Обозрение книги Судей

It tells us which cities the Israelites took and which they imposed tribute on. Weakened by military labors, they violated the commandment of God, which commanded the destruction of everyone without exception. An angel from the Lord came to the Israelites and convicted them of their crime. It was necessary, he said, to destroy everyone, and you entered into alliances with them; therefore God will not destroy the remaining nations. Hearing this, they all wept, and that place is called “lamentation” 5 (Judges 2:5). They repeatedly broke the law and served idols and were betrayed to enemies, then were freed from slavery, then again subjected to the same disasters. They were under the yoke of Husarsafem king of Syria for eight years, and the Lord delivered them through the judge Othniel. Then they were under the yoke of Eglom, king of Moab, but they cried out to God, and He raised up Eod for them, who by cunning defeated Eglom and the Moabites. After him were Somegar and Deborah, a female prophetess, as judges. When the Israelites were under the yoke of the king of Canaan, Deborah commanded Barak to be a military leader in the war. He didn't agree if she didn't go with him; and she, a woman, went with him. During the battle, the enemies take flight, and the commander of Jabin, Sisera, came to a woman named Jael and asked for a drink; she gave him milk instead of water. When he, having drunk, fell asleep, then this woman, taking a stake, pierced his church with it. So Sisera died, and Barak came and saw him dead. Then Deborah sang a song of victory. Again the Israelites are given into the hands of the Midianites, because they have often angered God. Then an angel appeared to Gideon and convinced him to start a war. Then the Lord commands him to kill his father’s fat calf, offer a burnt offering and destroy the altar of Baal. He did so and offered a burnt offering to God. Gideon, who is also Jerubbaal, asks for a sign, which happened on the rune. He receives an order to release the entire army and retain only three hundred people. Having done this and coming out with lamps and trumpets, he defeated the enemies. Then Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian, and the kings Zebah and Zalman were put to death. Upon his death, Gideon left seventy sons and one by his concubine, Abimelech. The latter, having killed seventy brothers, took possession of the kingdom; but a short time later he was punished for fratricide. When, during a battle, he approached a certain city, a woman hit him in the head with a piece of a millstone, and he died. After Abimelech he was judge of Thola; after Thola - Jairus. The children of Israel angered God and were delivered into the hands of the Ammonites. Then the princes of the people ask Jephthah, the son of a harlot, expelled by his brothers from his father’s house, to be a military leader in the war with the Ammonites, and give him power. He agreed and, first of all, sent ambassadors to the king of the Ammonites, but did not convince him; having vowed to God to sacrifice the first person who meets him if he returns from the war, he attacks his enemies; Having defeated them, he sacrifices his own daughter, because she was the first to come out to meet him. Again the Israelites angered God and were delivered into the hands of foreigners. Then Samson is born. Seeing a woman in Thamnaf, he fell in love with her and wished to enter into legal marriage with her. His parents at first prevented this because she was a foreigner; but, seeing his persistence, they did not resist. When he went to talk about her, he met a lion, which he tore to pieces with his own hands. When the marriage needed to be consummated, he set off again and saw a honeycomb of honey in the jaw of the lion he had killed, and he took it, ate it and gave it to his parents, and proposed a riddle to his interlocutors: “from the one who eats,” i.e. From the mouth of the lion, “came out poisonous things, and out of the strong,” instead of bitter, “sweet” (Judges 14:14). He promised, if they guessed right, to give them thirty shirts and thirty outerwear; and if they are not able to guess, then they must give him the same amount. Perplexed and unable to find a solution, they began to threaten his wife with his death if she did not learn from him the meaning of the riddle. She found out, opened it to them, and they said and received gifts. Samson was angry; the bride's father, frightened, gave her to one of his marriage friends; this offended him even more; Having caught three hundred foxes and lighting torches on their tails, he released them into the fields of the foreigners. When in this way he burned their grain in the fields, they burned the bride's house along with her and her father. Even after this Samson did not soften his anger, but continued to attack them. They declared war on the Israelites and demanded Samson; The Israelis tied him up and handed him over to the enemies. But he, breaking the bonds and finding a donkey's jawbone, beat a thousand people with it; then, feeling thirsty, he prayed to God, and water flowed from his jaw, and he drank. From there he went to Gaza to a harlot, and his enemies surrounded him; but at midnight he took the city gates and put them on his shoulders and went out. After this, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah and took her as his wife. The nobles of the foreigners promised her one thousand and one hundred pieces of silver if she learned from him how he could be deprived of his power. When she tried to find out, he first deceived her; but finally, when she insisted, he told her the truth - that he would lose his power when someone cut his hair. She notified the nobles and, having put him to sleep, ordered his hair to be shaved; and he lost his strength. The foreigners took him, blinded him and put him in prison. Then they rejoiced and took him out of prison to mock him; but he, groaning bitterly and calling on the Lord to strengthen him, grabbed the pillars of the house and, shaking them, brought the house down on the nobles, on himself and on many other people; and more people died than were killed by him during his lifetime. After this, the men from the tribe of Dan started a war, took Lais, gave it their name and set up an image there for worship. One Levite, when his concubine was angry with him and went to her father’s house, went to take her to him; Taking it and returning home, he stopped on the way in Gibeon Benjamin with an old man. The inhabitants of Gibeon, surrounding the house, demanded the stranger in order to abuse him. The elder was ready to give them his maiden daughter; but they, having taken the concubine, cursed at her the whole night. When morning came, they released her and left. Arriving at the house where her husband was, she died from abuse. The Levite went out and found her dead, cut her into twelve pieces and sent her to the twelve tribes. They were indignant at what had happened and, armed, demanded the extradition of those who had insulted the woman; when they were not handed over, they declared war; but the first time they were defeated, and the second also, and after the third battle they destroyed the entire tribe of Benjamin, except for six hundred people who fled. This tribe was in danger of completely perishing, because they did not have wives and the sons of Israel swore not to marry their daughters to them; Therefore, the Israelites killed those who did not fight with them against the sons of Benjamin and gave the latter their maidens, numbering four hundred. But since this number was not enough, the Israelis allowed them to go out during the holiday and kidnap the maidens without the knowledge of their parents. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: