CHAPTER 8
1. But a man of Efrayim said to him, “What is this thing that you have done to us by not calling us when you went to fight against Midyan?” And they quarreled sharply with him.
They did not understand that it was YHWH’s choice, not his, to limit the size of his army. He actually did summon Efrayim, but not until the mop-up stage of the battle (7:24), and this was perceived as a slight.
2. So he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Efrayim better than the vintage of Avi-Ezer?
Gleanings…vintage: Aramaic, weak ones…strong ones.
3. “Into your hands Elohim has given the princes of Midyan—Orev and Ze’ev! So what was I able to do in comparison to you?” Then their spirit dropped back from [being] against him, when he said this thing.
The background story is in 7:24-25. Dropped back: relaxed, abated, went slack, refrained from. Note how tense relations between different tribes already were, that even what should have been seen as glad news would become a cause for near war between brothers. Whether he was simply humble or was wisely opting not to let internal strife begin after the external threat had been removed, the net result was placation:
4. When Gid’on arrived at the Yarden [and] was crossing over—he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet continuing the chase,
5. he said to the men of Sukkoth, “Please provide round loaves of bread for the people who are at my feet, because they are exhausted—and I am chasing after the kings of Midyan, Zevakh and Tsalmuna’.”
Zevakh means “slaughter” and Tsalmuna’ means “deprived of [the protection of] a shadow.
6. But the leaders of Sukkoth said, “Is the foot of Zevakh and Tsalmuna’ already in your hand, that we should give your army bread?”
7. So Gid’on said, “Because of this, when YHWH has given Zevakh and Tsalmuna’ into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars!”
Tear: Aramaic and LXX, thresh. Prverbs 19:29 says stripes are prepared for the backs of fools. Now Gid’on is beginning to be fed up with what Israel is turning out to be like.
8. And he went up from there to P’nu-El, and spoke to them in this same way, but the men of P’nu-El answered him just like the men of Sukkoth had answered.
He was retracing Yaaqov’s steps from Sukkoth, where he built houses and cattle shelters (so Gid’on would expect a place of hospitality) to the place where he had his “wrestling match”. (P’nu-El means “its face to YHWH”,and was the place where Yaaqov’s name was changed to Israel, so he undoubtedly expected the townspeople to be about seeking YHWH’s face and serving the rest of Israel. He was greatly disappointed.) This same way: i.e., asking for provisions. These two towns were in the tribal territory of gad, across the Yarden, where their not-so-distant ancestors had been concerned that they would not be counted as separate from Israel (Y’hoshua 22:10ff), but now they were unwilling to support Israel’s army. Their ancestors’ concern proved a valid one.
9. So he spoke likewise to the men of P’nu-El, saying, “When I return in peacetime, I will tear down this tower!”
10. Now Zevakh and Tsalmuna’ were in Qarqor [dug-out foundation] and their [armie]s encamped with them—about 15,000, all who were left of the whole camp of the sons of the east (while those who fell were 120,000 men who draw the sword).
11. So Gid’on went up [by] the way of those who dwell in tents east of Novakh and Yaugb’hah, and started attacking the camp, because the camp was at ease.
At ease: sitting securely, in careless confidence and bold assurance that they were safe. This was the perfect time to attack. We must therefore beware when we are at ease. (Amos 6:1; Yeshayahu 32:9ff)
12. When Zevakh and Tsalmuna’ escaped, he chased after them and captured the two kings of Midyan, Zevakh and Tsalmuna’, and he made the whole camp tremble.
Prior to this, Gid’on and his armies were the ones trembling, but now it is the enemies’ turn.
13. When Gid’on the son of Yo’ash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Kheres,
By the Ascent of Kheres: Aramaic, before the sunrise.
14. he captured one of the younger men of Sukkoth and interrogated him, and he was [describing] to him in writing the leaders of Sukkoth, as well as its elders—77 men.
He made sure he got a complete list, so he would be certain that no one missed his thrashing.
15. So he came to the men of Sukkoth and said, “Behold Zevakh and Tsalmuna’, about whom you railed at me, saying, ‘Is the foot of Zevakh and Tsalmuna’ already in your hand, that we should give your exhausted men bread?’”
Railed: taunted or exposed (as they had sent him on his way without giving him a covering).
16. And he took hold of the elders of the city and some thorns of the wilderness and briars, and he made it known to the men of Sukkoth.
Made it known: or, taught; literally, made them know [it]. It seems he wanted the rest of the town to see their leaders chastised for not acknowledging the authority YHWH had given him.
17. Then he tore down the tower of P’nu-El and killed the men of the city.
He kept his promise and more. Had they already known what he had said to the men of Sukkoth when he initially approached them? Did he go too far, or should it have been enough that YHWH had proven He was with Gid’on and that the word had already spread far enough that these men should have trusted and supported him? We will see below that Israel deserved this treatment. Why did he do worse to them than to those in Sukkoth? He may have been getting progressively bolder, as he stepped into the authority YHWH had given and saw YHWH confirm it, for he was no longer the timid man we saw earlier. He now appears a natural warrior like David even before he was king. But he also may have been getting more and more exasperated with just how unlike the Israel revealed in the Torah his countrymen actually were. Yet if a young man in Sukkoth could write, it told Gid’on it was a town capable of learning and therefore teachable, whereas P’nu’El was sitting in its own strength.
18. Then to Zevakh and Tsalmuna’ he said, “What were the men that you killed at Thavor like?” And they said, “They were just like you—[each] one looked like a king’s son!”
Like a king’s son: because Israelites may have all been wearing some form of t’fillin on their heads, even when going about their daily business, literally following the command to bind YHWH’s word like “frontlets” between our eyes. (Deut. 6:8; 11:18) This must have appeared to these kings to be a decoration similar to a crown. He also gave us tzitziyoth to remind us who we are (Num. 15:38-39), whether others recognize it or not. But it seems there was some unique form of garment that only Gid’on’s family wore, for he identified them immediately:
19. And he said, “They [were] my brothers—sons of my mother! [By the] life of YHWH, if only you had kept them alive, I would not have killed you!”
20. Then he told Yether, his firstborn, “Stand up and kill them!” But the lad did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, since he was still young.
Yether means abundance, excellence, or overflow.
21. And Zevakh and Tsalmuna’ said, “You get up and strike us, because as the man is, so is his bravery!” So Gid’on rose up and killed Zevakh and Tsalmuna’, and took the moon-shaped ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.
As the man is…i.e., he is only as strong as he proves himself to be. Moon-shaped: specifically a crescent like the symbol of Islam today, showing how ancient the moon-worship was that Muhammad made into the exclusive religion of his followers. It was very common in the Arabian peninsula, which is where Midyan is located.
22. Then the men of Israel told Gid’on, “Govern us, both you and your son and your son’s son, because you have rescued us from the hand of Midyan!”
23. But Gid’on told them, “I can’t rule over you, nor can my son rule over you; YHWH must rule over you!”
This sounded like a great honor, but like Moshe, he was already having a hard time putting up with the attitudes of this people. He also saw clearly what Shmu’el saw—that YHWH was meant to be Israel’s only king (1 Shmu’el 8:7; 10:19)—at least until the tenth generation from Yehudah. (Gen. 49:10; compare Gen. 38; Deut. 23:2) Israel was already wanting to put a man in YHWH’s place, and here is a man who has had direct contact with YHWH, so what better candidate was there?
24. Then Gid’on said to them, “I will make a request of you: that each [of you] give me a ring [from] his spoils. (Because they had gold rings since they were Yishmaelites.)
25. And they said, “Of course we will give [them to you]!” So they spread out a garment and each threw a ring there from his plunder.
Since they were already willing to make him king, they could hardly refuse him a much lesser request!
26. And the weight of the gold rings that he had requested came to 1,700 sheqels of gold, apart from the moon-crescents, pendants, and purple cloaks that were on the kings of Midyan, and besides the necklaces that were on their camels’ necks.
27. So Gid’on fashioned it into an efod and exhibited it in his city—in Offrah—but all of Israel started whoring after it there, and it came to be a snare to Gid’on and his household.
Efod: an outer shoulder-garment worn by the high priest (Ex. 25:8), somewhat like a reversed work-apron worn over the same type of white linen garment all priests wore, and fastened at the front to keep his other garments (a full-length robe worn next to the skin and a short-sleeved, fringed tunic over it) in place so it all fit close to his body; the Septuagint (LXX) emphasizes that it had shoulder-straps. Snare: something that lured or baited one into a trap. We are not told how, but he does not overtly repudiate it. Israel has a penchant for turning relics of YHWH’s past dealings into idols. Like the bronze snake that Moshe had made, he probably began to see it as more trouble than it was worth once Israel began to worship it. Did he also destroy it as Moshe had? Though Gid’on did not intend this outcome (it was just a war memorial to him), the scenario sounds too close to the golden calf incident for comfort.
28. But Midyan was humbled before the descendants of Israel, and they did not [dare to] lift their heads again. Thus the Land had quiet for forty years in the days of Gid’on.
Undoubtedly, due to the precedent Gid’on set with Sukkoth and P’nu-El, none of the Israelite cities or tribes dared to raise its head against Gid’on from within either!
29. Now Y’rub-Ba’al the son of Yo’ash went and stayed at his own house,
It is almost as if he retired from his public office. He seems disillusioned by Israel’s lack of responsiveness, and prefers to go into seclusion rather than govern a people he sees as hopelessly lacking in zeal. What is there to motivate him? Did he also retire from his opposition to the “shameful thing”, leaving the door open for idolatry to smolder under the surface?
30. and Gid’on had 70 sons that came out from his loins, because he had many wives.
Many wives: He seems to have had only one before his victory, for he had a firstborn son, but it is possible that this wife had even died, since he did not send a wife to bake the bread for the messenger of YHWH, as Avraham had. But now that he was a hero, the whole nation would be wanting to marry off their daughters to him. Note the contrast in the use of the two names.
31. His concubine also, who was in Sh’khem, even she bore him a son, and she made his name Avimelekh.
Here is another reason it is thought that Offrah was close to Sh’khem. Avimelekh means “my father is a king”, despite the fact that Gid’on repudiated this title. This was also the name of a dynasty of Filistine kings, so the intent is unmistakable. But we will find that this predisposed this son to think of himself as royalty, undoubtedly encouraged by his mother, who despite her lower status than a wife, considered herself very important because of her association with Gid’on. A concubine’s son was not illegitimate, as one of Yaaqov’s servant-girls who was given to him to bear children was called a concubine in Genesis 35:22, and her sons received an inheritance. Merely “taking” a woman without a legal document may be what makes the difference between her being a concubine and being a full-fledged wife. But like Hagar, this raised her to a higher position (under Hammurabi, a slave girl who bore children could no longer be sold), and it went to her head, and she wanted her son to have the prominence Gid’on had declined to accept.
32. When Gid’on the son of Yo’ash died (with a fine [head of] gray hair), he was buried in the plot [belonging to] his father in Offrah of the Av-Ezrites.
33. But then, when Gid’on was dead, the descendants of Israel went back and whored after the Ba’als, and appointed Ba’al-b’rith to be an elohim for themselves,
As it turns out, Gid’on’s heavy hand was the only thing that had kept them paying lip-service to YHWH. They are beginning to see themselves as a democracy that can elect its own elohim! Ba’al-b’rith is thought by the rabbis to have been the same as Ba’al-z’vul (the “lord of the flying ones”), which was worshipped in Eqron in the shape of a fly. Israelite adherents to this cult would carry an image of it in their pockets and take it out to kiss it periodically; they were unwilling to part with it. Others see it as related to the usage of the term “covenant” to specifically mean circumcision, with its image being a phallic symbol. This may have a direct connection to the “snare” in verse 27.
34. and the descendants of Israel did not remember YHWH their Elohim, who had allowed them to be snatched out of the hands of all their enemies on every side,
35. and neither did they attend to the household of Y’rub-Ba’al with kindness [in a way] commensurate with all the prosperity he had accomplished with Israel.
They owed him so much, as they did YHWH, yet took the benefits for themselves and forgot their source.
CHAPTER 9
1. Now Avimelekh the son of Y’rub-Ba’al went to his mother’s brothers at Sh’khem and spoke to them and to the whole family of his mother’s father, saying,
Gid’on’s ceremonial name is used throughout the rest of the story, suggesting that though he refused the role of a king, he still operated in that role to some extent, for kings likewise usually took on a different name upon accession to the throne. Avimelekh, on the other hand, counted his mother’s relatives more important than his father’s—not the usual pattern in ancient Israel or in agreement with the lines of inheritance YHWH had set up.
2. “Please say, in the hearing of all the [land]owners of Sh’khem, ‘Which is better for you—seventy men, all the sons of Y’rub-Ba’al, having dominion over you, or one man having dominion over you? And remember that I myself am your bone and flesh!’”
Landowners: literally simply owners or lords, and the term is the same as that of Ba’al, the idol worshipped there. Your bone and flesh: the same ploy Lavan used when he wished to trick Yaaqov into being ruled by him, taking advantage of a proper connection for unworthy purposes. (Gen. 29:14) Y’shua reminded us not to let blood ties, important though they normally are, stand in the way of Kingdom ties.
3. So his mother’s brothers spoke all these words about him in the hearing of all the [land]owners of Sh’khem, and their heart inclined to follow Avimelekh, “Because,” they said, “he is our relative.”
He put words in their mouth, though they made it sound like the idea was their own.
4. So they gave him seventy [pieces of] silver from the temple of Ba’al-b’rith, and with them Avimelekh hired idle, frivolous men, and they walked after him.
From the Temple: Now it was becoming a power-play to try to restore Ba’al worship to the central place in Israel. A temple has been excavated in Sh’khem; it may be this one. Ba’al-B’rith means “master of the covenant”, which is similar to Y’shua’s statement that he was master of the Sabbath—a fact twisted by those who think this therefore meant he could change the covenant and thus replace YHWH as the one making a covenant with Israel. Idle: They had to be desperate for work because this was a very low wage for killing someone, considering the “Judas” was paid 30 pieces (also in a Temple context) to betray Y’shua, and that was still only the price of a slave.
5. And he went to his father’s house at Offrah and murdered his brothers, the sons of Y’rub-Ba’al—seventy men—on one stone, though Yotham, the youngest son of Y’rub-Ba’al, was left, because he hid himself.
Was this the price Gid’on paid for attaching himself to a woman who clearly had inside connections with a pagan temple? This son of a servant girl must have been jealous of his half-brothers who did not bear the same stigma he did. Yotham means “YHWH is perfect”. Naming him thus may have been another way Gid’on stated the fact that he did not need to be king.
6. Then all the [land]owners of Sh’khem and the whole house of Millo [abundance] were assembled. When they came they made Avimelekh king with the great upright tree which is at Sh’khem.
Great upright tree: or, tree of the pillar, tree of the outpost, tree of the appointed deputy; Aramaic, the plain of the standing grain.
7. When Yotham was informed, he went and stood on top of Mount Grizim, and he lifted up his voice and called out and said, “Listen to me, [you land]owners of Sh’khem, and Elohim will listen to you!
Grizim (at left on photo) is the mountain from which the blessings of the Torah were announced by several tribes of Israel, while the curses were announced from Mount Eval, which is on the other side of Sh’khem. (Deut. 11:29; Y’hoshua 8:33) The acoustics here must be excellent. Yotham was apparently appealing to that remembrance of YHWH’s promise to bring consequences for such flagrant disregard for justice.
8. “Once the trees went to anoint a king over themselves, and they told the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’
9. “But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I leave undone my prosperity with which through me Elohim and men are honored, and go and hold sway over the trees?’
I.e., “That is not what I am made for; I already have the right job.” This is essentially what Gid’on had said.
10. “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come reign over us!’
11. “But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I bring my sweetness and beneficial produce to an end to go and hold sway over the trees?’
Beneficial produce: Aramaic, “beautiful fig cake”.
12. “So the trees said to the [grape] vine, ‘You come reign over us!’
The fig tree and vine represent Gid’on’s son and grandson. (8:22)
13. “But the vine said to them, ‘Should I stop [producing] my new wine, which gladdens Elohim and men, to go and hold sway over the trees?’
Gladdens Elohim: the Aramaic targum explains that this was through the libations brought to Him at the Temple.
14. “So all the trees said to the bramble-bush, ‘You come and reign over us!’
15. “And the bramble-bush said to the trees, ‘If you really do anoint me to be king over you, come, seek refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out from the bramble-bush and devour the cedars of Levanon!’
A bramble is the lowest of trees, and its shade would be a very prickly environment. All it is useful for is a hedge, and Avimelekh, the slave-girl’s son (v. 18) clearly did not want to be the protector of Israel, only one who benefited from its homage. But if they did not like him, he would not settle for just letting them go their separate way; he would waste even the finest of men if they did not go along with his program. (Compare Y’hezq’el/Ezekiel 19:14, in the context of the elders of Israel questioning another prophet in the following verse.)
16. “So now, if you have acted in faithfulness and integrity when you made Avimelekh king, and if you have dealt rightly with Y’rub-Ba’al and with his household, and if you have brought about for him the recompense his hands [deserved]
17. “(in which my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midyan)
Risked his life: literally, cast his life aside [from in front of him].
18. “when you have risen up against my father’s household today and have murdered his sons—70 men on one stone—and have made Avimelekh, the son of his slave-girl, king over the [land]owners of Sh’khem because he is your kinsman--
One stone: a public execution site. 70: though he himself is alive, making it actually only 69. In Hebraic idiom, such rounding of numbers is common. Also, once even one of them was killed, he would have destroyed the entity of “the 70”. This council of 70 foreshaowed the Sanhedrin of Second Temple times.
19. “indeed, if you have dealt faithfully and innocently with Y’rub-Ba’al and with his household this day, [then] be glad with Avimelekh so he can also rejoice in you.
I.e., “I hope you are satisfied with your choice, because now it is too late to back out of it; the damage is already done, so you had better not have second thoughts, because he is not one who will take such a change of mind well”:
20. “But if not, fire will come forth from Avimelekh and consume the [land]owners of Sh’khem and the house of Millo, and may fire come out from the [land]owners of Sh’khem and the house of Millo and consume Avimelekh!”
The bramble is usually used to build a fire for cooking purposes. It catches very quickly, but does not burn for a very long time, and so is ideal for nomads or travelers who do not wish to stay around a long time to tend it. Avimelekh was selected for Sh’khem’s immediate gratification, but like the bramble, he could flare up suddenly as well as fizzle out quickly.
21. Then Yotham escaped and ran away to Be’er and lived there, away from his brother Avimelekh.
He was not making a bid for Avimelekh’s position; he simply wanted justice and what was best for Israel.
22. When Avimelekh had acted as prince over Israel for three years,
23. Elohim sent an adverse disposition between Avimelekh and the [land]owners of Sh’khem so [that] Sh’khem’s [land]owners dealt treacherously with Avimelekh
24. so that the wrong [done to] Y’rub-Ba’al’s seventy sons and their blood might come to be put on their kinsman Avimelekh, who had murdered them, as well as on the [land]owners of Sh’khem, who had made his hands strong [enough] to kill his brothers.
Wrong: the term usually connotes violence or cruelty, but violence can sometimes be used for right causes, as in Gid’on’s case, and this term always has a negative sense.
25. Now the [land]owners of Sh’khem set [men to] wait in ambush on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed any who passed by them on the road, and Avimelekh was informed.
Apparently this plundering of innocent travelers through their district was meant to target the emissaries of Avimelekh, who was living elsewhere (v. 41), having left a deputy (v. 28) to rule in his stead. Possibly they were stealing tribute that was being carried to him from the deputy. Israel had fallen back into the practices of their oppressors before the rise of Gid’on. (6:3-4) These men were Yotham’s relatives through Gid’on, yet they would not help him. This may be what Y’shua’s parable of the Samaritan who helped the man robbed along the road was alluding to. This was in the territory which would later belong to the Samaritans, who worshipped on the mountain from which Yotham had spoken. (See Yochanan 4:20.)
26. Then Ga’al the son of Eved came with his brothers, and they passed through into Sh’khem, so the [land]owners of Sh’khem put their trust in him.
Apparently he outsmarted those lying in ambush, so the fickle town leaders were more impressed with him than with Avimelekh:
27. When they went out [to] the field and gathered grapes from their vineyards, and trod out [the grapes], they made boasts and went into the house of their elohim and ate and drank, and made light of Avimelekh
Gathered grapes from: or, walled up. Boasts: or, praise-festivals; Aramaic, dances.
28. when Ga’al the son of Eved said, “Who is Avimelekh, and who is Sh’khem, that we should serve him? Don’t the son of Y’rub-Ba’al and Z’vul his deputy serve the men of Khamor the father of Sh’khem? So why should we serve him?
Avimelekh was not among them, apparently having only used the citizens of his hometown as a stepping-stone to his higher position. Z’vul means “exalted”. It may be an allusion to the fuller title of the deity “Ba’al-z’vul”.
29. “Then who will give this people into my hand so I can depose Avimelekh?” And he said to Avimelekh, “Enlarge your army, and come out!”
30. When Z’vul, the leader of the city, heard the words of Ga’al the son of Eved, his anger was kindled.
31. And he sent messengers to Avimelekh in secret, saying, “Look here! Ga’al the son of Eved and his brothers have come to Sh’khem, and lo and behold, they are making the city treat you as an adversary!
In secret: or, deceitfully, through treachery or fraud. Verse 36 seems to bear this out, for it was treachery against Ga’al at the same time, though apparently not against Avimelekh.
32. “So now, rise up at night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in ambush in the field,
33. “then what you should [do is], get up early in the morning as the sun breaks out, and make a raid on the city, and he and the people who are with him will certainly come out to you, and you can do to them whatever your hand can attain.”
34. So Avimelekh and all the people who were with him got up at night and set an ambush against Sh’khem—four companies.
Companies: or divisions; literally, heads.
35. When Ga’al the son of Eved went out and stood at the entrance to the gate of the city, then Avimelekh and the people who were with him rose up from [where they waited in] ambush.
36. When Ga’al saw the people, he said to Z’vul, “Look! People are coming down from the mountaintops!” But Z’vul told him, “You are perceiving the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.”
37. But yet again Ga’al spoke up and said, “Look, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one company is coming in from the way [to] the Sorcerers’ Oak!”
38. Then Z’vul said to him, “Now where is your mouth [with] which you said, ‘Who is Avimelekh, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you despised? Please go out now and fight against it!”
39. So Ga’al went out before the [land]owners of Sh’khem and fought against Avimelekh,
40. but Avimelekh started chasing him, and he took flight in front of him, and many fell down, pierced, all the way to the entrance of the gate.
41. And Avimelekh remained at Arumah, so Z’vul expelled Ga’al and his brothers from living in Sh’khem.
Arumah means “I will be exalted”—exactly the attitude Avimelekh took. He may have named the town himself.
42. But what took place the next day [was that] the people went out to the field, and it was made known to Avimelekh.
Field: or, plain.
43. So he took the people and divided them into three companies, and set an ambush in the field and watched. When they saw the people coming out from the city, he rose up against them and attacked them.
Though the perpetrator had been expelled, the rest of the elders apparently remained disloyal to Avimelekh, except for Z’vul.
44. Then Avimelekh and the companies that were with him charged forward and stopped at the entrance to the gate of the city, while two of the companies rushed upon all who were in the field, and attacked [and destroyed] them.
45. And Avimelekh fought against the city all that day and captured it, and killed all the people that were in it, and tore down the city, and scattered salt over it.
Scattered: or, sowed. Salting a city was a ritual to symbolize the perpetual desolation of the city. They would apparently salt the area around the city so no crops could grow there. In fact, Sh’khem would not be rebuilt for another 150 years. But it was the ground, or earth, that was salted, giving clarification to what Y’shua meant when he said his followers were to be the salt of the earth. His context in Luqa’s account (14:34) was clearly military—the destruction of the productivity of his enemies. If we cannot do that, he says we are not useful to him.
46. When all the owners of the Tower of Sh’khem heard it, they went into an underground chamber of the temple of El-b’rith.
El-b’rith: apparently another name for Ba’al-b’rith. The use of a more generic term (sometimes used of YHWH) muddies the waters, making the idolatry less obvious.
47. And Avimelekh was informed that all the owners of the Tower of Sh’khem were gathered together,
48. Avimelekh ascended Mount Tzalmon—he and all the people who were with him—and Avimelekh took the axes in his hand and cut off a branch [from] the trees, and he lifted it up and set it on his shoulder, and said to the people who were with him, “What you saw me do, hurry up and do the same as I [did]!”
Tzalmon means “the shadiest”, probably because it had the most trees on it (until this point) or it cast the longest shadow. (Compare verse 36.) Shoulder: the Hebrew word is sh’khem, so he is doing a visual play on words.
49. So every one of the people each cut off a branch also and walked after Avimelekh, and laid them over the underground chamber and set the chamber on fire above them, so all the people of the Tower of Sh’khem died as well—about a thousand, [both] man and woman.
Yotham’s prophecy came true, even down to the detail about fire being the means of their destruction!
50. Then Avimelekh went to Thebetz and laid siege against Thebetz and captured it.
Thebetz (meaning “conspicuous) was 10 miles (16 km.) northeast of Sh’khem on the road to Beyth She’an.
51. But there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, so all the men and women and all the [land]owners of the city escaped to it, and closed it up behind them and went up onto the roof of the tower.
52. Then Avimelekh arrived at the tower and fought against it and he was getting close to the entrance to the tower, [intending] to burn it with fire.
53. And a certain woman threw a piece [broken off] an upper millstone onto Avimelekh’s head and crushed his skull.
An upper millstone would be present in such a stronghold which was designed to withstand a siege. It served the same purpose a bunker or bomb shelter does today. Grain, which keeps for indefinite lengths of time, would be stored there rather than bread or flour, which would spoil quickly, and for the grain to be ground into “daily bread”, a millstone would need to be present.
54. So he hurriedly called the young man who was carrying his weapons and told him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, “A woman slew him!” So his young man thrust him through, and he died.
To be killed by a woman would be the lowest insult to a military leader. Nevertheless, he did not get his wish; in 2 Shmu’el 11:20-21, a reference back to this event, a woman is still credited with Avimelekh’s death! The story was recounted to make the point that it is not wise to get within range of a city’s weapons when fighting against it.
55. When a man of Israel saw that Avimelekh was dead, [each] man went to his own place.
A man: the context seems to require it to mean all the men, but the way it is worded is a prophecy. The counterfeit Messiah is called a king by several prophets, and his death will allow the Israel that operates as one man to return to its rightful place.
56. Thus Elohim paid back the wickedness of Avimelekh, which he did to his father in killing seventy of his brothers,
57. and Elohim [also] turned back all the evil of the people of Sh’khem onto their own heads, and the curse of Yotham the son of Y’rub-Ba’al came upon them.
This animosity of one evil entity against another that destroyed both brought about a win-win situation for the righteous. Psalm 94 seems to have been written for such a situation, especially the last verse.
CHAPTER 10
1. Then Tola the son of Pu’ah the son of Dodo, a man of Yissakhar, arose after Avimelekh to deliver Israel. And he was living in Shamir, in the mountainous [part] of Efrayim.
Again, notice that Yotham, Gid’on’s son, did not try to take the place of his father. The exact location of Shamir is not known, but it cannot have been far from Shiloh, and was probably close to the border of Yissakhar’s tribal territory, since that is Tola’s tribe of origin
2. And he governed Israel 23 years, then he died and was buried in Shamir.
Governed: or judged, decided controversy for, acted as lawgiver of. Tola, whose named refers to the worm from which scarlet dye is made, did nothing spectacular, but he receives “honorable mention” for doing his duty faithfully, as evidenced by the fact that YHWH saw no reason to chasten Israel at this time by having enemies subjugate them.
3. Then after him there arose Ya’ir the Gil’adite, and he governed Israel 22 years,
Ya’ir means “he enlightens”.
4. and he had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkey foals, and 30 cities belonged to them, which are called “Ya’ir’s living-places” to this day—which are in the land of Gil’ad.
Donkey foals: a pun on Ya’ir’s name, for the Hebrew word is ayir. They must have served as his family’s “trademark”. Gil’ad: just south of the Yarmuq River canyon, which today divides Jordan from the Golan Heights. Eventually 60 cities in the Argov region of Bashan (the Golan Heights), along the eastern part of the river which may have been in Menashe’s land, also belonged to Ya’ir, according to 1 Kings 4:13, so his family and/or influence must have grown. It appears that Ya’ir was from the tribe of Menashe, for Gil’ad himself was a Menashite, though part of Gil’ad is in Gad’s tribal territory.
5. When Ya’ir died, he was buried in Qamon.
Qamon means “established”, and it may be possible to read this as “he was buried standing up”. As with Tola, no enemies were able to successfully attack Israel during his tenure, because Ya’ir effectively kept Israel in obedience to the Torah.
6. Then the descendants of Israel again began to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, in that they served the Ba’alim and the Ashtaroth, as well as the elohim of Aram, the elohim of Tsidon, the elohim of Moav, the elohim of the sons of Ammon, and the elohim of the Filistines, and they abandoned YHWH and did not serve Him.
Ba’alim and Ashtaroth were male and female counterparts of one another. They are now serving “the Lord” and the “Queen of Heaven”—ideas that have passed down to our own day. Some of these other idols are just variations on them, but seen to be confined to certain geographical regions. Why do we have such a proclivity to turn back to idolatry so quickly? Did their neighbors’ sexually-oriented worship just look too attractive to them? Was it a backlash against Ya’ir’s heavy hand? Was it just that they wanted to make their own decisions? People do not like to be judged, but they were influenced to go astray because no one was judging them. Aram: Syria, the land of Yaaqov’s father-in-law. Many of these nations were Israel’s relatives. This may be why Israel was more tempted to compromise with them, so they could all get along in harmony—the same mistake they are making today, but this is not what YHWH told us to do. They did not want to offend their neighbors, so they exchanged ideas, and Israel inevitably ends up serving those other ideas. Ammon: descendants of one of the daughters of Lot, Avraham’s nephew (Moav is the other daughter’s people); the present-day capital city of Jordan, Amman, was also the Ammonites’ capital, Rabbat-Ammon.
7. So YHWH’s anger was kindled in Israel, and He sold them into the hand of the Filistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon.
Anger: literally, nose or nostrils—as if He were to breathe out fire. Two of the nations whose elohim they had chosen to worship turned on them. Those elohim betrayed them, showing how untrustworthy they are. Just because we compromise with other spirits does not mean they will take care of us. Following them may feel better for a while, but they will inevitably rise up and take us over. One meaning of Ba’al is “owner”, and Israel was enslaved because we had already surrendered to these nations as teachers about the ways of their elohim, and they took that as an open door to be our masters in every respect.
8. And they shattered and crushed the descendants of Israel in that year, as well as all the descendants of Israel who were across the Yarden in the land of the Emorites who were in Gil’ad, [for] eighteen years
Crushed: or, figuratively, oppressed. The more we serve Security or other elohim, the harder it puts us under its heel.
9. And the sons of Ammon crossed the Yarden to make war on Yehudah also, as well as on Binyamin and on the House of Efrayim, and Israel was suffering great distress.
Though the sphere of influence of Tola and Ya’ir appears to have been mainly in the north, now the southern part of the nation is being attacked as well. This is the first Yehudah is mentioned in this book, and possibly this heartland from which the teaching base is to come is threatened because there are more foreign nations influencing Israel than before. What part of Israel did affected all of Israel. When we have weaker brothers who do not want to judge, all of us become vulnerable to attack. If some Israelites are living like Kanaanites, the Tents of Shem cannot remain well-guarded. The opposite can also be true if we decide to take dominion over what tempts us. But when the Maccabees wanted to defeat their enemies, they started by removing the weakest links among their own people, who would compromise with the enemy, and that is when they became strong enough to defeat them. Interestingly, the modern usage of the Hebrew word for “Ammonite” means “democracy”, which is now the cause of Yehudah’s problems. But the word simply means “great people”, and large peoples like the Catholics and the Muslims have also made war on Yehudah.
10. Then the descendants of Israel cried out to YHWH [for help], saying, “We have wronged You, in that we have abandoned our own Elohim and [worked to] serve the ba’alim!”
11. So YHWH said to the descendants of Israel, “Didn’t I [save you] from Egypt and from the Emorite, from the sons of Ammon, and from Filistines?
12. “So [I sent] Tsidonians and Amaleq and Maon to repress you. When you called out to Me [for help], I rescued you out of their hand.
13. “Yet you have abandoned Me and served other elohim; that is why I am not going to rescue you again.
He is bewildered by how stiff their necks are, and is saying, in essence, “I have been faithful, and you know perfectly well that I am capable of delivering you, but why must I deliver you from the same things over and over? I shouldn’t have to! Why do I teach you the same lessons over and over, yet you learn nothing? You keep going bac to the things I rescued you from! I have My limits!” (Compare Deut. 32:36-38)
14. “Go and cry out to the elohim whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress!”
He sarcastically says, “That is who you want to depend on, so I will put you in a situation where that is all you have left to depend on, and it will rule over you because you wanted it to, but it does not rule lie I do.” This is the most frightening thing we could imagine YHWH saying to us. It is really this that we fear when we say we fear YHWH—that He will consider us to have crossed the last line and gone too far to even have Him hear us anymore.
15. But the descendants of Israel told YHWH, “We have missed the target; You do to us according to anything that is appropriate in Your eyes. Just please rescue us this day!”
Now this is the kind of thing He wants to hear from His people, but thus far it was only words, and He has a right to ignore empty promises until we show Him proof of our repentance.
16. And they took away the foreign elohim from their midst, and began serving YHWH. Then His soul was cut with the misery of Israel.
Cut: or grieved, but most literally, cut short as when crops are harvested. Now that they put their words into action, His compassion is aroused.
17. Then the sons of Ammon were being called up, and they pitched [their tents] in Gil’ad, so the sons of Israel assembled themselves together and were setting up camp at Mitzpah.
Now Israel was again in a position to resist and raise up a standard against the enemy instead of being overrun by them, because YHWH was again on their side. But they were still not off the hook; the fact that YHWH had mercy would not mean there was no price to pay for having walked in the wrong direction so many times. Mitzpah means “watchtower”, a place from which we can be on guard. Now that Israel is gathering together, Though there was a place named Mitzpah on the border between Efrayim’s and Binyamin’s tribal lands (in the context of verse 9), there was a Mitzpah in Gil’ad. It was Yaaqov’s other name for Gal’ed, the heap that he and Lavan had set between them as a witness of their pact to never attack each other (Gen. 31:44ff)—the memory of which probably factored heavily in the events of the next chapter. It is spelled just like Gil’ad, except for the vowel points. Moshe may have chosen to make this the land of Menashe’s son Gil’ad for this reason!
18. And the people of the chiefs of Gil’ad each said to his fellow, “Who is the man who will start to engage the sons of Ammon in battle? He will become head for all the people of Gil’ad!”
Notice that the prevailing attitude in Israel has been to look for one strong hero who can get things started and who can really lead, then submit whole-heartedly to him. It did not seem to occur to them to pool their wisdom; democracy is not a natural concept to Israel.
CHAPTER 11
1. Now Yifthakh the Gil’adite was a capable warrior, though he was the son of a woman of harlotry, and Gil’ad had fathered Yifthakh.
Capable: Apparently no one took up the offer in 10:18, and Israel did not like to go to war without a strong man, so they went recruiting, and found the one who was bravest, smartest, and strongest. Yifthakh is described in the same terms as Gid’on had been; his name means “he opens”. His father’s name is probably reminiscent of the “witness heap” Yaaqov and Lavan had set up between them very close to or right within Gil’ad’s land. Whether his mother was a prostitute or employed by a pagan temple, Yifthakh chose to live in his father’s house and learn his skills, and thus he lives up to his name, which is related to that of Yafeth, who was “open” to learning and improving himself.
2. Then Gil’ad’s wife had borne sons to him. When the sons of Gil’ad’s wife grew up, they threw Yifthakh out and told him, “You cannot inherit in the house of our father, because you are the son of a different woman!”
Yifthakh’s mother was not his father’s wife, but he was not considered illegitimate in the terms of Deut. 23:2 because he was not born of one of the marriages forbidden in Leviticus 18 and 20. His father did the honorable thing in taking responsibility for him, though legally his obligation to her ended when he paid her for her favor. However, his brothers were jealous of his abilities. Under the Torah, he would still have an inheritance, and should even receive a double portion because he was apparently the firstborn. Then: It appears that Gil’ad may even have gone to the harlot to have a child, since his wife had not borne him any children prior to this. So his brothers were using prevailing moralities to twist the Torah, as so many do today. Despite his giftedness, they would rather not have him around if it meant they had to honor him above themselves.
3. So Yifthakh ran away from his brothers’ presence and lived in a land [called] Tov, but worthless men gathered themselves to Yifthakh and went out [to war] with him.
Tov: meaning “just right”. Worthless: or simply, empty—possibly people who were “broke”, “freebooters” who went about seeking plunder. They may have been unable to pay debts and did not want to enslave themselves, so, as it would be with David before he was king, these people joined forces with a mighty hero and dared their debtors to fight him in order to collect their dues. He was forced to fend for himself, and became so adept at it that other people who could not defend themselves attached themselves to him for protection. He did not become a weakling because he was mistreated, but rather rose to the occasion and became a man of valor. He used his anger productively, becoming valuable not only to himself but to his whole tribe and nation.
4. When some time had passed, the sons of Ammon made war with Israel.
5. And it turned out that when the sons of Ammon fought with Israel, the elders of Gil’ad went to get Yifthakh from [the] land of Tov,
These elders would be none other than his own brothers, being the first generation of Gil’ad’s descendants. They were not sure how to engage a foreign king; now they remembered his skill, but conveniently forgot how they had treated him!
6. and they said to Yifthakh, “Come and you can be a commander for us, so that we can engage the sons of Ammon in battle!”
7. But Yifthakh said to the elders of Gil’ad, “Didn’t you hate me? You even threw me out of my father’s house! So why do you come to me now, when you are in dire straits?”
8. And the elders of Gil’ad told Yifthakh, “That’s why we have come back to you now, so that you can go with us and engage the sons of Ammon in battle, and you can become a head for us and for all the inhabitants of Gil’ad.”
9. So Yifthakh said to the elders of Gil’ad, “If you are bringing me back to engage the sons of Ammon in battle, and YHWH delivers them up before me, I will indeed become your head?”
In classic Hebraic manner, he puts the ball back in their court by answering with a question. He also needed additional assurance that they would carry out their word, since they had shown him earlier that they were not honorable men and we could not blame him for not trusting them.
10. And the elders of Gil’ad said to Yifthakh, “YHWH will be the witness between us if we do not do whatever you say.”
The witness: literally, the one who hears or listens—i.e., the recorder and rememberer of what they said to each other. If his mother was a pagan, he was clearly loyal to YHWH; he is the one who first brings up YHWH’s name, and they go along with it, but if they were really devoted to YHWH, they would not have been in this vulnerable position to begin with.
11. So Yifthakh went with the elders of Gil’ad, and the people set him over them as head and commander, and Yifthakh spoke all his words in the presence of YHWH at Mitzpah.
Mitzpah was the heap that Yaaqov and Lavan had set between them as a witness of their pact to never attack each other. (Gen. 31:49) This place was considered “the presence of YHWH” because there was already a witness to a faithfully fulfilled oath here. Therefore it was an especially solemn place to make such a promise again.
12. Then Yifthakh sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon to say, “What is it to me and to you, since you have come to fight me in my own land?”
13. And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Yifthakh, “Because Israel took my land when he came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Yabboq and up to the Yarden. So now, return them in their entirety!”
In their entirety: or, peaceably.
14. But Yifthakh sent messengers yet again to the king of the sons of Ammon,
15. “and told him, “This is what Yifthakh says: ‘Israel did not take the land of Moav or the land of the sons of Ammon,
16. “‘because when they came up out of Egypt, Israel had walked through the wilderness as far as the Sea of Reeds and arrived at Qadesh.
