Rashi on Judges Chapter 16
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לַעַזָּתִים לֵאמֹר. לְאַנְשֵׁי עַזָּה נֶאֱמַר:
The Azites were informed. It was said to the people of Aza.
וַיִּתְחָרְשׁוּ. נָהֲגוּ עַצְמָן בִּשְׁתִיקָה:
They were silent [lit. "They were muted"]. They acted in silence.
וַיִּסָּעֵם. וַיַּעַקְרֵם מִמְּקוֹמָם:
Uprooted them [lit. "moved them"]. He uprooted them from their places.
יְתָרִים. חֲבָלִים דַּקִּים:
Cords. Thin strings.
וְלֹא נוֹדַע כֹּחוֹ. לֹא הוּצְרַךְ לְהִתְחַזֵּק בְּנַתְּקוֹ אוֹתָם:
The source of his strength was not revealed. It was not necessary for him to exert himself when he snapped them.
בַּעֲבוֹתִים. חֲבָלִים גַּסִּים:
With ropes. Thick rope.¹
footnotes: ¹ Unlike the thin string specified in v. 7.
מַחְלְפוֹת. קְוֻצּוֹת, פלוני״ש בְּלַעַ״ז:
Tresses Locks. "Pelous" in old French.
עִם הַמַּסֶּכֶת. עֵץ שֶׁהַגַּרְדִּי מֵיסֵךְ בּוֹ אֶת הַשְּׁתִי, וְשֵׁם הָעֵץ אנשובל״א מַסֶּכֶת, אורטר״א בְּלַעַ״ז:
With the mounting pin. A wooden rod which the weaver uses to mount the threads of the warp. The name of the wood is "ensouple", of the pin, "ourdissuire".
וַתְּאַלְצֵהוּ. דְּחָקַתּוֹ, וְאֵין לוֹ דִּמְיוֹן:
And goaded him. She oppressed him. There is no similar word.
וַתֵּרֶא דְלִילָה כִּי הִגִּיד לָהּ. נִכָּרִין דִּבְרֵי אֱמֶת:
Delilah saw that he had confided to her. One instinctively recognizes the truth.²
footnotes: ² Sotah, 9:b
וַתִּקְרָא לָאִישׁ. לִשְׁלוּחָן שֶׁל סְרָנִים:
[She] summoned the man. The nobles' agent.
וַיּוֹרִידוּ אוֹתוֹ עַזָּתָה. מְקוֹם תְּחִלַּת קִלְקוּלוֹ:
They brought him down to Aza. The location where his ruin began³⁴
footnotes: ³ V.l. ⁴ Sotah, 9:b.
וַיְהִי טוֹחֵן. בָּרֵחַיִם, מְלָאכָה כְּבֵדָה וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ (סוטה י א) פֵּרְשׁוּ מַה שֶּׁפֵּרְשׁוּ:
**He became the miller. With grinding stones—**arduous labor. The Rabbis interpret this after their fashion.⁵
footnotes: ⁵ According to their interpretation, the Pelishtites brought their wives to the prison to be impregnated by Shimshon, (Sotah, 10:a)
בֵּין הָעַמּוּדִים. אֲשֶׁר הַבַּיִת נָכוֹן עֲלֵיהֶם:
Between the pillars which supported the building.
וַהֲמִישֵׁנִי. פאלפא״ר בְּלַעַ״ז, כְּמוֹ (בראשית כז:יב): ״אוּלַי יְמֻשֵּׁנִי״:
And give me a hold. "Palpare" in old French, as in, "Perhaps my father will touch me."⁶
footnotes: ⁶ Bereishis, 27:12.
זָכְרֵנִי נָא. זְכֹר עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה שֶׁשָּׁפַטְתִּי אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְלֹא אָמַרְתִּי לְאֶחָד מֵהֶם הַעֲבֵר לִי מַקֵּל זֶה מִמָּקוֹם לְמָקוֹם:
Please remember me. Remember the twenty years that I judged Yisroel without asking any of them to carry a staff from place to place.⁷
footnotes: ⁷ Sotah, 10:a.
נְקַם אַחַת מִשְּׁתֵי עֵינַי. וּשְׂכַר עַיִן הַשֵּׁנִית הַנַּח לִי לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, וְכָאן פְּרַע לִי שְׂכַר אַחַת מֵהֶן:
Avenge one of my two eyes. The reward for my second eye reserve for me in the World to Come. At present, grant me the reward for one of them.⁸
footnotes: ⁸ Yalkut, 71.
וַיִּלְפֹּת. וַיֹּאחַז, אינברצ״א בְּלַעַ״ז, כְּמוֹ (רות ג:ח): ״וַיֶּחֱרַד הָאִישׁ וַיִּלָּפֵת״, נֶאֱחַז בִּזְרוֹעוֹת הָאִשָּׁה:
Shimshon embraced. He grasped, "embrasser" in old French, as in "The man trembled, and was embraced"⁹—he was embraced in a woman's arms.
footnotes: ⁹ Rus, 3:8.