YASHAR 38 (Jasher 38)

1 And Ihuri sovereign of Shiloh came up to assist Ĕylon. And he approached Ya’aqoḇ, when Ya’aqoḇ drew his bow that was in his hand and smote Ihuri with an arrow which caused his death.

2 And when Ihuri sovereign of Shiloh was dead, the four remaining sovereigns fled from their place with the rest of the captains, and they endeavoured to retreat, saying, “We have no more strength with the Iḇrim after their having killed the three sovereigns and their captains who were more powerful than we are.”

3 And when the sons of Ya’aqoḇ saw that the remaining sovereigns had turned back from their station, they pursued them, and Ya’aqoḇ also came from the heap of Sheḵem from the place where he was standing, and they went after the sovereigns and they approached them with their servants.

4 And the sovereigns and the captains with the rest of their armies, seeing that the sons of Ya’aqoḇ approached them, were afraid for their lives and fled till they reached the city of Ḥatsar.

5 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ pursued them to the gate of the city of Ḥatsar, and they smote a great smiting among the sovereigns and their armies – about four thousand men. And while they were smiting the army of the sovereigns, Ya’aqoḇ was occupied with his bow confining himself to smiting the sovereigns, and he slew them all.

6 And he slew Parathon sovereign of Ḥatsar at the gate of the city of Ḥatsar, and afterward he smote Susi sovereign of Sarton, and Laḇan sovereign of Bĕyth Ḥoron, and Shabir sovereign of Maḵnaymah. And he slew them all with arrows, an arrow to each of them, and they died.

7 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, seeing that all the sovereigns were dead and that they were disbanded and retreating, continued to carry on the battle with the armies of the sovereigns opposite the gate of Ḥatsar, and they even smote about four hundred of their men.

8 And three men of the servants of Ya’aqoḇ fell in that battle, and when Yahuḏah saw that three of his servants had died, it grieved him greatly, and his wrath burned within him against the Amorites.

9 And all the men that remained of the armies of the sovereigns were greatly afraid for their lives, and they ran and broke the gate of the walls of the city of Ḥatsar, and they all entered the city for safety.

10 And they concealed themselves in the midst of the city of Ḥatsar, for the city of Ḥatsar was very large and extensive. And when all these armies had entered the city, the sons of Ya’aqoḇ ran after them to the city.

11 And four mighty men, experienced in battle, went out from the city and stood against the entrance of the city, with drawn swords and spears in their hands, and they placed themselves opposite the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and would not allow them to enter the city.

12 And Naphtali ran and came between them and with his sword smote two of them, and cut off their heads with one stroke.

13 And he turned to the other two, and see, they had fled, and he pursued them, overtook them, smote them and slew them.

14 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ came to the city and looked, and see, there was another wall to the city, and they sought for the gate of the wall and could not find it. And Yahuḏah leaped on the top of the wall, and Shim’on and Lĕwi followed him, and they all three came down from the wall into the city.

15 And Shim’on and Lĕwi slew all the men who ran for safety into the city, and also the inhabitants of the city with their wives and little ones they slew with the edge of the sword. And the cries of the city ascended up to the shamayim.

16 And Dan and Naphtali leaped upon the wall to see what caused the noise of lamentation, for the sons of Ya’aqoḇ felt anxious about their brothers. And they heard the inhabitants of the city speaking with weeping and supplications, saying, “Take all that we possess in the city and go away, only do not put us to death!”

17 And when Yahuḏah, Shim’on, and Lĕwi had ceased smiting the inhabitants of the city, they went up the wall and called to Dan and Naphtali, who were upon the wall, and to the rest of their brothers. And Shim’on and Lĕwi informed them of the entrance into the city, and all the sons of Ya’aqoḇ came to take the spoil.

18 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ took the spoil of the city of Ḥatsar, the flocks and herds, and the property. And they took all that could be captured, and went away that day from the city.

19 And on the next day the sons of Ya’aqoḇ went to Sarton, for they hear that the men of Sarton who had remained in the city were assembling to fight against them for having slain their sovereign. And Sarton was a very high and fortified city, and it had a wide rampart surrounding the city.

20 And the column of the rampart was about fifty ammah and its breadth forty ammah, and there was no place for a man to enter the city because of the rampart. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ saw the rampart of the city, and they sought an entrance in it but could not find it.

21 For the entrance to the city was at the rear, and every man that wanted to come into the city came by that way and went around the whole city, and he afterwards entered the city.

22 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ seeing they could not find the way into the city, their wrath was kindled greatly, and the inhabitants of the city seeing that the sons of Ya’aqoḇ were coming to them were greatly afraid of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Ḥatsar.

23 And the inhabitants of the city of Sarton could not go out toward the sons of Ya’aqoḇ after having assembled in the city to fight against them, lest they might thereby get into the city. But when they saw that they were coming toward them, they were greatly afraid of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Ḥatsar.

24 So the inhabitants of Sarton hastily took away the bridge of the way of the city from its place, before the sons of Ya’aqoḇ came, and they brought it into the city.

25 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ came and sought the way into the city, but could not find it. And the inhabitants of the city went up to the top of the wall, and looked, and see, the sons of Ya’aqoḇ were seeking an entrance into the city.

26 And the inhabitants of the city reproached the sons of Ya’aqoḇ from the top of the wall, and they cursed them, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ heard the reproaches, and they were greatly incensed, and their wrath burned within them.

27 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ were provoked at them, and they all rose and leaped over the rampart with the force of their strength, and through their might passed the forty ammah breadth of the rampart.

28 And when they had passed the rampart they stood under the wall of the city, and they found all the gates of the city enclosed with iron doors.

29 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ came near to break open the doors of the gates of the city, but the inhabitants did not let them, for from the top of the wall they were throwing stones and arrows on them.

30 And the number of the people that were on the wall was about four hundred men, and when the sons of Ya’aqoḇ saw that the men of the city would not let them open the gates of the city, they leaped and went up to the top of the wall. And Yahuḏah went up first to the east part of the city,

31 and Gaḏ and Ashