3:1 VE ELEH HA GOYIM ASHER HINIYACH YHVH LENASOT BAM ET YISRA-EL ET KOL ASHER LO YAD'U ET KOL MILCHAMOT KENA'AN
וְאֵלֶּה הַגֹּויִם אֲשֶׁר הִנִּיחַ יְהוָה לְנַסֹּות בָּם אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדְעוּ אֵת כָּל מִלְחֲמֹות כְּנָעַן
BN (BibleNet translation):Now these are the nations which YHVH left, to test Yisra-El through them, especially those in Yisra-El who had not known any of the wars of Kena'an...
And in the same way Dunkirk was a tactical advance in a direction intended to surprise the Germans, and the Charge of the Light Brigade was a deliberate strategy to delude the Russians into thinking their forces were superior.
3:2 RAK LEMA'AN DA'AT DOROT BENEY YISRA-EL LELAMDAM MILCHAMAH RAK ASHER LEPHANIM LO YEDA'UM
KJ: Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.
And in the same way Dunkirk was a tactical advance in a direction intended to surprise the Germans, and the Charge of the Light Brigade was a deliberate strategy to delude the Russians into thinking their forces were superior.
3:2 RAK LEMA'AN DA'AT DOROT BENEY YISRA-EL LELAMDAM MILCHAMAH RAK ASHER LEPHANIM LO YEDA'UM
רַק לְמַעַן דַּעַת דֹּרֹות בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְלַמְּדָם מִלְחָמָה רַק אֲשֶׁר לְפָנִים לֹא יְדָעוּם
KJ: Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof.
BN: Precisely for the educational benefit of these generations of the Beney Yisra-El; precisely to teach war to those who knew nothing of it previously.
Isn't it wonderful how there is always a pro-deity gloss that can be painted over anything; he didn't fail to keep his promise to wipe out all the nations and give us all the land; no, he deliberately left some as a teaching-exercise for future generations. And no doubt he put the nuts in my nut-free chocolate bar, so that I would have an opportunity to learn how to spell anafalaksis, and use an epipen.
3:3 CHAMESHET SARNEY PHELISHTIM VE CHOL HA KENA'ANI VE HA TSIYDONI VE HA CHIVI YOSHEV HAR HA LEVANON ME HAR BA'AL CHERMON AD LEVO CHAMAT
Isn't it wonderful how there is always a pro-deity gloss that can be painted over anything; he didn't fail to keep his promise to wipe out all the nations and give us all the land; no, he deliberately left some as a teaching-exercise for future generations. And no doubt he put the nuts in my nut-free chocolate bar, so that I would have an opportunity to learn how to spell anafalaksis, and use an epipen.
3:3 CHAMESHET SARNEY PHELISHTIM VE CHOL HA KENA'ANI VE HA TSIYDONI VE HA CHIVI YOSHEV HAR HA LEVANON ME HAR BA'AL CHERMON AD LEVO CHAMAT
חֲמֵשֶׁת סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וְכָל הַכְּנַעֲנִי וְהַצִּידֹנִי וְהַחִוִּי יֹשֵׁב הַר הַלְּבָנֹון מֵהַר בַּעַל חֶרְמֹון עַד לְבֹוא חֲמָת
BN: Namely, five lords of the Pelishtim, and all the Kena'ani, and the Tsidoni, and the Chivi who dwelt on Mount Levanon, from Mount Ba'al Chermon to the entrance to Chamat.
BA'AL CHERMON: Every mountain in the ancient world housed its own Valhalla or Olympus. This one was Laban, ha-Lavanah. (Is there an etymological link between Ba'al and Valhalla? Just asking!)
PELISHTIM: See the link.
KENA'ANI: See the link.
TSIDONI: See the link.
CHIVI: See the link.
CHAMAT: See the link.
3:4 VA YIHEYU LENASOT BAM ET YISRA-EL LADA'AT HA YISHME'U ET MITSVOT YHVH ASHER TSIVAH ET AVOTAM BE YAD MOSHEH
BA'AL CHERMON: Every mountain in the ancient world housed its own Valhalla or Olympus. This one was Laban, ha-Lavanah. (Is there an etymological link between Ba'al and Valhalla? Just asking!)
PELISHTIM: See the link.
KENA'ANI: See the link.
TSIDONI: See the link.
CHIVI: See the link.
CHAMAT: See the link.
3:4 VA YIHEYU LENASOT BAM ET YISRA-EL LADA'AT HA YISHME'U ET MITSVOT YHVH ASHER TSIVAH ET AVOTAM BE YAD MOSHEH
וַיִּהְיוּ לְנַסֹּות בָּם אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לָדַעַת הֲיִשְׁמְעוּ אֶת מִצְוֹת יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֶת אֲבֹותָם בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה
BN: And they were preserved in order to test Yisra-El through them, to know whether they would follow the laws of YHVH, which he instructed their fathers by the hand of Mosheh.
Repeating this again and again, in case the people still did not hear it (they didn't).
KJ: And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites
Repeating this again and again, in case the people still did not hear it (they didn't).
3:5 U VENEY YISRA-EL YASHVU BE KEREV HA KENA'ANI HA CHITI VE HA EMORI VE HA PERIZI VE HA CHIVI VE HA YEVUSI
וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יָשְׁבוּ בְּקֶרֶב הַכְּנַעֲנִי הַחִתִּי וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי וְהַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי
BN: And the Beney Yisra-El dwelt among the Kena'ani, the Chiti and the Emori, and the Perizi, and the Chivi, and the Yevusi.
Which is to say: everyone who was there before they conquered but had refused to accept YHVH as their god and set aside their other forms of worship! Which is to say: everyone.
CHITI: See the link.
EMORI: See the link.
PERIZI: See the link.
Which is to say: everyone who was there before they conquered but had refused to accept YHVH as their god and set aside their other forms of worship! Which is to say: everyone.
CHITI: See the link.
EMORI: See the link.
PERIZI: See the link.
YEVUSI: See the link.
3:6 VA YIK'CHU ET BENOTEYHEM LAHEM LE NASHIM VE ET BENOTEYHEM NATNU LI VENEYHEM VA YA'AVDU ET ELOHEYHEM
וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת בְּנֹותֵיהֶם לָהֶם לְנָשִׁים וְאֶת בְּנֹותֵיהֶם נָתְנוּ לִבְנֵיהֶם וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֶת אֱלֹהֵיהֶם
BN: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
Despite the insistence on endogamy in the Book of Joshua. See also the Book of Ezra (chapter 9 especially), and especially Nehemiah 13 (verses 25-27 especially), to understand why this is here: every text has its agenda, and every text has an audience for whom that agenda is intended. Ethnic purity remains to this day the ruling obsession of the Jewish people - and the principal reason for their survival.
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KJ: And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
Despite the insistence on endogamy in the Book of Joshua. See also the Book of Ezra (chapter 9 especially), and especially Nehemiah 13 (verses 25-27 especially), to understand why this is here: every text has its agenda, and every text has an audience for whom that agenda is intended. Ethnic purity remains to this day the ruling obsession of the Jewish people - and the principal reason for their survival.
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3:7 VA YA'ASU VENEY YISRA-EL ET HA RA BE EYNEY YHVH VA YISHKECHU ET YHVH ELOHEYHEM VA YA'AVDU ET HA BE'ALIM VE ET HA ASHEROT
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה וַיִּשְׁכְּחוּ אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֶת הַבְּעָלִים וְאֶת הָאֲשֵׁרֹות
BN: And the Beney Yisra-El did what was evil in the eyes of YHVH, and forgot YHVH their god, and served the Ba'alim, and in the groves.
ASHEROT: on this occasion, where Judges 2:13 used Ashtarot, and I commented there that it should really have been Ashterot; they are the same thing in reality ISHTAR, ASHERAH, SARAI and SARAH in four regional dialects), but it is significant to see the two words interchangeable here.
KJ: Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.
3:8 VA YICHAR APH YHVH BE YISRA-EL VA YIMKEREM BE YAD KUSHAN-RISH'ATAYIM MELECH ARAM NAHARAYIM VA YA'AVDU VENEY YISRA-EL ET KUSHAN-RISH'ATAYIM SHEMONEH SHANIM
וַיִּחַר אַף יְהוָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּמְכְּרֵם בְּיַד כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם מֶלֶךְ אֲרַם נַהֲרָיִם וַיַּעַבְדוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם שְׁמֹנֶה שָׁנִים
BN: Therefore the nostrils of YHVH were inflamed against Yisra-El, and he sold them into the hand of Kushan-Rishatayim, king of Aram Naharayim; and the Beney Yisra-El served Kushan-Rishatayim for eight years.
So the epoch of Joshuaic conquest lasted precisely this long - a handful of years maybe; three chapters and seven verses of this text. And now, once again, the Beney Yisra-El are themselves a conquered people, slaves in someone else's empire.
So the epoch of Joshuaic conquest lasted precisely this long - a handful of years maybe; three chapters and seven verses of this text. And now, once again, the Beney Yisra-El are themselves a conquered people, slaves in someone else's empire.
KUSHAN-RISHATAYIM: for Kush see the notes at the link. Rishatayim (רשעתים) is another irony by the Redactor, along the lines of foxes and scorpions in Judges 1:36. The word means "wickedness" and is etymologically linked to RA, which was used for "evil" above. So the Beney Yisra-El committed evil, but Rishatayim was "the most evil of them all", a multiple plural along the same lines as Yeru-Shala'im and Elohim and Shir ha-Shirim and Eshet - Isis. Some king of Mesopotamia, left unnamed, but given the absolute opposite sobriquet of "the Great": King Caligula the Unequivocally Vile, Queen Margaret the Despicable - something of that sort. Is it perhaps an obscure reference to the much later Nebuchadnezzar? Or did the promise of conquest and possession really turn into failure and defeat that quickly?
The immediate inference is that the conquerors were conquered, that an invading force from Mesopotamia seized the land, and subdued it, and that it took them eight years to fight him off. Further proof that conquest was not really conquest, but a kind of forced settlement. Not much different from today, really.
YICHAR APH: And can we assume from this image that the original tale was about EL-worshippers and not YHVH worshippers? EL was always depicted as a bull-god, and the anger of the bull is associated with its inflamed nostrils; YHVH was a volcano god, and his tantrums were eruptions and earthquakes and the pouring out of plague in the form of lava-clouds.
KJ: And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
3:9 VA YIZ'AKU VENEY YISRA-EL EL YHVH VA YAKEM YHVH MOSHI'A LIVNEY YISRA-EL VA YOSHIY'EM ET ATNI-EL BEN KENAZ ACHI CHALEV HA KATAN MIMENU
וַיִּזְעֲקוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יְהוָה וַיָּקֶם יְהוָה מֹושִׁיעַ לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּושִׁיעֵם אֵת עָתְנִיאֵל בֶּן קְנַז אֲחִי כָלֵב הַקָּטֹן מִמֶּנּוּ
BN: And when the Beney Yisra-El cried to YHVH, YHVH raised up a Messiah for the Beney Yisra-El, who delivered them, one Atni-El ben Kenaz, Kalev's younger kinsman.
As per my note at Judges 2:16, the word for "deliverer" here is MOSHI'A (מושיע), one of the many variants on Yehoshu'a (Joshua), Yeshu'a (Jesus), Eli-Shah (Elishah), Yesha-Yah (Isaiah), and of course the root of one of the two words which are both conveyed by the English "Messiah" (Mashiyach - משיח - meaning "anointed", is the other, and its meaning is actually very different).
ATNI-EL: The name means "the lion of El" - specifically El, not YHVH - and was later the sobriquet of Muhammad's uncle Hamza. See his conquest of Chevron and marriage to Achsah, in Joshua 15 and again in Judges 1.
3:10 VA TEHI ALAV RU'ACH YHVH VA YISHPOT ET YISRA-EL VA YETS'E LA MILCHAMAH VA YITEN YHVH BE YADO ET KUSHAN-RISH'ATAYIM MELECH ARAM VA TA'AZ YADO AL KUSHAN-RISH'ATAYIM
KJ: And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.
As per my note at Judges 2:16, the word for "deliverer" here is MOSHI'A (מושיע), one of the many variants on Yehoshu'a (Joshua), Yeshu'a (Jesus), Eli-Shah (Elishah), Yesha-Yah (Isaiah), and of course the root of one of the two words which are both conveyed by the English "Messiah" (Mashiyach - משיח - meaning "anointed", is the other, and its meaning is actually very different).
ATNI-EL: The name means "the lion of El" - specifically El, not YHVH - and was later the sobriquet of Muhammad's uncle Hamza. See his conquest of Chevron and marriage to Achsah, in Joshua 15 and again in Judges 1.
3:10 VA TEHI ALAV RU'ACH YHVH VA YISHPOT ET YISRA-EL VA YETS'E LA MILCHAMAH VA YITEN YHVH BE YADO ET KUSHAN-RISH'ATAYIM MELECH ARAM VA TA'AZ YADO AL KUSHAN-RISH'ATAYIM
וַתְּהִי עָלָיו רוּחַ יְהוָה וַיִּשְׁפֹּט אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה וַיִּתֵּן יְהוָה בְּיָדֹו אֶת כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם וַתָּעָז יָדֹו עַל כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתָיִם
BN: And the spirit of YHVH came upon him, and he judged Yisra-El, and went out to war: and YHVH delivered Kushan-Rish'atayim king of Aram into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Kushan-Rish'atayim.
The language here is all about "spirit" and "judging", but his status as Moshi'a is entirely dependent on his military prowess; he is a war-lord, not a baptist or a faith-healer.
Significant for David's kingship at Chevron later on, that one of the first Judges of Yisra-El was also Kalev's brother, and presumably he now ruled Yisra-El from Chevron, his home-city.
3:11 VA TISHKOT HA ARETS ARBA'IM SHANAH VA YAMAT ATNI-EL BEN KENAZ
KJ: And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
The language here is all about "spirit" and "judging", but his status as Moshi'a is entirely dependent on his military prowess; he is a war-lord, not a baptist or a faith-healer.
Significant for David's kingship at Chevron later on, that one of the first Judges of Yisra-El was also Kalev's brother, and presumably he now ruled Yisra-El from Chevron, his home-city.
3:11 VA TISHKOT HA ARETS ARBA'IM SHANAH VA YAMAT ATNI-EL BEN KENAZ
וַתִּשְׁקֹט הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה וַיָּמָת עָתְנִיאֵל בֶּן קְנַז
BN: And there was peace in the land for forty years. And Atni-El the son of Kenaz died.
VA TISHKOT... ARETS: "The land had rest" is ambiguous in the context of the Tanach - it could unintentionally infer the Jubilee. This is about peace between peoples, and ARETS means land as in "nation", not land as in "soil".
ARBA'IM SHANAH: Forty years is always a symbolic number - though it is not a Jubilee number, so that confirms the note above. As in the wilderness journey of Mosheh and the days of No'ach's flood. In Egypt the number 40 was used to mean "any large number", in the way that we might use "myriad".
What we are not told is how Atni-El ruled: did he now take power over the whole land, the twelve tribes under his centralised authority? The inference is that he did, but it is not overtly stated - and the same will apply with all the Judges that follow him.
Much more on Atni-El, and the importance of his tomb to this day, by clicking here.
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KJ: And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
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| The tomb of Atni-El ben Kenaz in Chevron |
ARBA'IM SHANAH: Forty years is always a symbolic number - though it is not a Jubilee number, so that confirms the note above. As in the wilderness journey of Mosheh and the days of No'ach's flood. In Egypt the number 40 was used to mean "any large number", in the way that we might use "myriad".
What we are not told is how Atni-El ruled: did he now take power over the whole land, the twelve tribes under his centralised authority? The inference is that he did, but it is not overtly stated - and the same will apply with all the Judges that follow him.
Much more on Atni-El, and the importance of his tomb to this day, by clicking here.
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3:12 VA YOSIPHU BENEY YISRA-EL LA'ASOT HA RA BE EYNEY YHVH VA YECHAZEK YHVH ET EGLON MELECH MO'AV AL YISRA-EL AL KI ASU ET HA RA BE EYNEY YHVH
וַיֹּסִפוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַעֲשֹׂות הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה וַיְחַזֵּק יְהוָה אֶת עֶגְלֹון מֶלֶךְ מֹואָב עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל כִּי עָשׂוּ אֶת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה
BN: And the Beney Yisra-El once again did what was evil in the eyes of YHVH, and YHVH strengthened Eglon, the king of Mo-Av, against Yisra-El, because they had done what was evil in the eyes of YHVH.
EGLON (עגלון) does not work as a name; it is once again a title of the sacred king. EGLAH is "a calf", generally a bullock, and of course it was an EGEL that Aharon (Aaron) set up at the foot of Mount Sinai - the Golden Calf - much to Mosheh's disquiet (Exodus 32:4). The town of Eglon means "the place of the Egel"; it was once a royal city of the Kena'anim (see my note to Joshua 10:3 in particular; also 12:12 and 15:39) and may well be a Mo-Avi (Moabite) dialect pronunciation of Ayalon (the Gimmel in its Arabic pronunciation is barely distinguishable from a guttural "y" in English; which is why we end up saying Gaza for Azah, and Gomorrah for Amorah, in English).
EGLON (עגלון) does not work as a name; it is once again a title of the sacred king. EGLAH is "a calf", generally a bullock, and of course it was an EGEL that Aharon (Aaron) set up at the foot of Mount Sinai - the Golden Calf - much to Mosheh's disquiet (Exodus 32:4). The town of Eglon means "the place of the Egel"; it was once a royal city of the Kena'anim (see my note to Joshua 10:3 in particular; also 12:12 and 15:39) and may well be a Mo-Avi (Moabite) dialect pronunciation of Ayalon (the Gimmel in its Arabic pronunciation is barely distinguishable from a guttural "y" in English; which is why we end up saying Gaza for Azah, and Gomorrah for Amorah, in English).
The idea that the nostrils of the deity were inflamed like a bull's, and that the king who came to punish those who made him angry should turn out to the bull-god's "beloved son", Eglon the Golden Calf, is worth further cosideration. Remember that the Bible tales from the second half of Ya'akov onwards all take place during the age of Aries, the Ram, and therefore the Paschal Lamb is the central sacrifice. Jesus will arrive at the start of the the age of Pisces, and the principal symbol of the Christian world will therefore become the fish (technically it is known as the Ichthys), though first the last Paschal Lamb had to be sacrificed. But before Aries there was Taurus, which gives us all manner of bull-related tales, including the Mark of Kayin. More on the cosmological ages here.
What I find the most sad about the Tanach is the eternally missed opportunity for some real human explanation of what happens in the world. Why these invasions and expulsions and conquests? Because there is limited food to eat, and people needed land where they could settle securely for long enough to plant and harvest it? Or there were too many people, so some went elsewhere in search, and that meant slavery or brute force? These are the usual explanations of human wars - and the reason why the Yehudit word for "war", which is MILCHAMAH, comes from the root LECHEM , which means "bread" - these explanations, rather than some megalomaniacal deity sulking and tantrumming that people won't follow his ridiculous rules.
3:13 VA YE'ESOPH ELAV ET BENEY AMON VA AMALEK VA YELECH VA YACH ET YISRA-EL VA YIYRESHU ET IR HA TEMARIM
וַיֶּאֱסֹף אֵלָיו אֶת בְּנֵי עַמֹּון וַעֲמָלֵק וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיַּךְ אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּירְשׁוּ אֶת עִיר הַתְּמָרִים
BN: And he brought the Beney Amon and Amalek into an alliance with himself, and went and smote Yisra-El, and took possession of the city of palm trees.
For Amon and Amalek see the links. The "city of palm trees", Ir ha-Temarim, is obviously connected to Tamar, though generally it is understood to be Yericho (cf Deuteronomy 34:3)
For Amon and Amalek see the links. The "city of palm trees", Ir ha-Temarim, is obviously connected to Tamar, though generally it is understood to be Yericho (cf Deuteronomy 34:3)
3:14 VA YA'AVDU VENEY YISRA-EL ET EGLON MELECH MO-AV SHEMONEH ESREH SHANAH
וַיַּעַבְדוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת עֶגְלֹון מֶלֶךְ מֹואָב שְׁמֹונֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה
BN: So the Beney Yisra-El served Eglon the king of Mo-Av for eighteen years.
And again, so much for conquest! These are years of permanent war, 8 years of occupation, 40 years of power, 18 more years of occupation, winning, losing, all, some.
MO-AV: See the link.
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And again, so much for conquest! These are years of permanent war, 8 years of occupation, 40 years of power, 18 more years of occupation, winning, losing, all, some.
MO-AV: See the link.
samech break
3:15 VA YIZ'AKU VENEY YISRA-EL EL YHVH VA YAKEM YHVH LAHEM MOSHI'A ET EHUD BEN GERA BEN HA YEMIYNI ISH ITER YAD YEMIYNO VA YISHLECHU VENEY YISRA-EL BE YADO MINCHAH LE EGLON MELECH MO-AV
וַיִּזְעֲקוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יְהוָה וַיָּקֶם יְהוָה לָהֶם מֹושִׁיעַ אֶת אֵהוּד בֶּן גֵּרָא בֶּן הַיְמִינִי אִישׁ אִטֵּר יַד יְמִינֹו וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיָדֹו מִנְחָה לְעֶגְלֹון מֶלֶךְ מֹואָב
BN: But when the Beney Yisra-El cried out to YHVH, YHVH sent them a Moshi'a, Ehud ben Gera, a Ben-Yamini, a man with a shrivelled right hand: and through him the Beney Yisra-El sent a present to Eglon the king of Mo-Av.
Again the word used here for deliverer is Moshi'a, not Mashiyach, which is the word that gives us Messiah. Ehud (אהוד) means "joining together" and again it feels like an epithet or title rather than a name: "The Unifier".
The sending of a deliverer also contradicts the repeated statement that YHVH will not help them any more, but instead will leave these people to their enemy; when it happens, he always intervenes anyway! But this is theology; not the territory of TheBibleNet.
BEN HA YEMINI: Isn't that just such a nice touch?! Meaningless in English without explanation, and then immensely complex and complicated. A man from the right-hand tribe (Bin Yamin) who happens to be left-handed. (If this were a piece of English literature, I would wonder if the left-handedness had a different intention, given that left-handed people are always regarded, Frenchly, as being somewhat gauche, or worse, Romanly, as being downright sinister. And maybe that is true here as well. We shall see.) But does it even mean "left-handed"?
ISH ITER YAD YEMINO: We shall see, as noted in the parenthesis above, that Ehud wasn't naturally left-handed, because ITER is a very specific word - it occurs, for example, in Psalm 69:16: "Ve al te'tar alai be'er piyha - וְאַל־תֶּאְטַר־עָלַ֖י בְּאֵ֣ר פִּֽיהָ - do not let the mouth of the Pit close over me". Ehud was indeed naturally right-handed (a Yemini, in both senses of that word), but he had lost the use of his right hand, and was therefore compelled to use his left hand: involuntary wickedness, if we are to take a French reading. Exactly how he had lost the use of his right hand is open to debate, but Targum Jonathan, which turned the Yehudit into Aramaic in the 1st century BCE, rendered ITER as גַרְמִידָא (GARMIYDA), which means "shrivelled by disease", and given that Jonathan (or correctly Yonatan) was the principle pupil of Rabbi Hillel himself, and given that his Targum became and has remained the principle text of Mizrachi Jews, and given that Rashi supported his translation, there is at the very least a lengthy historical case for accepting it.
MINCHAH: The afternoon prayers are known as Minchah; the name originally belonged to the afternoon sacrifices. A gift is usually a MATANAH, so the inference here is that this wasn't an angora sweater or a set of golf clubs, but a religious offering of some kind. Perhaps we should translate it as "tribute" even (see my note to Judges 1:28)! Or maybe, we should just look again at the note to Eglon, above, and remember what gifts were given to make the Golden Calf.
3:16 VA YA'AS LO EHUD CHEREV VE LAH SHNEY PHEYOT GOMED ARKAH VA YACHGOR OTAH MI TACHAT LE MADAV AL YERECH YEMIYNO
KJ: But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
Again the word used here for deliverer is Moshi'a, not Mashiyach, which is the word that gives us Messiah. Ehud (אהוד) means "joining together" and again it feels like an epithet or title rather than a name: "The Unifier".
The sending of a deliverer also contradicts the repeated statement that YHVH will not help them any more, but instead will leave these people to their enemy; when it happens, he always intervenes anyway! But this is theology; not the territory of TheBibleNet.
BEN HA YEMINI: Isn't that just such a nice touch?! Meaningless in English without explanation, and then immensely complex and complicated. A man from the right-hand tribe (Bin Yamin) who happens to be left-handed. (If this were a piece of English literature, I would wonder if the left-handedness had a different intention, given that left-handed people are always regarded, Frenchly, as being somewhat gauche, or worse, Romanly, as being downright sinister. And maybe that is true here as well. We shall see.) But does it even mean "left-handed"?
ISH ITER YAD YEMINO: We shall see, as noted in the parenthesis above, that Ehud wasn't naturally left-handed, because ITER is a very specific word - it occurs, for example, in Psalm 69:16: "Ve al te'tar alai be'er piyha - וְאַל־תֶּאְטַר־עָלַ֖י בְּאֵ֣ר פִּֽיהָ - do not let the mouth of the Pit close over me". Ehud was indeed naturally right-handed (a Yemini, in both senses of that word), but he had lost the use of his right hand, and was therefore compelled to use his left hand: involuntary wickedness, if we are to take a French reading. Exactly how he had lost the use of his right hand is open to debate, but Targum Jonathan, which turned the Yehudit into Aramaic in the 1st century BCE, rendered ITER as גַרְמִידָא (GARMIYDA), which means "shrivelled by disease", and given that Jonathan (or correctly Yonatan) was the principle pupil of Rabbi Hillel himself, and given that his Targum became and has remained the principle text of Mizrachi Jews, and given that Rashi supported his translation, there is at the very least a lengthy historical case for accepting it.
MINCHAH: The afternoon prayers are known as Minchah; the name originally belonged to the afternoon sacrifices. A gift is usually a MATANAH, so the inference here is that this wasn't an angora sweater or a set of golf clubs, but a religious offering of some kind. Perhaps we should translate it as "tribute" even (see my note to Judges 1:28)! Or maybe, we should just look again at the note to Eglon, above, and remember what gifts were given to make the Golden Calf.
3:16 VA YA'AS LO EHUD CHEREV VE LAH SHNEY PHEYOT GOMED ARKAH VA YACHGOR OTAH MI TACHAT LE MADAV AL YERECH YEMIYNO
וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ אֵהוּד חֶרֶב וְלָהּ שְׁנֵי פֵיוֹת גֹּמֶד אָרְכָּהּ וַיַּחְגֹּר אוֹתָהּ מִתַּחַת לְמַדָּיו עַל יֶרֶךְ יְמִינ
KJ: But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
BN: But Ehud made for himself a double-edged dagger, a cubit in length; and he strapped it beneath his bernous, on his right thigh.
Which is where a right-handed man would put a dagger; and where Eglon would look, if he was looking, to see if the man was carrying a weapon - unless he knew that the man was left-handed, which is presumably the reason for the mention of his left-handedness earlier.
GOMED ARKAH: Is it still a dagger, at that length? Rather more a sword. I am asking, less for the linguistic semantics than for his ability to walk: a cubit is just under 18 inches (click here), so he will have had to place it very near the hip, or he would be poking himself in the side of the knee at every step.
Which is where a right-handed man would put a dagger; and where Eglon would look, if he was looking, to see if the man was carrying a weapon - unless he knew that the man was left-handed, which is presumably the reason for the mention of his left-handedness earlier.
GOMED ARKAH: Is it still a dagger, at that length? Rather more a sword. I am asking, less for the linguistic semantics than for his ability to walk: a cubit is just under 18 inches (click here), so he will have had to place it very near the hip, or he would be poking himself in the side of the knee at every step.
And of course, if you are the ritual slaughterer, appointed by the deity, sent to sacrifice a bull-calf, a shochet's knife is exactly what you would take with you.
3:17 VA YAKREV ET HA MINCHAH LE EGLON MELECH MO-AV VE EGLON ISH BARI ME'OD
וַיַּקְרֵב אֶת הַמִּנְחָה לְעֶגְלֹון מֶלֶךְ מֹואָב וְעֶגְלֹון אִישׁ בָּרִיא מְאֹד
BN: And he brought the gift to Eglon king of Mo-Av: and Eglon was a very fat man.
Despite my note two verses ago, we are not going to be told what the gift was, and presumably that's because it doesn't matter, because it was simply a ruse to gain access, because the real "gift" (minchah, as noted above, is the time for the afternoon sacrifices) is going to be the concealed knife.
Despite my note two verses ago, we are not going to be told what the gift was, and presumably that's because it doesn't matter, because it was simply a ruse to gain access, because the real "gift" (minchah, as noted above, is the time for the afternoon sacrifices) is going to be the concealed knife.
BARI: Can mean "fat", but it could just as easily mean "healthy". In today's world these would not be synonyms; back then they were. And so there is a deliberate play between Ehud's "diseased hand" and Eglon's state of good health. But see verse 22.
KJ: And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.
3:18 VA YEHI KA ASHER KILAH LEHAKRIV ET HA MINCHAH VA YESHALACH ET HA AM NOS'EY HA MINCHAH
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר כִּלָּה לְהַקְרִיב אֶת הַמִּנְחָה וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת הָעָם נֹשְׂאֵי הַמִּנְחָה
BN: And when he had finished presenting the gift, he sent away the people who were carrying the gift.
3:19 VE HU SHAV MIN HA PESILIM ASHER ET HA GILGAL VA YOMER DEVAR SETER LI ELEYCHA HA MELECH VA YOMER HAS VA YETS'U ME ALAV KOL HA OMDIM ALAV
KJ: But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
3:19 VE HU SHAV MIN HA PESILIM ASHER ET HA GILGAL VA YOMER DEVAR SETER LI ELEYCHA HA MELECH VA YOMER HAS VA YETS'U ME ALAV KOL HA OMDIM ALAV
וְהוּא שָׁב מִן הַפְּסִילִים אֲשֶׁר אֶת הַגִּלְגָּל וַיֹּאמֶר דְּבַר סֵתֶר לִי אֵלֶיךָ הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר הָס וַיֵּצְאוּ מֵעָלָיו כָּל הָעֹמְדִים עָלָיו
BN: But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gil-Gal, and said, "I have a secret errand for you, O king". Who said, "Hush!" And everyone who was standing near him went away from him.
This suddenly became very complex. Why were they at the quarries near Gil-Gal anyway (were those quarries, just as a side-issue, the source of the megaliths of the place, rather than the rather silly story told in Joshua 4?)? Was their being there connected with the minchah in some way - the gift was something large and made of stone, like, say, a statue of a calf? Of course we may be misunderstanding the meaning of PESILIM, and "quarries" turns out to be a convenient mistranslation! This, in fact, and verse 26 below, are the only occasions when PESILIM is translated as "quarries"; everywhere else PASAL means "to carve", and a PESEL is a "graven image", quite possibly made of stone though it could as well be made of wood, but the importance here is the image not the material - and so, again, I wonder if the gift to EGLON was not some sort of stone carving of the cow-goddess Hat-Hor or Le'ah, or Horus in his emblematic image, which is the one that Aharon erected at his holy mountain (cf Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 7:25, Isaiah 21:9, Jeremiah 8:19 and 51:52, and many, many others).
Why would Ehud have a secret mission for the enemy king anyway? And more significantly, why would the enemy king allow him a moment of private communication, and the chance to make such a suggestion?
HAS: Not properly a word at all, but the phonetic of a sonic gesture - which is why I have translated it to precisely its English equivalent, the somewhat more spitful Hush.
3:20 VE EHUD BA ELAV HE HU YOSHEV BA ALIYAT HA MEKERAH ASHER LO LEVADO VA YOMER EHUD DEVAR ELOHIM LI ELEYCHA VA YAKUM ME AL HA KIS'E
KJ: And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.
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| Hat-Hor, Lady of Amentet |
Why would Ehud have a secret mission for the enemy king anyway? And more significantly, why would the enemy king allow him a moment of private communication, and the chance to make such a suggestion?
HAS: Not properly a word at all, but the phonetic of a sonic gesture - which is why I have translated it to precisely its English equivalent, the somewhat more spitful Hush.
3:20 VE EHUD BA ELAV HE HU YOSHEV BA ALIYAT HA MEKERAH ASHER LO LEVADO VA YOMER EHUD DEVAR ELOHIM LI ELEYCHA VA YAKUM ME AL HA KIS'E
וְאֵהוּד בָּא אֵלָיו וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב בַּעֲלִיַּת הַמְּקֵרָה אֲשֶׁר לֹו לְבַדֹּו וַיֹּאמֶר אֵהוּד דְּבַר אֱלֹהִים לִי אֵלֶיךָ וַיָּקָם מֵעַל הַכִּסֵּא
BN: And Ehud came to him, and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had as a place of privacy. And Ehud said, I have a message from Elohim for you. And he got up from his seat.
He said "Hush" while they were at the quarries, so that the message could be given in private, right then; but now we have move to a different location, for the same purpose. Two versions intermingled - or are the quarries and the summer parlour somehow the same place?
He said "Hush" while they were at the quarries, so that the message could be given in private, right then; but now we have move to a different location, for the same purpose. Two versions intermingled - or are the quarries and the summer parlour somehow the same place?
ALIYAT HA MEKERAH: How our picture of this primitive world constantly shifts and alters. Gil-Gal transformed into a summer palace, or a house for a king anyway, with such a thing as a parlour, though that could be an "audience chamber", given that English "parlour" comes from the French "parler" = "to speak".
Note that Ehud brings his message from Elohim, not YHVH.
KJ: And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly
3:21 VA YISHLACH EHUD ET YAD SMO'LO VA YIKACH ET HA CHEREV ME AL YERECH YEMIYNO VA YITKA'EHA BE VITNO
וַיִּשְׁלַח אֵהוּד אֶת יַד שְׂמֹאלֹו וַיִּקַּח אֶת הַחֶרֶב מֵעַל יֶרֶךְ יְמִינֹו וַיִּתְקָעֶהָ בְּבִטְנֹו
BN: And Ehud reached down with his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
Here we are, in the Book of Judges, where the shophtim of Yisra-El are being exalted, and this one a Moshi'a into the bargain - and our current hero turns out to be a latter-day suicide bomber, a mere assassin. What moral message are we supposed to glean from this? That when the Christian Messiah says "I come, not to bring peace but a sword", he really means a double-edged dagger concealed on his thigh, and a plan to murder his enemies?
YERECH: The significance of the left-handedness is now made fully clear. Can we read anything significant into the thigh - anyone who has read my notes on Ya'akov at Penu-El or Yehoshu'a at Yerecho, which is to say Jacob at Penuel and Joshua at Jericho, shouldn't have any difficulty with this one)?
Here we are, in the Book of Judges, where the shophtim of Yisra-El are being exalted, and this one a Moshi'a into the bargain - and our current hero turns out to be a latter-day suicide bomber, a mere assassin. What moral message are we supposed to glean from this? That when the Christian Messiah says "I come, not to bring peace but a sword", he really means a double-edged dagger concealed on his thigh, and a plan to murder his enemies?
YERECH: The significance of the left-handedness is now made fully clear. Can we read anything significant into the thigh - anyone who has read my notes on Ya'akov at Penu-El or Yehoshu'a at Yerecho, which is to say Jacob at Penuel and Joshua at Jericho, shouldn't have any difficulty with this one)?
3:22 VA YAVO GAM HA NITSAV ACHAR HA LAHAV VA YISGOR HA CHELEV BE AD HA LAHAV KI LO SHALAPH HA CHEREV MI BITNO VA YETS'E HA PARSHEDONAH
וַיָּבֹא גַם הַנִּצָּב אַחַר הַלַּהַב וַיִּסְגֹּר הַחֵלֶב בְּעַד הַלַּהַב כִּי לֹא שָׁלַף הַחֶרֶב מִבִּטְנֹו וַיֵּצֵא הַפַּרְשְׁדֹנָה
BN: And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out.
PARSHEDONAH: Dirt? What Yehudit word, or root, is this? Might there be two words unintentionally conjoined so that it looks like one: Poresh Donah, perhaps. Still no clue what that might mean, but it looks more authentic than Parshedonah! (There is a PARSHANDATAH at Esther 9:7, not the same word but very similar, a man's name in Pharsi - and given that the Tanach is being redacted by men who have just returned to Yehudah from decades in Persia, their use of Persian words should not surprise us - though I still have no idea what it means).
But presumably it's the contents of his stomach, which must have been very, very fat for a dagger that length to go into the haft, and the bowel to release quite that much excrement.
PARSHEDONAH: Dirt? What Yehudit word, or root, is this? Might there be two words unintentionally conjoined so that it looks like one: Poresh Donah, perhaps. Still no clue what that might mean, but it looks more authentic than Parshedonah! (There is a PARSHANDATAH at Esther 9:7, not the same word but very similar, a man's name in Pharsi - and given that the Tanach is being redacted by men who have just returned to Yehudah from decades in Persia, their use of Persian words should not surprise us - though I still have no idea what it means).
But presumably it's the contents of his stomach, which must have been very, very fat for a dagger that length to go into the haft, and the bowel to release quite that much excrement.
SHALAPH: To "schlep" in Yiddish.
3:23 VA YETS'E EHUD HA MISDERONAH VE YISGOR DALTOT HA ALIYAH BA'ADO VE NA'AL
וַיֵּצֵא אֵהוּד הַמִּסְדְּרֹונָה וַיִּסְגֹּר דַּלְתֹות הָעַלִיָּה בַּעֲדֹו וְנָעָל
BN: Then Ehud went out through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour behind him, and locked them.
MISDERONAH: From the Parshedonah to the Misderonah... are we perhaps employing the language of Mo-Av, but without sufficient knowledge of it today to be able to deduce its meanings beyond the obviousness of context? (I confess that I rather like my translation of this verse, which echoes most standard translations, even if it does belong in a Victorian manor house rather more than a Biblical caravanserai! "The Murder of Eglon" by Agat ha Christie).
1 Kings 7:9 has MASAD (מסד) for the foundations of a building, from the root YESOD (Keren ha Yesod is the principal diasporal fund-raising organisation for modern Israel); given that the building in question was the Temple, and we know that it was built in the Phoenician style, using pillars to make a portico, MISDERONAH is probably derived from this root, and therefore we can state with confidence that "porch" is a good translation, but "portico" would have been even better.
And then that insignificant word ALIYAH again.
3:24 VE HU YATS'A VA AVADAV BA'U VA YIR'U VE HINEH DALTOT HA ALIYAH NE'ULOT VA YOMRU ACH MESICH HU ET RAGLAV BA CHADAR HA MEKERAH
KJ: When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.
MISDERONAH: From the Parshedonah to the Misderonah... are we perhaps employing the language of Mo-Av, but without sufficient knowledge of it today to be able to deduce its meanings beyond the obviousness of context? (I confess that I rather like my translation of this verse, which echoes most standard translations, even if it does belong in a Victorian manor house rather more than a Biblical caravanserai! "The Murder of Eglon" by Agat ha Christie).
1 Kings 7:9 has MASAD (מסד) for the foundations of a building, from the root YESOD (Keren ha Yesod is the principal diasporal fund-raising organisation for modern Israel); given that the building in question was the Temple, and we know that it was built in the Phoenician style, using pillars to make a portico, MISDERONAH is probably derived from this root, and therefore we can state with confidence that "porch" is a good translation, but "portico" would have been even better.
And then that insignificant word ALIYAH again.
3:24 VE HU YATS'A VA AVADAV BA'U VA YIR'U VE HINEH DALTOT HA ALIYAH NE'ULOT VA YOMRU ACH MESICH HU ET RAGLAV BA CHADAR HA MEKERAH
וְהוּא יָצָא וַעֲבָדָיו בָּאוּ וַיִּרְאוּ וְהִנֵּה דַּלְתֹות הָעֲלִיָּה נְעֻלֹות וַיֹּאמְרוּ אַךְ מֵסִיךְ הוּא אֶת רַגְלָיו בַּחֲדַר הַמְּקֵרָה
BN: When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, "I guess he's taking a siesta in the sun-room".
No apologies for my highly colloquial translation, but this must surely be a contemporary idiom, because otherwise it is completely absurd. Ditto for the first part of the next verse.
I am, however, intrigued to know how Ehud managed to lock the door on his way out, and what did he do with the key? (Shimshon Poirot probably has the answer [Shimshon was the Pelishtim version of Herakles... Hercule Poirot?... oh, never mind]).
3:25 VA YACHIYLU AD BOSH VE HINEH EYNENU POTE'ACH DALTOT HA ALIYAH VA YIKCHU ET HA MAPHTE'ACH VA YIPHTACHU VE HINEH ADONEYHEM NOPHEL ARTSAH MET
No apologies for my highly colloquial translation, but this must surely be a contemporary idiom, because otherwise it is completely absurd. Ditto for the first part of the next verse.
I am, however, intrigued to know how Ehud managed to lock the door on his way out, and what did he do with the key? (Shimshon Poirot probably has the answer [Shimshon was the Pelishtim version of Herakles... Hercule Poirot?... oh, never mind]).
3:25 VA YACHIYLU AD BOSH VE HINEH EYNENU POTE'ACH DALTOT HA ALIYAH VA YIKCHU ET HA MAPHTE'ACH VA YIPHTACHU VE HINEH ADONEYHEM NOPHEL ARTSAH MET
וַיָּחִילוּ עַד בֹּושׁ וְהִנֵּה אֵינֶנּוּ פֹתֵחַ דַּלְתֹות הָעֲלִיָּה וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת הַמַּפְתֵּחַ וַיִּפְתָּחוּ וְהִנֵּה אֲדֹנֵיהֶם נֹפֵל אַרְצָה מֵת
BN: And they waited until it was beginning to be embarrassing, but he still did not open the doors of the sun-room; so they took the key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was lying dead on the ground.
The Tanach as thriller!
AD BOSH: Great phrase. Why has this not entered the modern Israeli vocabulary? I can just imagine some politician throwing it at Arik Sharon or Binyamin Netanyahu - "ad bosh!"
HA MAPHTE'ACH: Picking up my note which you thought was just me being silly at verse 24. It says HA MAPHTE'ACH, which is "the" key, not just any key. So Ehud must have taken it, locked the door from the outside, and then left the key where it could be found. Maybe Inspector Morse can decipher that oddity.
3:26 VE EHUD NIMLAT AD HITMAHMEHAM VE HU AVAR ET HA PESILIM VA YIMALET HA SE'IRATAH
KJ: And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.
The Tanach as thriller!
AD BOSH: Great phrase. Why has this not entered the modern Israeli vocabulary? I can just imagine some politician throwing it at Arik Sharon or Binyamin Netanyahu - "ad bosh!"
HA MAPHTE'ACH: Picking up my note which you thought was just me being silly at verse 24. It says HA MAPHTE'ACH, which is "the" key, not just any key. So Ehud must have taken it, locked the door from the outside, and then left the key where it could be found. Maybe Inspector Morse can decipher that oddity.
3:26 VE EHUD NIMLAT AD HITMAHMEHAM VE HU AVAR ET HA PESILIM VA YIMALET HA SE'IRATAH
וְאֵהוּד נִמְלַט עַד הִתְמַהְמְהָם וְהוּא עָבַר אֶת הַפְּסִילִים וַיִּמָּלֵט הַשְּׂעִירָתָה
BN: And Ehud escaped while they were still hanging about, and managed to get beyond the quarries, and escaped to Se'ir.
HITMAHMEHAM: Another word that looks at first like it must be foreign, simply because Yehudit doesn't generally go in for such elaborate constructions. But look at Genesis 19:16 and 43:10, at Exodus 12:39 and 2 Samuel 15:28. We shall also see it again in this book: Judges 19:8. The root was probably MAHAH (מהה) originally, and evolved into MAHMAH (מהמה), which is how the Arabic evolved as well; the original meant "to deny" or "to forbid"; here it is in the Hitpa'el form, the reflexive, the sense of "tarrying" or "lingering" coming from the notion that you deny or prohibit the passage of time.
SE'IRATAH: For Se'ir, see notes. The form here uses the dative, but also incorporates the preposition, which is why Se'ir becomes Se'irat becomes Se'iratah; but the translators of the epoch of the King James would have been unlikely to know their Yehudit/Hebrew well enough, and probably they were working from Jerome's Vulgate or the Black-Letter Wycliffe anyway, and both of those were working from the Septuagint Greek translation.
PESILIM: Those quarries again - see verse 19. And no question, in this verse at least, that the word intended is "quarries".
KJ: And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.
HITMAHMEHAM: Another word that looks at first like it must be foreign, simply because Yehudit doesn't generally go in for such elaborate constructions. But look at Genesis 19:16 and 43:10, at Exodus 12:39 and 2 Samuel 15:28. We shall also see it again in this book: Judges 19:8. The root was probably MAHAH (מהה) originally, and evolved into MAHMAH (מהמה), which is how the Arabic evolved as well; the original meant "to deny" or "to forbid"; here it is in the Hitpa'el form, the reflexive, the sense of "tarrying" or "lingering" coming from the notion that you deny or prohibit the passage of time.
SE'IRATAH: For Se'ir, see notes. The form here uses the dative, but also incorporates the preposition, which is why Se'ir becomes Se'irat becomes Se'iratah; but the translators of the epoch of the King James would have been unlikely to know their Yehudit/Hebrew well enough, and probably they were working from Jerome's Vulgate or the Black-Letter Wycliffe anyway, and both of those were working from the Septuagint Greek translation.
PESILIM: Those quarries again - see verse 19. And no question, in this verse at least, that the word intended is "quarries".
3:27 VA YEHI BE VO'O VA YITKA BA SHOPHAR BE HAR EPHRAYIM VA YERDU IMO VENEY YISRA-EL MIN HA HAR VE HU LIPHNEYHEM
וַיְהִי בְּבֹואֹו וַיִּתְקַע בַּשֹּׁופָר בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם וַיֵּרְדוּ עִמֹּו בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִן הָהָר וְהוּא לִפְנֵיהֶם
BN: And it came to pass, when he reached there, that he blew a trumpet on Mount Ephrayim, and the Beney Yisra-El went down with him from the Mount, and he at their head.
