The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 7: Judges
U >>
Unknown >> The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 7: Judges
14:3. And his father and mother said to him: Is there no woman among the
daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou wilt take a
wife of the Philistines, who are uncircumcised? And Samson said to his
father: Take this woman for me; for she hath pleased my eyes.
Is there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren... This shews his
parents were at first against his marriage with a Gentile, it being
prohibited, Deut. 7.3; but afterwards they consented, knowing it to be
by the dispensation of God; which otherwise would have been sinful in
acting contrary to the law.
14:4. Now his parents knew not that the thing was done by the Lord, and
that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the
Philistines had dominion over Israel.
14:5. Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Thamnatha. And
when they were come to the vineyards of the town, behold a young lion
met him, raging and roaring.
14:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion
as he would have torn a kid in pieces, having nothing at all in his
hand: and he would not tell this to his father and mother.
14:7. And he went down, and spoke to the woman that had pleased his
eyes.
14:8. And after some days, returning to take her, he went aside to see
the carcass of the lion, and behold there was a swarm of bees in the
mouth of the lion, and a honey-comb.
14:9. And when he had taken it in his hands, he went on eating: and
coming to his father and mother, he gave them of it, and they ate: but
he would not tell them that he had taken the honey from the body of the
lion.
14:10. So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for his
son Samson: for so the young men used to do.
14:11. And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought him
thirty companions to be with him.
14:12. And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, which if
you declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you
thirty shirts, and as many coats:
14:13. But if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me
thirty shirts and the same number of coats. They answered him: Put forth
the riddle, that we may hear it.
14:14. And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of
the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not for three days
expound the riddle.
14:15. And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson:
Sooth thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the riddle
meaneth. But if thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee, and thy father's
house. Have you called us to the wedding on purpose to strip us?
14:16. So she wept before Samson and complained, saying: Thou hatest me,
and dost not love me: therefore thou wilt not expound to me the riddle,
which thou hast proposed to the sons of my people. But he answered: I
would not tell it to my father and mother: and how can I tell it to
thee?
14:17. So she wept before him the seven days of the feast: and, at
length, on the seventh day, as she was troublesome to him, he expounded
it. And she immediately told her countrymen.
14:18. And they, on the seventh day before the sun went down, said to
him: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And
he said to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not
found out my riddle.
14:19. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to
Ascalon, and slew there thirty men whose garments he took away, and gave
to them that had declared the riddle. And being exceeding angry, he went
up to his father's house:
14:20. But his wife took one of his friends and bridal companions for
her husband.
Judges Chapter 15
Samson is denied his wife. He burns the corn of the Philistines, and
kills many of them.
15:1. And a while after, when the days of the wheat harvest were at
hand, Samson came, meaning to visit his wife, and he brought her a kid
of the flock. And when he would have gone into her chamber, as usual,
her father would not suffer him, saying:
15:2. I thought thou hadst hated her, and therefore I gave her to thy
friend: but she hath a sister, who is younger and fairer than she, take
her to wife instead of her.
15:3. And Samson answered him: From this day I shall be blameless in
what I do against the Philistines: for I will do you evils.
15:4. And he went and caught three hundred foxes, and coupled them tail
to tail, and fastened torches between the tails:
Foxes... Being judge of the people he might have many to assist him to
catch with nets or otherwise a number of these animals; of which there
were great numbers in that country.
15:6. And setting them on fire he let the foxes go, that they might run
about hither and thither. And they presently went into the standing corn
of the Philistines. Which being set on fire, both the corn that was
already carried together, and that which was yet standing, was all
burnt, insomuch that the flame consumed also the vineyards and the
oliveyards.
15:6. Then the Philistines said: Who hath done this thing? And it was
answered: Samson, the son in law of the Thamnathite, because he took
away his wife, and gave her to another, hath done these things. And the
Philistines went up and burnt both the woman and her father.
15:7. But Samson said to them: Although you have done this, yet will I
be revenged of you, and then I will be quiet.
15:8. And he made a great slaughter of them, so that in astonishment
they laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh. And going down he dwelt in
a cavern of the rock Etam.
15:9. Then the Philistines going up into the land of Juda, camped in the
place which afterwards was called Lechi, that is, the Jawbone, where
their army was spread abroad.
15:10. And the men of the tribe of Juda said to them: Why are you come
up against us? They answered: We are come to bind Samson, and to pay him
for what he hath done against us.
15:11. Wherefore three thousand men of Juda went down to the cave of the
rock Etam, and said to Samson: Knowest thou not that the Philistines
rule over us? Why wouldst thou do thus? And he said to them: As they
did to me, so have I done to them.
15:12. And they said to him: We are come to bind thee, and to deliver
thee into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them: Swear
to me, and promise me that you will not kill me.
15:13. They said: We will not kill thee: but we will deliver thee up
bound. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him from the
rock Etam.
15:14. Now when he was come to the place of the Jawbone, and the
Philistines shouting went to meet him, the Spirit of the Lord came
strongly upon him: and as flax is wont to be consumed at the approach of
fire, so the bands with which he was bound were broken and loosed.
15:15. And finding a jawbone, even the jawbone of an ass, which lay
there, catching it up, he slew therewith a thousand men.
15:16. And he said: With the jawbone of an ass, with the jaw of the colt
of asses, I have destroyed them, and have slain a thousand men.
15:17. And when he had ended these words, singing, he threw the jawbone
out of his hand, and called the name of that place Ramathlechi, which is
interpreted the lifting up of the jawbone.
15:18. And being very thirsty, he cried to the Lord, and said: Thou hast
given this very great deliverance and victory into the hand of thy
servant: and behold I die for thirst, and shall fall into the hands of
the uncircumcised.
15:19. Then the Lord opened a great tooth in the jaw of the ass and
waters issued out of it. And when he had drunk them, he refreshed his
spirit, and recovered his strength. Therefore the name of that place was
called The Spring of him that invoked from the jawbone, until this
present day.
15:20. And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, twenty
years.
Judges Chapter 16
Samson is deluded by Dalila: and falls into the hands of the
Philistines. His death.
16:1. He went also into Gaza, and saw there a woman, a harlot, and went
in unto her.
16:2. And when the Philistines had heard this, and it was noised about
among them, that Samson was come into the city, they surrounded him,
setting guards at the gate of the city, and watching there all the night
in silence, that in the morning they might kill him as he went out.
16:3. But Samson slept till midnight, and then rising, he took both the
doors of the gate, with the posts thereof and the bolt, and laying them
on his shoulders, carried them up to the top of the hill, which looketh
towards Hebron.
16:4. After this he loved a woman, who dwelt in the valley of Sorec, and
she was called Dalila.
Dalila... Some are of opinion she was married to Samson; others that she
was his harlot. If the latter opinion be true, we cannot wonder that, in
punishment of his lust, the Lord delivered him up, by her means, into
the hands of his enemies. However if he was guilty, it is not to be
doubted but that under his afflictions he heartily repented and returned
to God, and so obtained forgiveness of his sins.
16:5. And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and sald: Deceive
him, and learn of him wherein his great strength lieth, and how we may
be able to overcome him, to bind and afflict him: which if thou shalt
do, we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
16:6. And Dalila said to Samson: Tell me, I beseech thee, wherein thy
greatest strength lieth, and what it is, wherewith if thou wert bound,
thou couldst not break loose.
16:7. And Samson answered her: If I shall be bound with seven cords,
made of sinews not yet dry, but still moist, I shall be weak like other
men.
16:8. And the princes of the Philistines brought unto her seven cords,
such as he spoke of, with which she bound him;
16:9. Men lying privately in wait with her, and in the chamber,
expecting the event of the thing, and she cried out to him: The
Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the bands, as a man
would break a thread of tow twined with spittle, when it smelleth the
fire: so it was not known wherein his strength lay.
16:10. And Dalila said to him: Behold thou hast mocked me, and hast told
me a false thing: but now at least tell me wherewith thou mayest be
bound.
16:11. And he answered her: If I shall be bound with new ropes, that
were never in work, I shall be weak and like other men.
16:12. Dalila bound him again with these, and cried out: The Philistines
are upon thee, Samson, there being an ambush prepared for him in the
chamber. But he broke the bands like threads of webs.
16:13. And Dalila said to him again: How long dost thou deceive me, and
tell me lies? Shew me wherewith thou mayest be bound. And Samson
answered her: If thou plattest the seven locks of my head with a lace,
and tying them round about a nail, fastenest it in the ground, I shall
be weak.
16:14. And when Dalila had done this, she said to him: The Philistines
are upon thee, Samson. And awaking out of his sleep, he drew out the
nail with the hairs and the lace.
16:15. And Dalila said to him: How dost thou say thou lovest me, when
thy mind is not with me? Thou hast told me lies these three times, and
wouldst not tell me wherein thy greatest strength lieth.
16:16. And when she pressed him much, and continually hung upon him for
many days, giving him no time to rest, his soul fainted away, and was
wearied even unto death.
16:17. Then opening the truth of the thing, he said to her: The razor
hath never come upon my head, for I am a Nazarite, that is to say,
consecrated to God from my mother's womb: If my head be shaven, my
strength shall depart from me, and I shall become weak, and shall be
like other men.
16:18. Then seeing that he had discovered to her all his mind, she sent
to the princes of the Philistines, saying: Come up this once more, for
now he hath opened his heart to me. And they went up, taking with them
the money which they had promised.
16:19. But she made him sleep upon her knees, and lay his head in her
bosom. And she called a barber and shaved his seven locks, and began to
drive him away, and thrust him from her: for immediately his strength
departed from him.
16:20. And she said: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking
from sleep, he said in his mind: I will go out as I did before, and
shake myself, not knowing that the Lord was departed from him.
16:21. Then the Philistines seized upon him, and forthwith pulled out
his eyes, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up in
prison made him grind.
16:22. And now his hair began to grow again,
16:23. And the princes of the Philistines assembled together, to offer
great sacrifices to Dagon their god, and to make merry, saying: Our god
hath delivered our enemy Samson into our hands.
16:24. And the people also seeing this, praised their god, and said the
same: Our god hath delivered our adversary into our hands, him that
destroyed our country, and killed very many.
16:25. And rejoicing in their feasts, when they had now taken their good
cheer, they commanded that Samson should be called, and should play
before them. And being brought out of prison, he played before them; and
they made him stand between two pillars.
16:26. And he said to the lad that guided his steps: Suffer me to touch
the pillars which support the whole house, and let me lean upon them,
and rest a little.
16:27. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the princes of
the Philistines were there. Moreover about three thousand persons of
both sexes, from the roof and the higher part of the house, were
beholding Samson's play.
16:28. But he called upon the Lord, saying: O Lord God remember me, and
restore to me now my former strength, O my God, that I may revenge
myself on my enemies, and for the loss of my two eyes I may take one
revenge.
Revenge myself... This desire of revenge was out of zeal for justice
against the enemies of God and his people; and not out of private
rancour and malice of heart.
16:29. And laying hold on both the pillars on which the house rested,
and holding the one with his right hand, and the other with his left,
16:30. He said: Let me die with the Philistines. And when he had
strongly shook the pillars, the house fell upon all the princes, and the
rest of the multitude, that was there: and he killed many more at his
death, than he had killed before in his life.
Let me die... Literally, let my soul die. Samson did not sin on this
occasion, though he was indirectly the cause of his own death. Because
he was moved to what he did, by a particular inspiration of God, who
also concurred with him by a miracle, in restoring his strength upon the
spot, in consequence of his prayer. Samson, by dying in this manner, was
a figure of Christ, who by his death overcame all his enemies.
16:31. And his brethren and all his kindred, going down took his body,
and buried it between Saraa and Esthaol, in the buryingplace of his
father Manue: and he judged Israel twenty years.
Judges Chapter 17
The history of the idol of Michas, and the young Levite.
17:1. There was at that time a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was
Michas.
17:2. Who said to his mother: The eleven hundred pieces of silver, which
thou hadst put aside for thyself, and concerning which thou didst swear
in my hearing, behold I have, and they are with me. And she said to him.
Blessed be my son by the Lord.
17:3. So he restored them to his mother, who said to him: I have
consecrated and vowed this silver to the Lord, that my son may receive
it at my hand, and make a graven and a molten god; so now I deliver it
to thee.
17:4. And he restored them to his mother: and she took two hundred
pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, to make of them a
graven and a molten God, which was in the house of Michas.
17:5. And he separated also therein a little temple for the god, and
made an ephod, and theraphim, that is to say, a priestly garment, and
idols: and he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he became his
priest.
Filled the hand... That is, appointed and consecrated him to the
priestly office.
17:6. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every one did that
which seemed right to himself.
17:7. There was also another young man of Bethlehem Juda, of the kindred
thereof: and he was a Levite, and dwelt there.
17:8. Now he went out from the city of Bethlehem, and desired to sojourn
wheresoever he should find it convenient for him. And when he was come
to mount Ephraim, as he was on his journey, and had turned aside a
little into the house of Michas,
17:9. He was asked by him whence he came. And he answered: I am a Levite
of Bethlehem Juda, and I am going to dwell where I can, and where I
shall find a place to my advantage.
17:10. And Michas said: Stay with me, and be unto me a father and a
priest, and I will give thee every year ten pieces of silver, and a
double suit of apparel, and thy victuals.
17:11. He was content, and abode with the man, and was unto him as one
of his sons.
17:12. And Michas filled his hand, and had the young man with him for
his priest, saying:
17:13. Now I know God will do me good, since I have a priest of the race
of the Levites.
Judges Chapter 18
The expedition of the men of Dan against Lais: in their way they rob
Michas of his priest and his gods.
18:1. In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of Dan
sought them an inheritance to dwell in: for unto that day they had not
received their lot among the other tribes.
Not received, etc... They had their portions assigned them, Jos. 19.40.
But, through their own sloth, possessed as yet but a small part of it.
See Judges 1.34.
18:2. So the children of Dan sent five most valiant men, of their stock
and family, from Saraa and Esthaol, to spy out the land, and to view it
diligently: and they said to them: Go, and view the land. They went on
their way, and when they came to mount Ephraim, they went into the house
of Michas, and rested there:
18:3. And knowing the voice of the young man the Levite, and lodging
with him, they said to him: Who brought thee hither? what dost thou
here? why wouldst thou come hither?
18:4. He answered them: Michas hath done such and such things for me,
and hath hired me to be his priest.
18:5. Then they desired him to consult the Lord, that they might know
whether their journey should be prosperous, and the thing should have
effect.
18:6. He answered them: Go in peace: the Lord looketh on your way, and
the journey that you go.
18:7. So the five men going on came to Lais: and they saw how the people
dwelt therein without any fear, according to the custom of the
Sidonians, secure and easy, having no man at all to oppose them, being
very rich, and living separated, at a distance from Sidon and from all
men.
18:8. And they returned to their brethren in Saraa and Esthaol, who
asked them what they had done: to whom they answered:
18:9. Arise, and let us go up to them: for we have seen the land which
is exceeding rich and fruitful: neglect not, lose no time: let us go and
possess it, there will be no difficulty.
18:10. We shall come to a people that is secure, into a spacious
country, and the Lord will deliver the place to us, in which there is no
want of any thing that groweth on the earth.
18:11. There went therefore of the kindred of Dan, to wit, from Saraa
and Esthaol, six hundred men, furnished with arms for war.
18:12. And going up they lodged in Cariathiarim of Juda: which place
from that time is called the camp of Dan, and is behind Cariathiarim.
18:13. From thence they passed into mount Ephraim. And when they were
come to the house of Michas,
18:14. The five men, that before had been sent to view the land of Lais,
said to the rest of their brethren: You know that in these houses there
is an ephod and theraphim, and a graven and a molten god: see what you
are pleased to do.
18:15. And when they had turned a little aside, they went into the house
of the young man the Levite, who was in the house of Michas: and they
saluted him with words of peace.
18:16. And the six hundred men stood before the door, appointed with
their arms.
18:17. But they that were gone into the house of the young man, went
about to take away the graven god, and the ephod, and the theraphim, and
the molten god, and the priest stood before the door, the six hundred
valiant men waiting not far off.
18:18. So they that were gone in took away the graven thing, the ephod,
and the idols, and the molten god, And the priest said to them: What are
you doing?
18:19. And they said to him: Hold thy peace, and put thy finger on thy
mouth, and come with us, that we may have thee for a father, and a
priest. Whether is better for thee, to be a priest in the house of one
man, or in a tribe and family in Israel?
18:20. When he heard this, he agreed to their words, and took the ephod,
and the idols, and the graven god, and departed with them.
18:21. And when they were going forward, and had put before them the
children and the cattle, and all that was valuable,
18:22. And were now at a distance from the house of Michas, the men that
dwelt in the houses of Michas gathering together followed them,
18:23. And began to shout out after them. They looked back, and said to
Michas: What aileth thee? Why dost thou cry?
18:24. And he answered: You have taken away my gods which I have made
me, and the priest, and all that I have, and do you say: What aileth
thee?
18:25. And the children of Dan said to him: See thou say no more to us,
lest men enraged come upon thee, and thou perish with all thy house.
18:26. And so they went on the journey they had begun. But Michas
seeing that they were stronger than he, returned to his house.
18:27. And the six hundred men took the priest, and the things we spoke
of before, and came to Lais, to a people that was quiet and secure, and
smote them with the edge of the sword: and the city they burnt with
fire,
18:28. There being no man at all who brought them any succour, because
they dwelt far from Sidon, and had no society or business with any man.
And the city was in the land of Rohob: and they rebuilt it, and dwelt
therein,
18:29. Calling the name of the city Dan, after the name of their father,
who was the son of Israel, which before was called Lais.
18:30. And they set up to themselves the graven idol, and Jonathan the
son of Gersam, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests in the
tribe of Dan, until the day of their captivity.
18:31. And the idol of Michas remained with them all the time that the
house of God was in Silo. In those days there was no king in Israel.
Judges Chapter 19
A Levite bringing home his wife, is lodged by an old man at Gabaa in the
tribe of Benjamin. His wife is there abused by wicked men, and in the
morning found dead. Her husband cutteth her body in pieces, and sendeth
to every tribe of Israel, requiring them to revenge the wicked fact.
19:1. There was a certain Levite, who dwelt on the side of mount
Ephraim, who took a wife of Bethlehem Juda:
19:2. And she left him, and returned to her father's house in Bethlehem,
and abode with him four months.
19:3. And her husband followed her, willing to be reconciled with her,
and to speak kindly to her, and to bring her back with him, having with
him a servant and two asses: and she received him, and brought him into
her father's house. And when his father in law had heard this, and had
seen him, he met him with joy,
19:4. And embraced the man. And the son in law tarried in the house of
his father in law three days, eating with him and drinking familiarly.
19:5. But on the fourth day, arising early in the morning, he desired to
depart. But his father in law kept him, and said to him: Taste first a
little bread, and strengthen thy stomach, and so thou shalt depart.
19:6. And they sat down together, and ate and drank. And the father of
the young woman said to his son in law: I beseech thee to stay here to
day, and let us make merry together.
19:7. But he rising up, began to be for departing. And nevertheless his
father in law earnestly pressed him, and made him stay with him.
19:8. But when morning was come, the Levite prepared to go on his
journey. And his father in law said to him again: I beseech thee to take
a little meat, and strengthening thyself, till the day be farther
advanced, afterwards thou mayest depart. And they ate together.
19:9. And the young man arose to set forward with his wife and servant.
And his father in law spoke to him again: Consider that the day is
declining, and draweth toward evening: tarry with me to day also, and
spend the day in mirth, and to morrow thou shalt depart, that thou
mayest go into thy house.
19:10. His son in law would not consent to his words: but forthwith went
forward, and came over against Jebus, which by another name is called
Jerusalem, leading with him two asses loaden, and his concubine.
Concubine.. She was his lawful wife, but even lawful wives are
frequently in scripture called concubines. See above, chap. 8. ver.
31.--Ver. 16. Jemini... That is, Benjamin.