1 AND the men of Ephraim came together, and passed over northward, and said to Jephthah: Wherefore didst thou pass over to fight against the sons of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? Thy house we will burn over thee with 2 fire. And Jephthah said to them: I was in great strife, I and my people, with the sons of Ammon; and I cried to you, 3 and ye delivered me not out of their hand. And I saw that ye would not save; and I put my life in my hand, and passed over to the sons of Ammon, and Jehovah gave them into my hand. Wherefore then are ye come up to me this day, to 4 fight against me? And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead smote Ephraim; because they said: Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the 5 Manassites. And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan to Ephraim. And it was so, when the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, that the men of Gilead said to him, • Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay, they said to him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right. And they seized him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time 7 of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. And Jephthah judged Israel six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

8

9

And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel. And he had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he let go abroad, and brought in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And

view. She sought solace for her grief in the sympathy of her young companions, among those mountain solitudes, where they might freely share a sorrow, which could not properly be indulged and find expression in the abodes and company of men. For mourning her untimely death, the place was her father's house, in the companionship of her kindred. —— And she knew not a man has a marked significance, if it is meant that she passed her life in celibacy; but it has no pertinency on any other supposition.

"Whatsoever shall go out from the doors of my house," is the true expression of the Hebrew in the twenty-seventh verse. A person might be meant, or an animal. But Jephthah, it is probable, thought only of its worth; vowing to withhold nothing, however valuable it might be. His demeanor, on seeing his daughter, his only child. is explained by what has already been said; for he knew what it portended, to himself as well as to her."To meet" does not in itself imply a purpose or intention of meeting, but only a concurrence, accidental or intended.

V. 9. Let go abroad. Gave them in marriage.

10 he judged Israel seven years. buried at Beth-lehem.

11

And after him Elon, the

And Ibzan died, and was

Zebulonite, judged Israel. And

12 he judged Israel ten years. And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13

And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, 14 judged Israel. And he had forty sons and thirty grandsons, that rode on threescore and ten young asses. And he judged 15 Israel eight years. And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, on the mount of the Amalekites.

1 AND the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, 3 and did not bear. And an angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman, and said to her: Behold now, thou art barren, and 4 bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. And now beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong 5 drink, and eat nothing unclean. For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6

And

And the woman came and told her husband, saying: A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible. And I asked 7 him not whence he was, nor did he tell me his name. he said to me: Lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. And now drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God, from the womb to the day of his death.

8

And Manoah prayed to Jehovah, and said: Beseech thee Lord, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again

V. 5. Nazarile unto God. One consecrated to God.

to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall 9 be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah. And the angel of God came again to the woman; and she was sitting in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with 10 her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her

husband, and said to him: Behold, the man has appeared 11 to me, who came to me on that day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife. And he came to the man, and said to him: Art thou the man that spoke to the woman? And 12 he said, I am. And Manoah said: Now when thy words come to pass, what shall be the rule for the child, and the 13 treatment of him? And the angel of Jehovah said to Ma14 noah: Of all that I said to the woman let her beware.

15

She

may not eat of any thing that comes from the vine, nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any thing unclean. All that I commanded her she shall observe.

And Manoah said to the angel of Jehovah: I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid of the 16 goats for thee. And the angel of Jehovah said to Manoah: If thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt make a burnt offering to Jehovah, thou mayest offer it. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of Jehovah. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of Jehovah: What is thy

name? That when thy words come to pass, we may do thee 18 honor. And the angel of Jehovah said to him: Why askest 19 thou thus after my name, since it is wonderful? And Ma

noah took the kid of the goats and the meat offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah. And he did won20 drously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it was so,

when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar; and Manoah and his wife looked on, and they fell on their 21 faces to the ground. And the angel of Jehovah appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew 22 that he was an angel of Jehovah. And Manoah said to his 23 wife: We shall surely die; for we have seen God. And his wife said to him: If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he

24

would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands; and he would not have made us see all these things, nor at this time have told us such things as these.

And the woman bore a son; and she called his name Samson. And the child grew up, and Jehovah blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him, in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

And he saw a

1 AND Samson went down to Timnath. 2 woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother. And he said: I have seen a woman in Timnath, of the daughters of 3 the Philistines; and now get her for me for a wife. And his father and his mother said to him: Is there no woman among

the daughters of thy brethren, and among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father: Get her for me; for she 4 pleases me well. And his father and his mother knew not that it was from Jehovah. For he sought an occasion from the Philistines. And at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

5

And Samson went down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath. And they came to the vineyards of Timnath; and, 6 behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of Jehovah came suddenly upon him, and he rent him as one rends a kid, and there was nothing in his hand. And he 7 told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

8

And after a time he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and, behold, a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating as he went, and came to his father and his mother. And he gave to them, and they did

V. 4. For he sought. Samson is meant.

V. 8. In the body of the lion. In that climate, the powerful heat of the sun soon dries up all the moisture in the flesh of a dead animal. Putrefaction does not follow; and in this case, the dried up carcass was occupied by a swarm of bees.

eat; and he told them not that he took the honey out of the body of the lion.

10 And his father went down to the woman. And Samson 11 made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And so it was, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

12

And Samson said to them: I will now put forth a riddle to you; if ye shall certainly declare it to me in the seven days of the feast, and have found it out, then I will give you 13 thirty shirts and thirty changes of raiment. And if ye shall not be able to declare it to me, then shall ye give me thirty shirts and thirty changes of raiment. And they said to him: 14 Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three

15 days declare the riddle. And it was so on the seventh day, that they said to the wife of Samson: Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to take all that 16 we have? Is it not so? And Samson's wife wept before him, and said: Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not. Thou hast put forth a riddle to the sons of my people, and to me thou hast not made it known. He said to her: Behold, I have not made it known to my father nor my mother; 17 and shall I make it known to thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted. And it was so on the seventh day, that he made it known to her, because she sorely pressed him. And she made known the riddle to the 18 sons of her people. And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before the sun went down : What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them: If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

19

And the Spirit of Jehovah came suddenly upon him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil; and he gave the changes of raiment to them that made known the riddle. And his anger was