17. “‘When Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom to say, ‘Please let me cross through your territory’, the king of Edom would not listen. And [Israel] also sent to the king of Moav, but he would not consent, so Israel remained in Qadesh.
18. “‘Then he walked through the wilderness and skirted the land of Edom and the land of Moav, and came into the land of Moav at the rising of the sun, and camped on the other side of the Arnon [River], but did not come within the border of Moav, because [the] Arnon was the border of Moav.
19. “‘Then Israel sent messengers to Sikhon, king of the Emorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us cross through your land to my place.”
20. “‘But Sikhon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sikhon gathered all of his people and they camped at Yahatz and fought with Israel.
21. “‘And YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, gave Sikhon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and as they conquered them, Israel took possession of the whole land of the Emorites, who were inhabiting that land.
22. “‘And they dispossessed the whole territory of the Emorites, from the Arnon as far as the Yabboq and from the wilderness all the way to the Yarden.
This is the same territory the Ammonites claimed was theirs! But Ammon had not been the ones living there at that time; Yifthakh set the record straight. They were therefore trying to get in on a claim that other nations might think they had against Israel, but they certainly did not, which was all the more reason that they should be humbled. It was knowing his people’s history so well that made Yifthakh strong. He was essentially both a lawyer and a warrior—both of which are needed in a king or a national leader. Like David, he was both a military giant and a great Torah scholar. He used legal evidence against them and lived up to his name, opening the doors of learning. His brothers were not learned, so they were not capable of leading Israel into battle.
23. “‘So now YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, has expelled the Emorites from before His people, and now you would occupy it?
24 “‘Won’t you possess whatever Kemosh, your elohim, lets you take possession of? And all that YHWH, our Elohim, has dispossessed before us, we will take possession of!
Kemosh means “subduer” and is associated with Ba’al-Peor amd Ba’al-Z’vul, the Ammonite and Moavite equivalents of Mars and Saturn. It was not until King Shlomo that its worship was introduced in Israel.
25. “‘So now, are you any better than Balaq, the son of Tzippor, the king of Moav, the one who indeed fought with Israel, if in fact he did fight against them?
Balaq fought against Israel, but not through war. (Rev. 2:14) The story is in Numbers 22-24. Yifthakh asks what their legal right to this land would be according to their own kinsmen. To claim a higher status than one of their brother tribe’s patriarchs would be blasphemous to them.
26. “‘While Israel has been living in Heshbon and its daughter [town]s and in Aroer and its daughters, and in all the cities that are by the sides of [the] Arnon for 300 years, why have you never snatched them [back] during that time?
They were trying to take advantage of a time of weakness in Israel to grab land that they wanted. Snatch: or recover—if the land had ever really been their own. If the Emorites had taken it from them before Israel took it from the Emorites, why had they waited until the “statute of limitations” had already run out before addressing their claim? 300 years after the events mentioned above would be approximately 1223 B.C.E. This is 319 years into the period of the judges, however, and thus may have been as late as 1063 B.C.E. We must also add about 30 years of Y’hoshua’s leadership, so this is just a rounding down to the nearest hundred from about 349 years.
27. “‘So I have not done you wrong, but you are doing evil against me in [coming to] fight against me. May YHWH the Judge [be the one to] render the verdict today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’”
He undermines their confidence by reminding them that they have no right to make such noise and that they will be under his and YHWH’s dominion if they proceed with their attack.
28. But the king of the sons of Ammon did not listen to the words of Yifthakh, which he sent to him.
29. Then the spirit of YHWH came upon Yifthakh, and he passed through Gil’ad (that is, Menashe) and from the watchtower of Gil’ad he crossed over [into the territory of] the sons of Ammon.
The spirit of YHWH did not allow Gid’on to make war on these relatives of Israel until the king had “added iniquity to iniquity” and the cup of his sins reached its limit. (Compare Gen. 15:16) It had taken some 900 years since the founding of the people of Ammon to reach this point. But, being descendants of Shem and Avraham’s nephew, they were held to a higher accountability than Nin’veh, which was not called to judgment until some 1,500 years into its history—and even then it repented and lengthened the grace period even more. But the Kanaanites had started out on the wrong foot and were never in YHWH’s favor, despite His patience with them. It was usually kings who had the spirit of YHWH come on them like this, and it was a spirit of prophecy.
30. And Yifthakh made a vow to YHWH, and said, “If you will indeed give the sons of Ammon over into my hand,
31. “then what will take place is that whatever it is that comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon will belong to YHWH, and I will make it go up as an ascending [offering].”
Khannah dedicated her son to YHWH in a vow, but stopped there. (1 Shmu’el 1:11) Was Yifthakh still driven by competition with his brothers to the point of trying to outdo anyone else’s vows?
32. When Yifthakh crossed over to fight against the sons of Ammon, YHWH gave them in to his hand.
33. And he struck them down from Aroer until you come into Minith—20 cities—and as far as the Meadow of the Vineyard—a very great defeat, and the sons of Ammon were brought low before the sons of Israel.
Aroer is very close to the Arnon, some 45 miles south of Mitzpah, which is near the Yabboq, so he regained the entire territory that the Ammonites had apparently already occupied.
34. When Yifthakh arrived at his home in Mitzpah, lo and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with drums and dancing. And she was his only child; he had no [other] son or daughter.
How ironic that after the dispute with his brothers over whether he could inherit, he destroyed his only hope of having an heir. The fact that he lived in Gad’s territory makes us wonder whether his mother was a female heir who wrongly married outside her tribe, thus robbing her tribe of part of its inheritance (according to a legal precedent in Numbers 36:6).
35. But when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very, very low and you have come to be a calamity to me, but I have opened my mouth to YHWH, and I cannot take it back.”
Opened: literally, made it gaping—i.e., opened it too far. In his zeal he had said more than he should. What was he expecting to come greet him? Israelites had no dogs! Possibly a favorite sheep might come, since flock animals commonly lived on the lower level of Israelite houses, which often merged into courtyards with no precise boundary.
36. So she said to him, “My father, to YHWH you have opened your mouth to YHWH; do to me whatever has come out of your mouth, after what YHWH has done for you in avenging your enemies among the sons of Ammon!”
She had the right attitude of submission despite her father’s foolishness, knowing a vow to YHWH had to be kept (Num. 30:2), especially after YHWH had come through in support for him; she knew he owed YHWH a lot. She may have been the one most dedicated to YHWH in this whole story, as she is the one who insisted on his going through with it.
37. But she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: have [everyone] withdraw from me for two months so I and my companions can go and descend the mountains and weep over my virginity.”
What pained her most was not that she might die, but that she would die childless. His vow in verse 31 was most literally simply to “elevate her” or “make her ascend”, as the actual Hebrew wording says nothing about burning. He probably did not actually burn her according to Kanaanite custom—one which was reprehensible to YHWH (Yirmeyahu 32:35)—but dedicated her to the service of the Tabernacle. The priests, who could not marry outside their tribe, could not take her as a wife either, in that case.
38. So he said, “Go ahead”, and let her go off for two months, and she and her friends went and wept over her virginity on the mountains.
39. Then at the end of two months, she came back to her father, and he carried out his vow that he had made in regard to her, and she never did know a man [intimately]. So it became a custom in Israel
40. that from year to year the daughters of Israel go to retell [the story] about the daughter of Yifthakh the Gil’adite four days in the year.
Year to year: literally, from days into days. This territory is now in the land of Jordan, but when Israel again possessed it, will this custom begin again, since we will again be in the position to slaughter to YHWH, and will need reminders not to promise more than we can really afford to deliver?
CHAPTER 12
1. But the men of Efrayim were called together, and crossed over in the north, and said to Yifthakh, “Why did you go over to make war on the sons of Ammon, but did not call for us to go with you? We’ll burn down your house over you with fire!”
In the north: or, northward; the northern part of their territory is almost directly parallel with Mitzpah. Instead of congratulating or consoling him, all they can do is challenge him. Why were they so belligerent? Efrayim was the brother of Menashe, the tribe from which Yifthakh came, and as is so often the case, between brothers, love and hate are only a step apart. Proverbs 18:19 tells us, “A brother offended is [harder to placate] than a strong city, and their quarrels are like the bars of a fortress-gate.” If anyone should have felt slighted, it was Gad, whose very territory was the scene of the battles, and there is no record of Yifthakh calling them to help. But Gad would have recognized that Yifthakh was obviously a blessing to them, since he liberated them very directly; Efrayim, who received much less of the brunt of the Ammonites’ oppression, was not grateful.
2. And Yifthakh told them, “I have been a man of much quarreling with the sons of Ammon—I and my people—and I was calling to you [for help], but you did not deliver me out of their hand.
This sounds like one of them must be lying, but two different events are being spoken of. The scenario seems to be that when the Ammonites crossed the Yarden to make war on Efrayim (10:9), Yifthakh had attacked the Ammonites only one the east side of the Yarden (11:32-33), causing the Ammonites to retreat when they heard that their own territory was in danger. Yifthakh allowed the Efrayimites, among other tribes, to chase the Ammonites out and get some honor for that. But since none of the tribes on the western side had seen no need to come over to help those on the east side during the eighteen years prior to that when they were under Ammonite oppression (10:8), it was clear to Yifthakh that they had seen no hope of glory for themselves in helping men who were already capable warriors win, and only wanted to share in the plunder now that it was finally available, the victory having been won. “I” here and in verse 3 may be representative of his entire half-tribe.
3. “When I realized that you were not delivering me, I put my life in the palm of my [own hand] and crossed over to the sons of Ammon, and YHWH gave them into my hand. So for what [purpose] have you come up to me today to wage war against me?”
According to Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews 5:7:10), he pointed out that though they had no courage to fight their enemies, they were very hasty to want to fight their brothers unjustly. YHWH had had no problem using him; they should take their complaint to Him. Yifthakh was hoping that his threat to go to war against them would make them wise up and back down. Apparently, his lawyerly skills again fell on deaf ears, and his fellow Israelites proved no better than the Ammonites. They had no valid answer for him, but were too proud to confess their wrong. Gid’on had pacified Efrayim in a similar situation, but Yifthakh had no respect for them now, and decided that it was the season to “answer a fool according to his folly” (Prov. 26:4-5) and teach them a lesson for such behavior.
4. So Yifthakh collected all the men of Gil’ad and fought Efrayim, and the men of Gil’ad were beating Efrayim, because they said, “You Gil’adites are runaway Efrayimites within Efrayim, within Menashe!”
Runaway Efrayimites: They were very near the altar that had been set up on the west side of the river by the two and a half tribes whose lands were across the river. (Y’hoshua 22:26ff) Its very purpose was to be a witness to their part in Israel so that their descendants could never be told, “You have no part in YHWH.” Later Nabal would refuse to assist David, lumping him in with the many slaves who were breaking away from their masters. (1 Shmu’el 25:10) These Efrayimites were saying the same thing about the Gil’adites: that they had run away from their master YHWH by settling on the east side of the Yarden, outside the land of Israel proper. This is exactly what they did not want to hear; they had risked their lives in building the altar so that no one would ever say this. Menashe was also not one of the tribes that had even asked to be on that side, so the insult was even greater to them.
5. And Gil’ad captured the fords of the Yarden that belonged to Efrayim, and since the Efrayimite fugitives were saying, “Let me cross”, the men of Gil’ad would say to him, “An Efrayimite, aren’t you?” If he said, “No”,
Fugitives: the same word translated “runaways” in verse 4. Now “what went around came around.” The tribe that had accused Yifthakh of living on the wrong side of the river proved to have many of its own sons living there too! Why were they there? Probably to trade and do business. So they were just as “guilty”. As they judged they were judged. Now that they were at war, “the embassies were emptied”, and these businessmen were stranded and wanted to leave.
6. they would say to him, “Please say, ‘Shibboleth’.” If he said, “Sibboleth”, being unaccustomed to pronouncing it that way, they would seize him and slaughter him toward the fords of the Yarden. And of Efrayim there were 42,000 fallen at that time.
What these Makhirites, known for being warriors (Num.26:29; 32:39-40), did was set up a checkpoint. Unaccustomed: or, unable to build, frame, or set up. Pronouncing it that way: or, pronouncing it correctly. It is unlikely that an entire tribe had a speech impediment, but, like many languages, their dialect may not have made a distinction between the “siin” and “shiin” sounds. If they were Efrayimites, their accent would give them away, for their pronunciation of the letter shiin was the litmus test. Since the migration of a plethora of Menashe has been traced to the United States, and of Efrayim to Great Britain, they are still today “two peoples divided by one language”. “Shibboleth” means an ear or head of grain. What they may have done was hold one up and ask them, “What is this?” But more basically, “shibboleth” means “ a stream”, from the root word “to flow”. So they could have been referring to the river itself. But a synonym for “flow” also refers to the passing down of an inheritance. Since Yaaqov had put Efrayim (the younger of Yoseyf’s sons) rather than Menashe in the position of his firstborn,they may have been taunting them, saying, in so many words, “Who is the bigger brother now?”
7. And Yifthakh governed Israel for six years, then Yifthakh the Gil’adite died and was buried among the cities of Gil’ad.
He did not live long after becoming judge; the stress and strain of the two terrible events of the last two chapters may have worn him down quickly.
8. Then after him, Ivtzan of Beyth Lachem governed Israel.
Beyth Lachem: possibly a variation on Beyth Lechem, but probably not the Judean city where David and Y’shua were born (since in chapter 17 where this is what is being spoken of, Yehudah is specified as its location--though Josephus opines that it was this one), but rather another town in Z’vulun’s territory (western Galil) with the same name. There was no event that signaled his right to succeed Yifthakh; he may have been one of Yifthakh’s right-hand men, and the succession seemed naturally right.
9. And he had 30 sons, and 30 daughters [whom] he sent abroad, and brought 30 daughters from outside for his sons, and he governed Israel seven years.
This was his claim to fame. Abroad: at least outside his city, but probably outside his tribe as well. (Since he was a judge of Israel and responsible to uphold the Torah, he probably did not marry them outside of Israel.) Did he wish to mix the gene pools to avoid inbreeding, since Z’vulun’s territory was small and the likelihood of mutations might thus be higher? More likely, these were political marriages in order to solidify relations between the different tribes, especially after what had taken place between Efrayim and Menashe so recently.
10. Then Ivtzan died and was buried at Beyth Lachem.
11. And after him, Eylon the Z’vulunite governed Israel, and he judged Israel ten years,
Again, since it is another Z’vulunite who succeeded Ivtzan, it was probably a peaceful transition once again.
12. then Eylon the Z’vulunite died and was buried in Ayalon, in Z’vulun’s territory.
Ayalon means “great buck, leader of the deer”. There is another Ayalon—a river valley—some 50 miles to the south, but it is in the territories of Efrayim and Dan, not Z’vulun.
13. And after him, Avdon, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite, judged Israel,
Hillel: the namesake of the much better-known Pharisaical leader in second Temple times.
14. and he had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, who rode on 70 donkey-foals. And he governed Israel for eight years.
This followed the custom of Ya’ir’s family (10:4). The root word for donkey-foals (ayarim) means one that is stirred up, aroused, incited, awakened, or triumphant. This seemed to be becoming a trademark of the judges. The Messiah would be recognizable by his riding on the same type of foal. (Z’kharyah 9:9) There, it is explained to be a sign of humility, poverty, and/or busyness—not showy wealth and pomp like riding on a proud steed—for humility simply means realism, and only one who judges himself properly can judge Israel rightly. Josephus (Antiquities 5:7:15) tells us that “public affairs were then so peaceable and in security that neither did he [Avdon] perform any glorious action.” After Yifthakh established before all Israel that YHWH was with him, we had four administrations (31 years) of quiet, telling us that Israel must have been obedient enough and/or its leaders strong enough that YHWH saw no need to bring correction via enemies from outside.
15. Then Avdon, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite, died and was buried in Pirathon, in the territory of Efrayim, in the Amaleqite mountains.
Pirathon is on the nothern border of Efrayim’s territory (shared with Menashe), near the Kanah River, a few miles southwest of Sh’khem and Mt. Grizim. Amaleqite mountains in the heart of Israel? Numbers 13:29 tells us that the Amaleqites’ territory was in the Negev—far to the south of here, and their very name means “valley dwellers”; what are they doing living in the mountains? Why do they even still exist, when YHWH said He had sworn eternal enmity against them? (Ex. 17:14-16) When He said their memory was to be blotted out (Deut. 25:19), why are mountains in His very Land named after this cruel people that preyed on the weakest? Why are they allowed any place in Israel, let alone one of such elevation? Could this slackness on Israel’s part explain the regression we see in chapter 13? When they ganged up on Israel along with the Midyanites in chapter 5, Midyan was delivered into Gid’on’s hand, but we are not told the same about Amaleq. Did they escape to this refuge some 25 miles from where the battle was fought, and remain there? Could having them in its tribal land explain why Efrayim began pronouncing things differently from the rest of Israel?
CHAPTER 13
1. Then the descendants of Israel again began to do [what was] wrong in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH handed them over to the Filistines [for] forty years.
Filistines: a Chamitic offshoot sub-race (Gen. 10:14) who migrated from what are now the Greek islands who had settled along the coast in ‘Azzah (Gaza) and four other major cities after having been defeated in a sea battle by the Egyptians, though sea battles had previously been their pride. We cannot help but notice the parallels with the people who today call themselves the people of “Filistine” (their pronunciation of “Palestine”), although they never had an autonomous nation prior to Israel’s return, and are actually Arabs from other lands who occupied Israel after Roma decimated the Jews in the second century C.E. They, too, now attack Israel from their base in Gaza. Forty years: each time of oppression got longer than the previous one, with a “resetting” after D’vorah and Baraq, for YHWH was willing to do what was necessary to get His people’s attention.
2. But there was one man from Tzaur’ah, from a clan of the Danites, and his name was Manoakh. Now his wife was infertile, and had not given birth.
As soon as there were no men in Israel willing to judge others, they were back in bondage. So YHWH sent someone from the tribe whose name means “judge”. Infertile: literally, cut or hamstrung. Josephus says Manoakh was nearly unparalleled for virtue in his lifetime, and his wife was “celebrated for her beauty, and excelling her contemporaries”. Tzaur’ah is on the southern border of Dan, just north of Beyth-Shemesh in Yehudah’s territory, in a mountain valley some 20 miles from the coast, and very close to the area the Filistines had occupied. Infertility was considered a curse in most of the ancient world, but YHWH often gave it a different meaning in Israel: a backdrop to build up suspense before a very significant or even miraculous birth. (We see it also in the mothers of Yitzhaq, Yaaqov, Yoseyf, Shmu’el, and Yochanan the Immerser—all of whom turned out to be extraordinarily useful to YHWH.)
3. But a messenger of YHWH made himself visible to the woman and told her, “Please take note: you [who have been] infertile and have not given birth, have become pregnant and conceived a son.
4. “So now, please be on your guard not to drink wine or intoxicating beverage, and do not eat anything [ritually] impure.
Josephus (Antiquities 5:8:2) adds that he had to be content with drinking no beverage but water. This could indicate that no other beverages but water and wine (which was often used for medicinal purposes as well) were commonly used at that time; milk was generally fed to infants or used on special festive occasions. Why was it necessary to specify that she eat nothing ritually impure, since the Torah already forbade that? Public teaching of the Torah was probably rare after forty years of Israel ignoring YHWH. But the Philistines, who were occupying Israel, are known from much archaeological evidence to have consumed much pork, and we know that in Europe, oppressed Jews were often given no option but to eat pork at times. This could have been one of the ways Israel was subjugated at this time as well. Though the effects of alcohol on a fetus are well-known, he does not specify that this restriction ends after the child’s birth; she may have had to remain a partial Nazir as long as she was still raising him, as an example for his sake, since a child more often does what his parents do than what they say.
5. “because you are indeed pregnant with a son, and a razor must never come up onto his head, because the boy will be a Nazir of Elohim from the womb, and he will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Filistines.”
Nazir: one dedicated or consecrated; literally, an untrimmed vine. Having uncut hair would be an outward sign of his vow to remind others not to inadvertently offer him wine. A vine is left untrimmed during the seventh and fiftieth years—a picture of trusting YHWH completely and giving the Land a rest. Manoakh’s own name means “resting place”, so to have a Nazir as a son was especially fitting in this regard. Many people took vows to be a Nazir for short times—usually a month or other multiples of thirty days. But he, like only a few others of whom we know, was to be one for his whole life. Going to this extent seems necessary at this time to achieve the holiness to outweigh the rebellious state Israel was in. While others under a Nazir’s vow could start over if they accidentally broke the rules (Numbers chapter 6), he only has one shot at being a Nazir from birth. That is why YHWH built an additional fence to keep her from misstepping. How would the different aspects of being a Nazir help him deliver Israel from the Philistines? There would be no alcohol interfering with his thought process, making him sluggish or unfocused, and he would therefore have better coordination. The consumption of unclean food basically comes down to eating blood, which, being high in iron, is toxic to the body, which is difficult for the body to rid itself of, and an excess can result in liver damage, fluid on the lungs, nervous disorders, and general weakness. He saw his hair as the secret of his strength. When hair is cut, the body focuses on rebuilding the proteins that it takes to make it grow back, and those proteins are not available to the rest of the body. He would not have the distraction of trying to determine what hairstyle to wear, and Yogi Bhajan, purveyor of a more scientifically-oriented form of discipline, says that when hair is allowed to grow to its full length, the phosphorus, calcium, and vitamin C in it are able to enter ducts on top of the brain and this takes it directly to the intraspinal fluid, providing increased energy, more efficient memory, improved stamina, and patience. Shimshon did turn out to be very focused on avenging Israel on the Philistines no matter what obstacle swere in his way. Even after he was blinded and enslaved, he regained his strength when his hair grew back, and that was enough to let him “see” himself as having regained his identity and purpose, and he was able to finish his task. Begin: literally, bore a hole. Like Y’shua, he would be a trailblazer who made a way, but others would need to complete the job of extricating Israel from the enemy’s hands. Though he made a major dent in the enemy’s power, they would continue to plague Israel through the time of King David.
6. So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “The man of Elohim came to me, and his appearance was like that of a messenger of Elohim—very awe-inspiring! But I did not ask him where he was from, nor did he inform me of his name.
How would one recognize a messenger of YHWH? “Messenger of YHWH” was often an idiom for a prophet. Possibly by his glowing face—the appearance Moshe, thus far the supreme prophet of YHWH, had had after spending time directly in His presence. (Ex. 34:29-35)
7. “But he told me, ‘Take note: you are pregnant and carrying a son, so now do not drink wine or intoxicating beverage, and do not eat anything [ritually] impure, because the boy will be a Nazir of Elohim from the womb’—until the day of his death!”
Until the day of his death: She added this part, but it is clear that she was being asked to separate herself as well as the baby (as alcohol can also be transferred to the child in the womb through his mother’s blood). I.e., she was to take a Nazir’s vow as well. Since according to the Torah the husband has the option of overruling a vow his wife makes if he does so immediately (Numbers 30:3-13), she honors the authority of the head of her household by submitting the information to him first, since any vow she takes will affect the entire household.
8. So Manoakh prayed [profusely] to YHWH, and said, “I beg you, My Master, please let the man of Elohim whom you sent come to us again and instruct us [in] what we should do for the lad who has been begotten!”
What we should do: or, how we should prepare. At this point he does not seem to doubt that he will indeed have a child, but wants to know the specifics of how to rear him.
9. And Elohim listened to the voice of Manoakh, and the messenger of Elohim came to the woman again while she was sitting in the field, when Manoakh her husband was not with her.
YHWH recognized that Manoakh’s questions were not asked out of rebellion but out of wisdom. Manoakh does not know who this messenger was, and wants to see what kind of person he is before embarking on strictures that would affect the whole family for many years to come. His wife intuitively thinks he is a messenger of YHWH, but she did not have proof, and wanted to be sure that a commitment that could not be broken (Num. 30:2) was actually in agreement with the Torah and on a firm foundation. She has told him (v. 6) that she has no way to contact him again to find out more, so Manoakh wisely asks YHWH to allow him to hear the message firsthand so he can know if this agreement his wife has made should stand.
10. And the woman hurried and ran and told her husband, and told him, “The man who came to me that day has indeed appeared to me!”
11. So Manoakh got up and followed his wife and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I [am].”
12. So Manoakh said, “Then let your words come [true]! What should the lad’s regimen be [like], and what will his job be?”
13. So the messenger told Manoakh, “Of all that I told the woman, she must be watchful:
14. “She must not eat of anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink wine or any intoxicant, nor may she eat anything [ritually] impure. She must observe everything about which I gave her [strict] orders.”
Grapevine: literally, vine of wine. The messenger did not add anything to the “regimen” than what he had said before. As it would turn out, his parents were already predisposed to treat him as an “untrimmed vine” in the area of discipline as well, giving him more special treatment than they really should have, so he does not specify anything more than the normal practices a Nazir is to follow according to the Torah.
15. Then Manoakh said to the messenger of YHWH, “Please, let us detain you so we can prepare a kid of the goats in your presence.”
He is acting in the hospitable tradition of Avraham and Gid’on.
16. But the messenger told Manoakh, “[Even] if you detain me, I will not eat of your bread, but if you prepare an ascending [offering], you must offer it up to YHWH.” (Because Manoakh was not recognizing that he was a messenger of YHWH.)
Josephus interprets this as saying he was not bringing them the glad news of their coming son because he lacked anything and wanted a present from them! Not recognizing: It was that he was YHWH’s messenger in particular that was uncertain in his eyes, for thus far, except by the narrator, he has only been called a messenger of Elohim. He therefore clarified that if the purpose of bringing a goat was to be an offering, it had to be offered to YHWH, not to the messenger. He did not say, “Don’t shoot the messenger”, but “Don’t feed the messenger”, for he was merely delivering the message and did not want the focus to be on himself.
17. So Manoakh said to the messenger of YHWH, “What is your name, so that when your words come [true], we can give you [great] honor?”
18. But the messenger of YHWH said to him, “Why is it that you ask for my name, when it is incomprehensible?”
He echoes his ancestor Yaaqov’s request, and receives a very similar response. (Gen. 32:29) Incomprehensible: Heb., peli’y—out of reach, extraordinary, difficult to understand (Ps. 139:6), distinguished by an action that sets one apart. While this is the same root word for what Y’shua is called in Yeshayahu 9:6, but the form of the word there is not identical, so he is not saying this is a “preincarnate Y’shua”. He may be saying Manoakh would never understand if he told him who he was—i.e., that he is what we would call an angel. But in Hebrew there is no distinction between a human messenger and an angel in the actual terminology. The fact that this tends to be our focus can help us understand why Manoakh is still set on honoring the messenger instead of focusing on the message. In other words, if we know the message is from YHWH, it does not matter whether the messenger was an angel or not, for the outcome will not be affected either way. Deut. 29:29 tells us, “"The concealed things belong to YHWH our Elohim, but those which are open are for us and our sons unto the age, so that we may carry out all the words of this instruction.” The messenger’s visit was not about who he was, but about Manoakh’s assignment.
19. So Manoakh took the goat-kid and made it ascend upon the rock to YHWH, and he performed a wonder while Manoakh and his wife watched.
20. Then it occurred: as the flame ascended from the altar into the skies, the messenger of YHWH went up in the altar’s flame while Manoakh and his wife were looking on! And they fell to the ground on their faces.
Josephus said he used the smoke “as a vehicle”—much as Eliyahu (who was not an angel) also would. (2 Kings 2:11) “He makes His messengers wind, and His ministers a flaming fire.” (Psalm 104:4) Falling on their faces was the right response; today we would tend to try to recreate the spectacle and charge admission!
21. And the messenger of YHWH was no longer seen by Manoakh or to his wife. Then Manoakh realized that this was the messenger of YHWH.
Or to his wife: neither of them had been hallucinating. Again, this does not prove that he was an angel. YHWH may have simply been doing a miracle through him as He did through many other human prophets. He has set limits on His creation, and He can work within them in ways incomprehensible to us and at the precise time; this is not sleight of hand and in no way detracts from His power, but rather show how He can still manipulate His creation in a masterful way to achieve the right purposes.
22. Then Manoakh said to his wife, “We’re going to die for sure, because we have seen Elohim!”
Again this parallels Gid’on’s actions—and reactions--very closely. (6:18-23) Manoakh rightly recognized that no one can see YHWH and survive. (Ex. 33:20) That is why YHWH sends messengers, the foremost of which is Y’shua, by which to manifest Himself. (Yochanan 1:18) But was he making the same mistake the makers of the golden calf did when they felt like Moshe was the one who had to be replaced by something visible to worship? (Ex. 32:1) I.e., that one whom they thought of as an elohim had to be replaced by another?
23. But his wife told him, “If YHWH had wanted to put us to death, He would not have received an ascending [offering] or a contribution from our hands, nor would He have let us see all these things or hear such things at a time like [this].”
His wife brought balance back to his extreme viewpoint, she reasoned rightly that YHWH was not just out to kill His servants. Considering his appearance as described in verse 6, they could have thought this was Moshe himself, since no one knows what became of his body, and if so, they knew that in the Torah communicating with the dead is a capital offense. But this messenger was the one who did the contacting, so they were not to blame.
24. And the woman did bear a son, and she called his name “Shimshon”. As the lad grew up, YHWH [kept] blessing him.
Shimshon means “sunshine” or “intense sunlight”. Was his hair bright—or fiery red—when he was born? Josephus says the name signified strength.
25. And the spirit of YHWH began to repeatedly impel him [to go] into the camp of Dan between Tzaur’ah and Eshta’ol.
The camp of Dan: a defensive war camp where the Filistines were held at bay, as this was on the border of the area they occupied. (14:1) Tzaur’ah means “hornet”; Eshta’ol means “entreaty”. Shimshon had to be pushed or beaten into going to a place where he could identify his enemy and recognize his purpose—where he could learn to be not just a warrior but a leader of others as well, as he tended very much to act as a loner.
