) Its interpretation is that [their sins]
\nwill be doubled upon them
\n16[and] they will n[ot] find favor at their judgment [ ]l
\n17[ And the righteous man will live by
\nhis faithfulness]. (Hab. 2:4b)
\n8:1Its interpretation concerns all those who observe the Torah
\nin the House of Judah, whom
\n2God will save from the house of judgment on account of their
\ntribulation and their fidelity
\n3to the Teacher of Righteousness.<\/p>\n
Section 10<\/p>\n
8:3b And moreover,
\nwealth betrays a haughty man, and
\n4he is unseemly, who opens his soul wide
\nlike Sheol; and like Death he cannot be sated.
\n5And all the nations are gathered about him,
\nand all the peoples are assembled to him. (Hab. 2:5)
\n6Do not all of them raise a taunt against
\nhim and interpreters of riddles about him,
\n7who say: \u201cWoe to the one who multiplies
\nwhat is not his own! How long will he weigh
\nhimself down with
\n8debt?\u201d (Hab. 2:6) Its interpretation concerns the
\nWicked Priest, who
\n9was called by the name of truth at the beginning of his standing,
\nbut when he ruled
\n10in Israel, he became arrogant, and he abandoned God, and betrayed
\nthe statutes for the sake of
\n11wealth. And he stole and amassed the wealth of the men of violence
\nwho had rebelled against God,
\n12and he took the wealth of peoples to add to himself guilt of iniquity.
\nAnd the abominable
\n13ways he pursued with every sort of unclean impurity.<\/p>\n
Section 11<\/p>\n
8:13b Will it not be pt.[ ]\u2019wm, that your cre[di]tors
\n14will arise? And will those who make you
\ntremble awake, and will you become their
\nbooty? (Hab. 2:7)
\n15For you have plundered many nations, but all
\nthe rest of peoples will plunder you. (Hab. 2:8a)
\n16The in[terpretation of the passage] concerns the priest,
\nwho rebelled
\n17[and trans]gressed the statutes of [God, and all his enemies
\nwill arise and abu]se him s[o that]
\n9:1his injuries are on account of punishments of wickedness. And horrors
\ninflicted evil diseases upon him,
\n2and acts of vengeance on his carcass of flesh. And when
\n3it says, For you have plundered many nations, but
\nall the rest of peoples will
\n4plunder you, (Hab. 2:8a) Its interpretation concerns the last
\npriests
\n5of Jerusalem, who amass wealth and profit from the plunder of
\nthe peoples;
\n6but at the end of days their wealth together with their booty will
\nbe given into the hand of
\n7the army of the Kittim. For they are the rest of the peoples.<\/p>\n
Section 12<\/p>\n
9:8On account of human bloodshed and violence
\ndone to the land, the city, and all its inhabitants. (Hab. 2:8b)
\n9Its interpretation concerns the [W]icked Priest, whom\u2014
\nbecause of wrong done to the Teacher of
\n10Righteousness and the men of his council\u2014God gave him into the
\nhand of his enemies to afflict him
\n11with disease for annihilation with festering wounds of the soul, beca[u]se he
\nhad acted wickedly
\n12against his chosen ones. Woe to the one who makes
\nan evil profit for his house, setting
\n13his nest on high to be delivered from the
\nreach of evil. You have planned shame
\n14for your house, the ends of many peoples
\nand (even) the guilt of your own [sou]l,
\nfor
\n15a sto[ne] will cry out from the wall, [and]
\nbeam from the woodwork will give an[swer]. (Hab. 2:9\u201311)
\n16[The interpretation of the passa]ge concerns the pr[iest,] who
\n[ ]s
\n17[ ]
\n10:1so that its stones are (built up) by oppression and the beam of its
\nwoodwork by robbery. And when
\n2it says the ends of many peoples and (even) the
\nguilt of your own soul, (Hab. 2:10b)
\n3its interpretation: This is the house of judgment, when God will give
\n4his judgment in the midst of many peoples, and from there he will
\nbring him up for judgment,
\n5and in their midst he will condemn him as guilty and with a fire
\nof brimstone he will punish him.<\/p>\n
Section 13<\/p>\n
10:5c Woe
\n6to the one who builds a city with blood and
\nfounds a town with iniquity. Are not
\n7these from Yahweh of hosts? Peoples toil for
\nfire
\n8and nations grow weary for nothing. (Hab. 2:12\u201313)
\n9The interpretation of the passage concerns the Spouter of
\nthe Lie, who caused many to err,
\n10building a city of vanity with bloodshed and establishing
\na congregation with falsehood,
\n11for the sake of his\/its glory making many toil in the service of
\nvanity and teaching them
\n12in w[o]rks of falsehood, with the result that their labor is
\nfor nothing; so that they will come
\n13to the punishments of fire, because they reviled and reproached
\nthe elect of God.
\n14For the earth will be filled with the
\nknowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the
\nwaters
\n15cover the sea. (Hab. 2:14) The interpretation of
\nthe passage [is that]
\n16when they return [ ]l[ ]
\n17[ Spouter of]
\n11:1the Lie, and afterward knowledge will be revealed to them
\nlike the waters of
\n2the sea, in abundance.<\/p>\n
Section 14
\n11:2b Woe to him who gives his
\nneighbor to drink, mixing in
\n3his poison, indeed, making (him) drunk
\nin order that he might look upon their feasts. (Hab. 2:15)
\n4 Its interpretation concerns the Wicked Priest, who
\n5pursued the Teacher of Righteousness\u2014to destroy him with his
\npoisonous vexation\u2014
\n6to his house of exile. And at the festival time, (during) the
\nrepose of
\n7the Day of Atonement, he appeared to them to destroy them
\n8and to make them stumble on the fast day, their restful Sabbath.
\nYou will be sated with dishonor
\n9rather than glory. Drink then you yourself,
\nand totter.
\n10The cup of Yahweh\u2019s right hand will come
\naround to you, and disgrace (will come)
\n11upon your glory. (Hab. 2:16)
\n12Its interpretation concerns the priest whose shame prevailed
\nover his glory,
\n13for he did not circumcise the foreskin of his heart, but he
\nwalked in the ways of
\n14inebriety in order that the thirst might be consumed, but the
\ncup of the wrath of
\n15[Go]d will destroy him, ad[d]ing [upon him his s]ha[me]
\nand a pain
\n16[\u2026]l[ ]l[ ]l[ ]<\/p>\n
Section 15<\/p>\n
17[For the violence to Lebanon will]
\n[cover you and the destruction of beasts]
\n12:1will overwhelm {you}. On account of human
\nbloodshed and violence (done to) the land,
\nthe town and all who inhabit it. (Hab. 2:17)
\n2The interpretation of the passage concerns the Wicked Priest\u2014
\nto pay him
\n3his due inasmuch as he dealt wickedly with the Poor Ones;
\nfor \u201cLebanon\u201d is
\n4the Council of the Community, and the \u201cbeasts\u201d are the simple
\nones of Judah, those who observe
\n5the Torah\u2014(he it is) whom God will condemn to complete
\ndestruction
\n6because he plotted to destroy completely the Poor Ones. And
\nwhen it says, On account of the bloodshed of
\n7the town and violence (done to) the land, (Hab. 2:17b)
\nIts interpretation: the \u201ctown\u201d is Jerusalem,
\n8where the Wicked Priest committed abominable deeds and
\ndefiled
\n9God\u2019s sanctuary. And \u201cviolence (done to) the land\u201d (refers to)
\nthe cities of Judah, where
\n10he stole the wealth of the Poor Ones.<\/p>\n
Section 16<\/p>\n
12:10b What profit does
\nan idol bring, when its maker has shaped (it),
\n11a molten statue and an image of falsehood?
\nFor the maker relies on the things he makes,
\n12fashioning dumb idols. (Hab. 2:18) The interpretation of the passage
\nconcerns all
\n13the idols of the nations, which they have made so that they may
\nserve them and bow down
\n14before them, but they will not save them on the day of judgment.
\nWoe
\n15wo[e to the one who says] to the wood, \u201cWake
\nup!\u201d \u201cA[rise!\u201d] to a silent [st]one.
\n16[Can it teach? Behold, it is overlaid with
\ngold and silver, yet no]
\n17[breath is in it. But Yahweh is in his holy
\ntemple;] (Hab. 2:19\u201320a)
\n13:1and all the earth keeps silent before him. (Hab. 2:20b) Its
\ninterpretation concerns all the nations
\n2who have served the stone and the wood, but on the day of
\n3judgment God will destroy completely all who serve the idols
\n4and the evil ones from the earth.<\/p>\n
Greek Jewish Interpreters<\/p>\n
This section features selections from Greek Jewish authors writing mainly in the 3rd through the 1st centuries BCE. Most of them are known to us through excerpts preserved in the writings of pagan (and later Christian) authors. Not all of these works are strictly interpretive, but they are usually presented together because of both their similar dating and their fragmentary nature. An exception is the pair of works by Pseudo-Philo, which, though possibly of similar dating with the rest of the group, were transmitted along with a larger corpus of works by Philo, and so come to us as complete compositions.<\/p>\n
Demetrius the Chronographer<\/p>\n
Lorenzo DiTommaso<\/p>\n
Demetrius was a Jewish historian who flourished in Ptolemaic Egypt, likely in Alexandria during the last decades of the 3rd century BCE. The date may be inferred from a note to Ptolemy IV (= Ptolemy IV Philopator, reigned c. 221\u2013205 BCE) in fragment 6. Nothing more is known of Demetrius\u2019s life.
\nOf his writings, only six fragments survive, all of which were preserved by early Christian authors. Five appear in the Praeparatio evangelica of Eusebius (ca. 260\u2013340 CE), whose source was Alexander Polyhistor, a Gentile anthologist active at Rome in the mid-1st century BCE. The sixth, preserved by Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150\u2013215 CE) in his Stromata, is from Demetrius\u2019s book, On the Kings in Judaea.
\nDemetrius is the first Jewish author known to have composed in Greek. His spelling of proper names and other details indicate that he used a Greek version of Genesis and Exodus rather than the Hebrew. As such, he is our earliest independent witness for the existence of these books in Greek (and, by inference, a Greek Pentateuch).
\nDemetrius addressed the historical and religious issues that would have been raised by a careful reading of Scripture. His exegetical approach, called aporiai kai luseis (questions and solutions), was a feature of Hellenistic scholarship and was later employed by Philo of Alexandria (see Questions and Answers in Genesis and Exodus). Demetrius is also representative of the nationalist historians of the era, such as Berosus of Babylon (330\u2013250 BCE) and Manetho of Egypt (3rd century BCE), who applied elements of the critical rigor of Greek scientific historiography to their local histories.
\nYet Demetrius cannot be understood solely through the lens of Hellenism, since to some degree his exegetical approach was already implicit in the historical books of Scripture that were the object of his enquiry. He is not an apologist, and neither amplifies the antiquity of his heritage nor exaggerates the attributes of its heroes, who remain untouched by syncretism. Demetrius clarifies difficult sections of the biblical narrative rather than augmenting it with new episodes or the dramatic speeches so common in classical histories. His focus on difficult questions and the complexity of his solutions can obscure our understanding of his purpose. His goal was not to prove the integrity of Scripture or defend its claims against skeptics. He assumed it faithfully recorded sacred history, and that apparent problems and inconsistencies would be resolved by careful study. We learn, for example, how Jacob could have sired twelve children in seven years, why Joseph gave Benjamin a fivefold portion of food and clothing, and whence, during the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites might have obtained the weapons they used against the Amalekites.
\nThe selections below illustrate the nature of Demetrius\u2019s questions and the reasoned, explanatory logic of his solutions. His audience would have been educated Jews, but might have included Gentiles as well.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Bickerman, E. \u201cThe Jewish Historian Demetrius.\u201d In Christianity, Judaism, and Other Greco-Roman Cults, edited by J. Neusner, 3.72\u201384. Leiden: Brill, 1975.
\nDiTommaso, L. \u201cA Note on Demetrius the Chronographer, Fr. 2.11 (= Eusebius, PrEv 9.21.11).\u201d JSJS 29 (1998): 81\u201391.
\nDoran, R. \u201cThe Jewish Hellenistic Historians before Josephus.\u201d ANRW 2.20.1 (1984): 246\u201397, esp. 248\u201351.
\nGruen, E. S. Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
\nHanson, J. \u201cDemetrius the Chronographer.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by J. H. Charlesworth, 2.843\u201354. New York: Doubleday, 1985.
\nHolladay, C. R. Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors, 1.51\u201391. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1983.
\nSterling, G. Historiography and Self-Definition: Josephos, Luke\u2014Acts and Apologetic Historiography, 153\u201367. Leiden: Brill, 1992.
\nWacholder, B. Z. Eupolemus: A Study of Judaeo-Greek Literature, 44\u201352. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College\u2013Jewish Institute of Religion, 1974.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Fragment 2 (from Eusebius, Praep. ev. 9:21:1\u201318)<\/p>\n
1Demetrius says that Jacob was 77 years old when he fled to Haran, in Mesopotamia. He was sent by his parents because of Esau\u2019s hidden resentment against him\u2014on account of his father\u2019s having blessed him, thinking him Esau\u2014and also so that there he might acquire a wife. \u2026 7While Jacob was on the way to Canaan, an angel of God wrestled him and smote the hollow of his thigh, which became numb and made him limp.\u2026 11From there Jacob went to Mamre in Hebron to Isaac his father. Joseph was then 17 years old: he was sold into Egypt, and there remained in prison for 13 years, until he was 30 years old. Jacob was now 120 years old, and this was 1 year before Isaac died at the age of 180 years. 12Having interpreted the king\u2019s dreams, Joseph ruled Egypt for 7 years, at which time he married Aseneth, daughter of Pentephra priest of Heliopolis, and sired Manasseh and Ephraim. Two years of famine followed. 13But although Joseph enjoyed good fortune for 9 years, he did not send for his father: his father was a shepherd, as were his brothers, and the Egyptians consider shepherding disgraceful. Joseph himself said that this was the reason he did not send for them, for when his kin did come, he told them that should they be summoned by the king and asked about their livelihood, they were to say they were herdsmen. 14Another issue concerns why Joseph gave Benjamin a fivefold portion at breakfast, even though he could never consume so much meat. Joseph did this because their father had sired six sons by Leah but only two sons by Rachel their mother. Accordingly, he gave five portions for Benjamin and he himself took one. Therefore, between them there were six portions, as many as the sons of Leah received. 15Similarly, where Joseph gave a double-folded garment to each brother, he gave Benjamin five such garments along with 300 pieces of gold. He also sent the same amount to his father so that his mother\u2019s house would be equal. 16And from the time Abraham was chosen from among the nations and migrated to Canaan, they dwelt in the land of Canaan as follows: Abraham, 25 years; Isaac, 60 years; Jacob, 130 years. Thus, in all, they spent 215 years in the land of Canaan. 17Jacob arrived in Egypt during the third year of famine in Egypt there; he was now 130 years old. Reuben was 45 years old, Simeon 44, Levi 43, Judah 42 years and 2 months, Naphtali 41 and 7 months, Gad 41 and 3 months, Asher 40 and 8 months, Zebulun 40 years old, Dina 39, Benjamin 28. 18Joseph, Demetrius says, turned 39 in Egypt.<\/p>\n
Fragment 3 (from Eusebius, Praep. ev. 9:29:1)<\/p>\n
1Moses fled to Midian and there married Zipporah daughter of Jethro, who\u2014insofar as can be reckoned from the names\u2014was a descendant of Keturah, and thus of the stock of Abraham: a descendant of Jokshan son of Abraham by Keturah. From Jokshan was born Dedan, and from Dedan, Reuel, and from Reuel, Jethro and Hobab, and from Jethro, Zipporah, whom Moses married.<\/p>\n
Fragment 5 (from Eusebius, Praep. ev. 9:29:16)<\/p>\n
16Someone asked how the Israelites obtained weapons, since they came out unarmed. For the Israelites said that they would return again after they had gone out on a three days\u2019 journey and offered sacrifice. Thus it appears that those who did not drown appropriated the weapons of those who did.<\/p>\n
Artapanus<\/p>\n
Erich S. Gruen<\/p>\n
The mysterious and intriguing Artapanus resists labels, eludes characterization, and defies categories. He carries a Persian name, writes in Greek, and has a Jewish perspective. His work jumbles genres and transforms traditions, blending history with fable, propaganda with fantasy, biblical narrative with pagan romance.
\nWe possess only three fragments from Artapanus\u2019s treatise, which was entitled either Judaica or Concerning the Jews. The excerpts were quoted by the Greek scholar and collector of information Alexander Polyhistor from Miletus in Asia Minor, writing in the middle of the 1st century BCE. Polyhistor\u2019s work itself no longer survives, but the 4th-century CE churchman Eusebius of Caesarea preserved many of Polyhistor\u2019s citations of Jewish authors in his Preparation for the Gospel. Hence we have only a third-hand version of Artapanus, at best. Two of the fragments, on Abraham and Joseph, are quite brief and truncated; a third on Moses is more extensive, elaborate, and engaging.
\nThe segment on Abraham depicts the patriarch as bringing his household to Egypt, remaining there 20 years, and teaching the science of astrology to the Pharaoh. Artapanus sees him through the eyes of both Greeks and Egyptians. Abraham is thus not only ancestor of the Jews but also contributor to the origins of culture and learning.
\nThe Joseph fragment liberally modifies the biblical version. According to Artapanus, Joseph landed in Egypt through his own shrewdness, escaping the machinations of his brothers rather than being victimized by them. He then became the king\u2019s economic minister, restructuring Egyptian agriculture, placing land tenure for the first time on an equitable footing\u2014a far cry from the biblical narrative that has him extending royal authority and reducing the Egyptian peasantry to serfdom. More striking still, Artapanus makes Joseph the discoverer of measurements, a lasting contribution for which he was much beloved by the Egyptians.
\nThe surviving fragment on Moses is far lengthier than the Abraham and Joseph portions combined. Here, Artapanus gives full rein to his imagination. Moses, he reports, acquired the name Mousaios from the Greeks, became the teacher of the mythical Orpheus, and conferred a host of benefits upon humankind, including the invention of ships, mechanisms for stone construction, Egyptian weaponry, hydraulic engines, implements of warfare, and even philosophy. Further, he reconstituted the entire Egyptian political and religious structure, taught hieroglyphics to the priests, made divinities out of cats, dogs, and ibises, taught Ethiopians to practice circumcision, and prompted the worship of the Apis bull. In addition, Artapanus invents adventures for Moses, including a military campaign against Ethiopians, the foiling of an Egyptian assassin, and escape from the plots of a jealous Pharaoh. And he rewrites the ten plagues narrative by having Moses initiate the flooding of the Nile and inspire the use of his rod as part of Isis worship. Instead of being only a lawgiver for the Jews, Moses turns out to be a benefactor of Egyptians and a culture hero for all of humankind.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Nothing is known about Artapanus apart from these extracts. He must precede Alexander Polyhistor, who quotes him; thus he wrote no later than the early 1st century BCE. He used the Septuagint for his biblical text, thus placing him no earlier than the mid-3rd century BCE. The passages preserved by the Christian fathers Eusebius and Clement of Alexandria constitute our only attestations of Artapanus. Perhaps because of his idiosyncratic views, he did not receive mention by any Jewish or pagan writer. Since the surviving fragments all concern themselves with Egypt, it is likely that Artapanus dwelled in that land. And since no Gentile of that time period would have the motivation for retelling and rewriting biblical stories, he was almost certainly a Hellenistic Jew.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The work does not fit neatly in a particular genre. It has been classified either as history or romance or some combination thereof, as a vehicle for promoting a syncretistic blend of cultures, or as a means to refute nasty Gentile depictions of Jews. But Artapanus is too slippery and elusive a writer to pigeonhole. The inventive and occasionally whimsical character of his work suggests that Artapanus was less an advocate for syncretism or an embattled apologist than an imaginative spinner of tales, with a light touch, who tampered freely with Scripture and transposed Gentile traditions to place Jewish figures in the center.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Barclay, J. M. G. Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora, 127\u201332. Edinburgh: Clark, 1996.
\nBraun, M. History and Romance in Graeco-oriental Literature, 1\u201331. Oxford: Blackwell, 1938.
\nCollins, J. J. \u201cArtapanus.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by J. H. Charlesworth, 2.889\u2013903. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1985.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora, 37\u201346. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2000.
\nGruen, E. S. Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition, 87\u201389, 155\u201360. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
\nHolladay, C. R. Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors, 1.189\u2013243. Chico CA: Scholars Press, 1983.
\nSch\u00fcrer, E. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ. Vol 3. Rev. ed. by G. Vermes, F. Millar, and M. Goodman, 1.521\u201325. Edinburgh: Clark, 1986.
\nSterling, G. E. Historiography and Self-Definition: Josephos, Luke-Acts, and Apologetic Historiography, 167\u201387. Leiden: Brill, 1992.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Fragment 1 (from Eusebius, Praep. ev. 9:18:1)<\/p>\n
Artapanus, in his work Judaica, says that the Jews were named Hermiouth, which means \u201cJews\u201d when translated into the Greek language; and he says that they were called Hebrews from the time of Abraham. He also says that Abraham came with his entire household into Egypt to Pharethothes, the king of the Egyptians, and taught him astrology. After he had remained there twenty years, he returned to the regions of Syria, but many of those who had accompanied him remained behind in Egypt, attracted by the prosperity of the country.<\/p>\n
Fragment 2 (from Eusebius, Praep. ev. 9:23:1\u20134)<\/p>\n
1Artapanus says in his book Concerning the Jews that Joseph, the son of Jacob, was descended from Abraham. Because he excelled all the other sons of Jacob in wisdom and understanding, his brothers plotted against him. Anticipating the conspiracy, however, he besought the neighboring Arabs to transport him to Egypt, and they did as he requested, for the kings of the Arabs, being the sons of Abraham and brothers of Isaac, are descendants of Israel. 2After he came into Egypt and became acquainted with the king, he became minister of finance for the entire country. Prior to that time the Egyptians had farmed the land haphazardly because the countryside was not divided into allotments, and consequently the weak were treated unfairly by the strong. Joseph was the very first to subdivide the land, to indicate this with boundaries, to render much of the waste land tillable, to assign some of the arable land to the priests. 3In addition, it was he who discovered measures, and he was greatly loved by the Egyptians because of these accomplishments. He married Aseneth, the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis, by whom he fathered children. Later, both his father and his brothers came to him, bringing with them many possessions. They settled in Heliopolis and Sais, and the Syrians multiplied in Egypt. 4He says that these people named Hermiouth built both the temple in Athos and the one in Heliopolis. Eventually Joseph and the king of the Egyptians died. As long as Joseph held power over the financial affairs of Egypt, he stored up the grain surplus that had accumulated during the seven years as a result of the immense production, and consequently he became the lord of Egypt.<\/p>\n
Fragment 3 (from Eusebius, Praep. ev. 9:27:1\u201337)<\/p>\n
1Artapanus says in his book Concerning the Jews that after Abraham and his son Mempsasthenoth died, the king of the Egyptians died as well, and his son Palmanothes received the crown. 2Now Palmanothes dealt meanly with the Jews. First he built Sais, then he set up the temple there. Later he built the sanctuary in Heliopolis. 3He fathered a daughter Merris whom he betrothed to a certain Chenephres, a ruler of the regions above Memphis. At that time there were many rulers in Egypt. But since she was barren, she took as her own a child of one of the Jews and named him Moses. When he became a man, he was called Mousaios by the Greeks. 4This Moses became the teacher of Orpheus. When he reached manhood, he bestowed on humanity many useful contributions, for he invented ships, machines for lifting stones, Egyptian weapons, devices for drawing water and fighting, and philosophy. He also divided the state into thirty-six nomes, and to each of the nomes he assigned the god to be worshipped; in addition, he assigned the sacred writings to the priests. The gods he assigned were cats, dogs, and ibises. He set aside as well land exclusively for the use of the priests. 5He did all these things for the sake of keeping the monarchy stable for Chenephres, for prior to this time the masses were disorganized and they would sometimes depose, sometimes install rulers, often the same persons, but sometimes others. 6Thus, for these reasons Moses was loved by the masses, and being deemed worthy of divine honor by the priests, he was called Hermes because of his ability to interpret the sacred writings.<\/p>\n
7When Chenephres saw the fame of Moses, he became jealous and sought to kill him on some reasonable pretext. Thus when the Ethiopians marched against Egypt, Chenephres, supposing that he had found the right moment, sent Moses against them as the commander of a force of troops. He conscripted a band of farmers for Moses, rashly supposing that Moses would be killed by the enemy because his troops were weak. 8Moses came to the nome called Hermopolis with approximately 100,000 farmers, and he camped there. He commissioned as generals those who would eventually preside as rulers over the region, and they won every battle with distinction. He [Artapanus] says that the Heliopolitans report that the war lasted ten years. 9Thus, Moses and those with him, because of the size of the army, founded a city in this place, and they consecrated the ibis in the city because of its reputation for killing those animals that were harmful to men. They named it \u201cThe City of Hermes.\u201d 10So then, although the Ethiopians had been enemies, they came to love Moses, and as a result learned from him the practice of circumcising the genitalia\u2014not only they but all the priests as well.
\n11When the war was over, Chenephres welcomed him back in word but plotted against him in deed. In fact, after taking away Moses\u2019s troops, Chenephres sent some of them to the borders of Ethiopia as a defense garrison and ordered others to destroy the temple in Diospolis. This temple was constructed with baked bricks, but he ordered them to build another one of stone quarried from the mountain nearby. He appointed Nacheros to be in charge of the construction. 12When he came with Moses to Memphis, Chenephres inquired of him whether there was anything else useful to mankind, and he suggested a breed of oxen because of their usefulness in tilling the land. Chenephres named a bull Apis and commanded the people to dedicate a temple to it. He also ordered that the animals that had been consecrated by Moses be brought there and buried, wishing thereby to conceal the ideas of Moses. 13But when the Egyptians began to reject Chenephres, he swore his advisors to an oath not to inform Moses of the plot that was being formed against him and he appointed his assassins. 14But no one obeyed, and Chenephres reprimanded Chanethothes whom he had especially designated for the task. Duly censured, Chanethothes promised to make the assault as soon as he found an appropriate time. 15About this time Merris died, and Chenephres entrusted her body to both Moses and Chanethothes for them to transport it to the region above Egypt for burial, supposing that Moses would be killed by Chanethothes. 16But while they were en route, one of those who knew about the plot reported it to Moses. He guardedly buried Merris, then named the river and the city in that place Meroe. This Merris was honored by the inhabitants no less highly than Isis. 17Aaron, the brother of Moses, upon learning of the plot, advised his brother to flee into Arabia. He was persuaded and sailed across the Nile from Memphis, escaping into Arabia. 18Now when Chanethothes learned that Moses had fled, he lay in wait in order to kill him. When he saw Moses approaching, he drew his dagger on him, but Moses reacted too quickly for him, restrained his hand, and then drew his own sword and killed Chanethothes.
\n19He then fled into Arabia where he took up residence with Raguel, the chieftain of the region, and he married Raguel\u2019s daughter. Raguel wanted to wage war against the Egyptians because he wished to return Moses from exile and thereby establish the throne for his daughter and son-in-law. But Moses would not hear of it because he had regard for his own people. With his proposal for an attack blocked, Raguel ordered the Arabs to plunder Egypt. 20About this time Chenephres also died, the first man ever to contract elephantiasis. This suffering befell him because he had ordered the Jews to be clothed with linen and not to wear woolen clothing. He did this so that once they were so marked, they could be harassed by him. 21Moses prayed to God that the people might soon have respite from their sufferings. While he was making his appeal to God, suddenly, he [Artapanus] says, fire appeared out of the earth, and it blazed even though there was neither wood nor any other kindling in the vicinity. Frightened at what happened, Moses fled but a divine voice spoke to him and told him to wage war against Egypt, and as soon as he had rescued the Jews, to return them to their ancient fatherland. 22Taking courage from this, he resolved to lead a fighting force against the Egyptians, but first he went to Aaron his brother. The king of the Egyptians, upon learning of the arrival of Moses, summoned him and inquired of him why he had come. Moses replied that he had come because the LORD of the universe had commanded him to liberate the Jews
\n23Upon learning this, the king imprisoned him. When night came, all the doors of the prison opened of their own accord, and some of the guards died while others were overcome with sleep; also, their weapons broke into pieces. 24Moses left the prison and went to the palace. Finding the doors open, he entered the palace and aroused the king while the guards were sleeping on duty. Startled at what happened, the king ordered Moses to declare the name of the god who had sent him. He did this scoffingly. 25Moses bent over and spoke into the king\u2019s ear, but when the king heard it, he fell over speechless. But Moses picked him up and he came back to life again. 26He wrote the name on a tablet and sealed it securely, but one of the priests who showed contempt for what was written on the tablet died in a convulsion.
\n27The king then told Moses to perform some sign for him. So Moses threw out the rod that he held and made it a snake. Since everyone was terrified, he seized it by the tail, picked it up, and made it a rod again. 28He then stepped forward a few steps, struck the Nile with his rod, and the river flooded, inundating all of Egypt. It was from that time that the flooding of the Nile began. When the stagnant water began to smell, the animals in the river perished and the people as well began to die of thirst. 29Once these mighty wonders were accomplished, the king said that he would release the people after a month if Moses would restore the river to its banks. So Moses again struck the water with his rod and the waters subsided. 30When this had been done, the king summoned the priests who were over Memphis and threatened to kill them and destroy their temples unless they too performed some marvelous act. Then, using charms and incantations, they made a serpent and changed the color of the river. 31The king became arrogant as a result of such performances as this and consequently mistreated the Jews with every kind of vindictive chastisement. When Moses saw this, he performed more signs and struck the ground with his rod and raised up a certain species of winged creatures to scourge the Egyptians. As a result of his actions, they all broke out in body sores. Even the physicians were unable to cure those who were suffering with the sores. Thus once again relief came to the Jews. 32Once again, Moses used his rod to raise up frogs as well as locusts and fleas. It was for this reason that the Egyptians set up a rod in every temple. They do the same with Isis because the earth is Isis\u2019s and it produced these wonders when it was struck with the rod. 33Since the king persisted in playing the fool, Moses produced hail and earthquakes throughout the night so that those who fled the earthquakes perished in the hail and those who tried to avoid the hail were destroyed by the earthquakes. Also at that time all the houses and most of the temples collapsed.
\n34Finally, after enduring such calamities, the king released the Jews. After they had procured from the Egyptians many drinking vessels as well as not a little clothing and numerous other treasures, they crossed the river toward Arabia. They covered a considerable distance and then came to the Red Sea in three days. 35Now the Memphians claim that Moses, being familiar with the countryside, watched for the ebb tide, then led the multitudes through the dry part of the sea. The Heliopolitans, on the other hand, claim that the king rushed down on them with full force, carrying with them all the sacred animals because the Jews were crossing the sea, having taken the possessions of the Egyptians. 36The divine voice came to Moses instructing him to strike the sea with his rod and divide it. When Moses heard this, he touched the water lightly with his rod and the stream divided, and the multitude passed through the dry channel. 37When the Egyptians went in together in hot pursuit, he [Artapanus] says that a fire blazed in front of them, and the sea again flooded their path. All the Egyptians were consumed by the fire and the flood. After the Jews had escaped the danger, they spent 40 years in the desert. Meanwhile, God showered upon them meal similar in texture to rolled millet resembling the color of snow. He [Artapanus] reports that Moses was tall, ruddy complexioned, with long flowing gray hair, and dignified. He accomplished these things when he was about eighty-nine years old.<\/p>\n
Eupolemus<\/p>\n
Gregory E. Sterling<\/p>\n
One of the most important 1st century BCE doxographers, one who collected the works of other authors in a systematic way, was Alexander Polyhistor (ca. 110\u201340 BCE), a polymath who began life as a slave but was given his freedom and citizenship on the orders of the Roman statesman Sulla (ca. 81 BCE). He devoted his energies to collecting quotations from different authors, largely on ethnographic and philosophical matters. His work Concerning the Jews was an important collection of citations from early Hellenistic Jewish authors. Among the Jewish authors Polyhistor cited was Eupolemus.