The shofar was normally used for religious purposes, especially the call to worship; the chatsotsrah, which was a metal trumpet, man-made, was mostly used for military purposes. Does the use of the shophar here then take us back to our commentaries on the Book of Joshua, and wonder again if these are historical events or aetiological/cosmological myths? As I noted previously with the gift being a MINCHAH rather than a MATANAH, this entire story is rather more liturgical than political.
The shofar was normally used for religious purposes, especially the call to worship; the chatsotsrah, which was a metal trumpet, man-made, was mostly used for military purposes. Does the use of the shophar here then take us back to our commentaries on the Book of Joshua, and wonder again if these are historical events or aetiological/cosmological myths? As I noted previously with the gift being a MINCHAH rather than a MATANAH, this entire story is rather more liturgical than political.
And are they there because they are planning an invasion, and the assassination was the prelude; or are they so that he has a rescue party when he makes his get-away, anticipating pursuit?
KJ: And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.
3:28 VA YOMER ALEYHEM RIDPHU ACHARAI KI NATAN YHVH ET OYEVEYCHEM ET MO-AV BE YEDCHEM VA YERDU ACHARAV VA YILKEDU ET MA'BEROT HA YARDEN LE MO-AV VE LO NATNU ISH LA'AVOR
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם רִדְפוּ אַחֲרַי כִּי נָתַן יְהוָה אֶת אֹיְבֵיכֶם אֶת מֹואָב בְּיֶדְכֶם וַיֵּרְדוּ אַחֲרָיו וַיִּלְכְּדוּ אֶת מַעְבְּרֹות הַיַּרְדֵּן לְמֹואָב וְלֹא נָתְנוּ אִישׁ לַעֲבֹר
BN: And he said to them, "Follow me: for YHVH has delivered your enemies - Mo-Av - into your hand." And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Yarden on the Mo-Avi side, and did not allow any man to pass over.
3:29 VA YAKU ET MO'AV BA ET HA HI KA ASERET ALAPHIM ISH KOL SHAMEN VE CHOL ISH CHAYIL VE LO NIMLAT ISH
KJ: And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.
3:29 VA YAKU ET MO'AV BA ET HA HI KA ASERET ALAPHIM ISH KOL SHAMEN VE CHOL ISH CHAYIL VE LO NIMLAT ISH
וַיַּכּוּ אֶת מֹואָב בָּעֵת הַהִיא כַּעֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים אִישׁ כָּל שָׁמֵן וְכָל אִישׁ חָיִל וְלֹא נִמְלַט אִישׁ
BN: At that time they slew around ten thousand men of Mo-Av, all of them tough-guys, all of them famed for their exploits in battle; and not a man among them escaped.
The language here seems to make no sense; KOL SHAMEN is an idiom never used before or after, and it isn't even properly grammatical. However, it just happens to be the other word for "fat", besides "BARI", which was used for Eglon in verse 17; while ISH CHAYIL definitely does mean "soldier", but is presumably intended here to be another sound-play on "BARI", in its proper meaning, which is "healthy" (CHAI - חי - being "life"). The question is, what is all this punning for? Is it just because Eglon was famously fat, or because Eglon is a calf; or is there something else going on?
SHAMEN: Based on the above note, and trying to find an equivalent pun in English, I originally went for "well-oiled", which is more about muscular men in bathing briefs than soldiers in uniform, but at least conveyed the abdomens, where King James's "lusty" mistakenly focuses at the more Id level of the body. But on reflection I think this is more generally "Alpha Male", so "tough-guys".
The language here seems to make no sense; KOL SHAMEN is an idiom never used before or after, and it isn't even properly grammatical. However, it just happens to be the other word for "fat", besides "BARI", which was used for Eglon in verse 17; while ISH CHAYIL definitely does mean "soldier", but is presumably intended here to be another sound-play on "BARI", in its proper meaning, which is "healthy" (CHAI - חי - being "life"). The question is, what is all this punning for? Is it just because Eglon was famously fat, or because Eglon is a calf; or is there something else going on?
SHAMEN: Based on the above note, and trying to find an equivalent pun in English, I originally went for "well-oiled", which is more about muscular men in bathing briefs than soldiers in uniform, but at least conveyed the abdomens, where King James's "lusty" mistakenly focuses at the more Id level of the body. But on reflection I think this is more generally "Alpha Male", so "tough-guys".
3:30 VA TIKAN'A MO-AV BA YOM HA HU TACHAT YAD YISRA-EL VA TISHKOT HA ARETS SHEMONIM SHANAH
וַתִּכָּנַע מֹואָב בַּיֹּום הַהוּא תַּחַת יַד יִשְׂרָאֵל וַתִּשְׁקֹט הָאָרֶץ שְׁמֹונִים שָׁנָה
BN: So Mo-Av was subdued that day under the hand of Yisra-El. And the land was at peace for the next eighty years.
samech break
3:31 VE ACHARAV HAYAH SHAMGAR BEN ANAT VA YACH ET PELISHTIM SHESH ME'OT ISH BE MALMAD HA BAKAR VA YOSH'A GAM HU ET YISRA-EL
KJ: And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.
samech break
3:31 VE ACHARAV HAYAH SHAMGAR BEN ANAT VA YACH ET PELISHTIM SHESH ME'OT ISH BE MALMAD HA BAKAR VA YOSH'A GAM HU ET YISRA-EL
וְאַחֲרָיו הָיָה שַׁמְגַּר בֶּן עֲנָת וַיַּךְ אֶת פְּלִשְׁתִּים שֵׁשׁ מֵאֹות אִישׁ בְּמַלְמַד הַבָּקָר וַיֹּשַׁע גַּם הוּא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And after him came Shamgar ben Anat, who slew six hundred men of the Pelishtim with an ox goad: and he too was anointed as the leader of Yisra-El.
Yet another Moshi'a who came with the sword and not the beatitude.
SHAMGAR (שמגר): probably an error for Shem Ger, which would be a Yehudit way of saying "what's-his-name?". Son of Anat either denotes him as coming from the town of Anat (see Judges 1:33), or as being one of her worshippers or priests - either way, clearly not a man of YHVH despite the claims of pseudo-history.
Alternately it may be a way of trying to hide Shimshon (Samson), the Herakles of the Pelishtim, for whom slaying six hundred with an ox-goad, or more precisely the jawbone of an ass, is one of his annual 12 labours- as we shall see when we reach chapters 13-16 of this Book of Judges. Perhaps the name was real, and a variation of Samson-Hercules amongst the worshippers of Anat? More likely "what's-his-name" with a wink, and this is why nothing else is told about him - it would have been unnecessary. And perhaps this is why Shim - what's his name - Shim-keles? Shim...
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