CHAPTER 14
1. When Shimshon went down to Timnath, he saw in Timnath a woman of the daughters of the Filistines.
Timnath: only about five miles to the west of Shimshon’s hometown of Tzor’ah. The name means “a portion weighed out, assigned, or counted.” It appears to have been the place designated for Israelites to pay taxes to the Filistines. (15:1) There may have been a governor there representing the king.
2. And he came [back] up and told his father and mother, and said, “I have seen a woman in Timnath from the daughters of the Filistines, so now get her for me to be a wife.
Came up: returned to the land of Israel. Note that the father was the one who arranged the marriage even if his son chose the wife. (Compare Gen. 21:21; 24:4) His superior wisdom was usually the reason for this, but in this case it was disregarded:
3. But his father and mother said to him, “Isn’t there a woman among the daughters of your relatives and among all of my people, that you are going to take a wife from the daughters of the uncircumcised Filistines?” But Shimshon said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is right in my eyes!”
Not just a Danite girl, but any Israelite would have been acceptable, but instead he chooses what is disgraceful to his people. Right: or straight, approved, smooth, level. He had not even spoken to her to find out what she was like, so he was clearly driven by the basest of motives.
4. Now his father and mother did not realize that it was from YHWH, because He was seeking an opening from the Filistines, because at that time the Filistines had dominion in Israel.
Opening: or occasion to make an inroad to defeat them. The term is also used of an animal in heat—the only occasion when she lets the male near. Shimshon could get closer to the heart of enemy territory through an amorous relationship than he could in a belligerent role. He was seeking: YHWH, not Shimshon; the latter was not very interested in this task; he was actually fascinated by Filistine culture instead. So, as when He hardened the hearts of Israel’s enemies (Y’hoshua 11:20), YHWH was using the “left-hand” approach: if Shimshon would not be motivated by all his parents had told him about who he was meant to be, then YHWH would use his evil inclination to attract him to the place He wanted him.
5. So Shimshon went with his father and mother down to Timnath, and they were coming to the vineyards in Timnath when, lo and behold, one of the young lions came roaring to meet him.
6. But a spirit [from] YHWH rushed onto him [to make him effective], and he tore it apart as [one could] tear apart a baby goat, with nothing in his hand, but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
Shimshon was not necessarily strong at any other time but when YHWH’s empowering spirit came upon him like this. He may not have even been a big or muscular man. He did not want them to know that what they had told him about all his life had finally arrived, because he did not want to carry out that role; all he seems to have been interested in was women. He is in denial of his true identity, just as most of Christianity is, not wanting to live as Israelites because they do not like the Torah, but have their eye on something else they like. Y’shua asked whether the role YHWH asked Him to fill could pass by him, but he ultimately determined that what YHWH wanted was more important than what he wanted for himself. Shimshon was not willing to even ask, or even run away like Yonah; he seems to have just ignored his calling until it happened to coincide with his own anger at some Filistines.
7. Then he went down and talked to the woman, and she was right in Shimshon’s eyes.
His opinion did not change after he got to know her a little bit better. Did he propose to her on his own and leave his father out of it?
8. And after some days, as he was coming back to fetch her, he turned aside to see the remains of the lion, and, lo and behold, [there was] a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass—with honey!
To fetch her: or, get her, take her, bring her away—after his father determined that he had an appropriate dwelling place for a bride built. It is clear that some time has indeed passed, because a beehive is not built overnight. Remains: from the word for “fallen”. Swarm: literally, a congregation of witnesses. Timnath was in Yehudah’s territory, thus there is a deeper allusion here: a congregation came about because of the death of the lion of Yehudah. From another angle, we could say Shimshon was deriving his joy and nourishment from a different congregation, one that was built around death, rather than life as the Torah is. (Deut. 30:19-20)
9. So he scraped [it] out onto [the palms of] his hands, and went on walking while he ate, and he went to his father and mother and gave [some] to them, and they ate, but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
Normally, a Nazir’s vow would be nullified if he touched a dead body (Num. 6:6-12), and he would need to shave and begin his vow over again. Like Chawwah giving the fruit to Adam, he included them in his sin as well. Not that the honey itself was unclean, but if he touched the dead body, corpse uncleanness would spread to them if they touched him. (Lev. 15:9ff) They would not have been responsible to do anything about it until they found out about it. (Lev. 5:2) This may be why he said nothing about it to his parents, though there is a slight possibility that he used another instrument to remove the honey and did not actually touch the corpse.
10. And his father went down to the woman, and Shimshon made a drinking-party there, because that is how the young men did things.
Shimshon was not to have any strong drink either. But he himself did not make the Nazir’s vow for him; YHWH Himself determined that it would be so. Therefore, apparently his vow cannot be broken. As YHWH put His “hand” out to shield Moshe from seeing Him so he would not die, and, as He told him then, He has mercy on whomever He wishes. Shimshon is a vessel chosen for honor (see Romans 9:22-23; 2 Tim. 2:20-21), despite his lack of conviction. YHWH has something in mind for each of us, and though we all do foolish things, that we turn out right in the final analysis is what He is most concerned about.
11. But what took place [was that], when they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
They saw that he was not a Filistine, so they made it possible for him to participate in this wedding custom that they had. They may have been similar to today’s “groomsmen”.
12. So Shimshon said to them, “Please let me you present you with a riddle [to guess]. If you can actually tell me [the answer] to it [within the] seven days of the [wedding] feast, and you get it, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.
Linen wraps: commonly worn as a sole garment, as an undergarment, or as a sheet to sleep in. They are what the “capable woman” is said to make in order to sell. (Prov. 31:24)
13. “But if you are not able to tell me [the answer], then you must give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” So they said to him, “Tell us your riddle, so we can hear it.”
14. So he said, “Out of the eater came something to eat;
out of the strong came something sweet.”But for three days they were unable to solve the riddle.
Strong: or fierce, tough. Solve: literally, declare, tell, or explain.
15. But then on the seventh day, they said to Shimshon’s wife, “Entice your man, so he will make the riddle known to us, or else we’ll burn you and your father’s house with fire! You’ve invited us [in order] to ruin us, haven’t you?”
Ruin: impoverish, dispossess, take what we have as your own inheritance. Why does the account jump from the third day to the seventh? The third day seems irrelevant to the story, so there is all the more reason to look into why it is there. It may be one of the earliest prophecies of Y’shua’s resurrection—out of the earth, which consumes all men, came forth the bread of life! The seventh day is a picture of the Kingdom age, so when we see the bride being hounded by enemies to press the bridegroom for information they can use to blackmail him, we may have a prophecy that in the last days the “other kingdom” will threaten the Messiah’s bride to “give what is holy to dogs” and “cast her pearls before swine”. In reality, the world is already doing this, as all information is assumed to belong to the public domain, and none to be kept only to a chosen few.
16. So Shimshon’s wife shed tears over him and said, “You only hate me! You don’t love me! You haven’t even told me the [answer to the] riddle that you’ve presented to the sons of my people.” But he told her, “Look, I haven’t even told my father or my mother; so would I tell you?”
Clearly in ancient Israel it was common for a man to give his parents more consideration and honor than his wife.
17. [All] seven days on which they had the feast she had been weeping over him, so on the seventh day he did reveal it to her, because she pressed him [so much], then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people.
This sounds like a contradiction—that she had been weeping all seven days for something they did not tell her until the last day. Apparently she was upset because she was not privy to his most intimate secrets since she was now his wife, and should know things before the others did, but he did not see it that way. What changed was that she was now being threatened, but since she did not tell him this, to him her more urgent plea just sounded like all the more nagging, so he humored her because it was becoming so annoying.
18. And before the sun went [down] on the seventh day, the men of the city said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” He told them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have guessed my riddle!”
Plowed: the term also means “to devise or plot evil”. Heifer: He has lost all respect for her, but this also may have been a common idiom.
19. Then a spirit of YHWH rushed upon him [to make him effective], and he went down to Ashqelon and struck down thirty of them, and took the spoils of which he stripped them to give the changes [of clothing] to those who had solved the riddle, and his anger burned, so he went up to his father’s house,
Again he does not recognize that the spirit is from YHWH; he is just reacting out of anger. There is a play on words here in Hebrew: “spoils” is khalitzah and “changes” is khalifah. Actually, khalitzah is used on several occasions to refer to apparel and robes of state worn by the proud (Yeshayahu 3:22) After all, why did he go to Ashqelon when it is not the nearest of the Filistine cities? It is some twenty miles from Timnath! In Amos 1:8, we are told that Ashqelon held the scepter—i.e., was the Filistine capital. (Compare Ts’fanyah 2:7.) There Shimshon could find especially fine robes to give them—of the same caliber as those Yoseyf had given to his brothers when he was second ruler in Egypt. (Gen. 45:22) Of course, he did not promise that they would not be stained with blood, and if they were it served these men right. Went up to his father’s house: He was so disgusted with them and with her for playing along with them that he did not even stay to consummate the marriage, for the Filistines waited until the seventh day, but simply paid his debt and left, so his father-in-law assumed he wanted the marriage annulled:
20. and Shimshon’s wife came to belong to his companion, who had been a close friend to him.
Apparently this friend—possibly the “best man” at his wedding--was also a Filistine. After all, Shimshon had grown up in the next town from the Filistines. Yet they are the oppressors and he is embracing them while turning his back on his heritage. He is therefore in league with them and a traitor to his people. But now that he has a reason to hate them, having seen their true colors, this can begin to change.
INTRODUCTION: This book of Israel's history picks up where Y'hoshua left off. Some include it among the prophets rather than the "writings", since several of the judges also acted in this capacity. It covers a span of 341 years (from about 1382 B.C.E. through 1041 B.C.E. (Some chronologies place it 30 years earlier.) The theme of the book is summed up in a phrase repeated several times throughout the later chapters: "At that time there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes." The clear antidote to this anarchy, then, which we have today more than we realize, is for there to again be authority in Israel.
THE BOOK OF
Judges
PART 2: CHAPTERS 8-14