\nClement of Alexandria (ca. 150\u2013215 CE) and Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 260\u2013340 CE) independently used Polyhistor\u2019s Concerning the Jews. In his Miscellanies, (Stromata [Strom]) Clement preserved three citations from Eupolemus via Polyhistor (frags. 1, 2, and 5, two of which he attributed directly to Eupolemus (frags. 1 and 5). Eusebius preserved six fragments in his Preparation for the Gospel (Praeparatio evangelica [Praep. ev.] frags. 1, 2, 3, 4; and Pseudo-Eupolemus, frags. 1 and 2), five of which he attributed explicitly to Eupolemus (frags. 1, 2, 3, 4 and Pseudo-Eupolemus, frag. 1). Two of the fragments of Clement and Eusebius are parallel (frags. 1 and 2). Two of the fragments cited by Eusebius probably belong to a Samaritan\u2014author (the ethnic identity is disputed) whom we conveniently call Pseudo-Eupolemus. This leaves us with five fragments: three preserved by Clement (frags. 1, 2, and 5) and four by Eusebius (frags. 1, 2, 3, and 4). Since Eusebius provided the fuller citation, his citations are used in the two cases below where there are overlaps.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Eupolemus (meaning \u201cgood at war\u201d) was an unusual name for a Jew in the ancient world. There are several statements that help us identify the author. The final fragment suggests that the work was completed in the fifth year of Demetrius I Soter (162\u2013150 BCE) or 158\u2013157 BCE. In 161 BCE, Judas Maccabeus sent \u201cEupolemus the son of John the son of Accos and Jason the son of Eleazer\u201d on an embassy to Rome (1 Macc. 8:17; see also 2 Macc. 4:11; Ant. 12.415). The coincidence of the date of the writing and the date of the embassy lead us to identify the author of the fragments with the ambassador, and this is secured by common interests of the author and ambassador: The interest in the Temple that the fragments demonstrate suggests that our author may have been a priest or a Levite associated with the Temple. And we have a lineage for the ambassador that ties him to a priestly family. Eupolemus\u2019s father was named John; the author of 2 Maccabees identifies him as an ambassador to Antiochus III when the Seleucids gained control of Judea (2 Macc. 4:11). John is linked to Accos or the Hakkoz family of priests (1 Chron. 24:10). The status of the family as priests makes the selection of the father and son for ambassadorial work an obvious possibility. The congruence of the ambassador\u2019s status as a priest and the author\u2019s interest in the Temple make the identity of the two probable.
\nEupolemus was probably born at the end of the 3rd century BCE or the beginning of the 2nd century BCE. He grew up in a priestly family in Jerusalem, where he received a good education in both Hebrew and Greek. His father\u2019s early ambassadorial work probably ensured him a broad education. The fragments indicate that he may have known the works of Ctesias (frag. 4 = Praep. ev. 9.39.4) and Herodotus (frag. 4 = 9.39.5). He may have been too old to serve or was deceased when another delegation traveled to Rome without him in 143 BCE (1 Macc. 12:16).
\nThe five fragments attributed to Eupolemus reflect two major concerns. The first and fifth fragments form an inclusio by situating the work within the contest over culture set off by Alexander the Great\u2019s conquests, when people living in the East reacted to Greek rule by claiming cultural superiority through their antiquity. Fragment 1 presents Moses as a great innovator who helped to establish human culture: He was the \u201cfirst\u201d sage, the \u201cfirst\u201d to give the alphabet, and the \u201cfirst\u201d legislator. Fragment 5 returns to the concern of situating the Jewish people in the larger world by accenting the antiquity of the Jewish people through chronological calculations correlated to dates in the larger world.
\nThe second, third, and fourth fragments concentrate on the history of the Temple. Fragment 2 moves quickly through the period from Joshua up to David by summarizing key figures through chronological notices and passing over the judges. Like the biblical Chronicler, Eupolemus concentrated on David and Solomon, and more particularly, on their role in the construction of the Temple. Eupolemus elevated Solomon\u2019s status and the Temple\u2019s by including correspondence between Solomon and the kings of Egypt and Phoenicia. It was no accident that these two kings represented the powers of Eupolemus\u2019s own period: the Ptolemies and Seleucids. The narrative provides a detailed, but selective description of the Temple based on the accounts in Kings and Chronicles, but works freely with the text. It emphasizes the role of prophets in the instructions for the Temple by including two extra biblical references to them. Fragment 3 provides a conclusion to the account of Solomon, and fragment 4 moves to the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians. Eupolemus was able to incorporate his interest in prophets by including the role of Jeremiah.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
Eupolemus offers an insider\u2019s perspective on the Temple during the tumultuous events of the middle of the 2nd century BCE. While he entitled his work Concerning the Kings in Judea (frag. 1 = Strom. 1.23.153.4), he appears to have concentrated on the Temple\u2014at least if our fragments reflect the basic interests of the work (frags. 2 and 4 especially). He wrote at the outset of the Hasmonean period after Judas had cleansed the Temple (164 BCE), but prior to Jewish independence in 142 BCE. The cleansing of the Temple (1 Macc. 4:36\u201361; 2 Macc. 10:1\u20139; Ant. 12.316\u201326) may have been the event that inspired him to write his history. His embellishments of the biblical text point to a rising national pride as the Hasmoneans attempted to extend their control over Jerusalem and Judea. His work was probably an effort to provide a sense of identity for the movement by relating their past glories, especially the construction of the Temple.
\nThe identity that Eupolemus sought to establish was connected with the traditions of the people through the retelling of the biblical text. However, it was also associated with the world at large. He wrote his account in Greek and self-consciously situated the story of the kings of Judea in the framework of the larger world, especially the Seleucids and Ptolemies. He was unambiguously Jewish, but Jewish in the Hellenistic world.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Eupolemus stands in a tradition of priestly writers living in the ancient East who related their native traditions: Berossus in Babylon, Manethon in Egypt, and later Josephus are all good examples of the tradition that I call apologetic historiography. It is the Eastern tradition that Josephus set out in his historiographical excursus in Ag. Ap. 1.6\u201356, which may be described as \u201cthe story of a subpeople in an extended prose narrative written by a member of the group who follows the group\u2019s own traditions but hellenizes them in an effort to establish the identity of the group within the setting of the larger world.\u201d These authors are different from Greek ethnographers who described what they saw and heard, using their own records from their own investigations. At the same time, they hellenize their own records by writing in Greek and using some of the techniques and forms of Hellenistic authors. It is worth reading some of the other priestly authors to understand the tradition.
\nAs suggested above, this form of historiography relates both to native traditions and to traditions in the larger Hellenistic world. Eupolemus is most indebted to 1\u20132 Chronicles for his native traditions, and so it is helpful to read through these biblical books to understand the focus of his work. He also drew from the larger world, and his work is similar in many ways to the group of authors known as local historians, that is, historians who wrote the history of a city or region. One of the hallmarks of these works is concern for chronology: the writers structured their works around the reigns of kings or the chief magistrates in Athens known as archons, in the same way that Eupolemus did. They were concerned with origins just as Eupolemus was. The most famous set of local historians are those who wrote about Athens. The most important of these are: Hellanicus (FGH 323a), Cleidemus (FGH 323), Androtion (FGH 324), Phanodemus (FGH 325), Melanthius (FGH 326), Demon (FGH 327), Philochorus (FGH 328), and Ister (FGH 334).
\nThere is another Jewish work that shares some of the same orientation with the local historians, although not with the attempt to relate the whole history of the people as the apologetic historians: 2 Maccabees. It is worth reading its defense of the Temple along with Eupolemus\u2019s account of its construction and destruction.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Doran, Robert. \u201cThe Jewish Historians before Josephus.\u201d In ANRW 2.20.1, 246\u201397, esp. 263\u201370. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1987.
\nFallon, F. \u201cEupolemus.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by James Charlesworth, 2:861\u201372. New York: Doubleday, 1985.
\nFreudenthal, J. Alexander Polyhistor und die von ihm erhaltenen Reste j\u00fcdischer und samaritanischer Geschichtswerke, esp. 105\u201330. Hellenistische Studied, 1\u20132. Breslau: H. Skutsch, 1875.
\nGruen, Erich. Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition, esp. 138\u201346. Hellenistic Culture and Society 30. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
\nHolladay, Carl R. Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors. Vol. 1: The Historians, esp. 93\u2013156. SBL Texts and Translations 20 \/ SBL Pseudepigrapha Series 10. Chico CA: Scholars Press, 1983.
\nMittmann-Richert, Ulrike. Einf\u00fchrung zu den historischen und legendarischen Erz\u00e4hlungen, esp. 174\u201384. J\u00fcdische Schriften aus hellenistisch-r\u00f6mischer Zeit 6.1.1. G\u00fctersloh: G\u00fctersloher Verlag, 2000.
\nSterling, Gregory E. Historiography & Self-definition: Josephos, Luke-Acts and Apologetic Historiography, esp. 207\u201322. NovTSup 64. Leiden: Brill, 1992; rpt. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005.
\nWacholder, Ben Zion. Eupolemus: A Study of Judaeo-Greek Literature. Monographs of the Hebrew Union College 3. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1974.
\nWalter, Nikolaus. Fragmente j\u00fcdisch-hellenistischer Historiker, esp. 93\u2013108. J\u00fcdische Schriften aus hellenistisch-r\u00f6mischer Zeit I.2. G\u00fctersloh: Gerd Mohn, 1980.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Fragment 1 (Praep. ev. 9.26.1)<\/p>\n
Eupolemus says that Moses was the first sage; that he handed down the letters of the alphabet first to the Jews, the Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phoenicians; and that Moses was the first to write laws for the Jews.<\/p>\n
Fragment 2 (Praep. ev. 9.30.1\u201334.18)<\/p>\n
9.30.1Eupolemus said in a certain book Concerning the Prophecy of Elijah that Moses prophesied for forty years, then Joshua, the son of Nain, for thirty years. He lived one hundred and ten years and pitched<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
the time when man did not exist and there was no wickedness in it, when I said, \u201cLet the world be created and those who come into it will praise me. I will plant a great vineyard, and from it I will choose a plant; and I will transplant it and call it by my … <\/p>\n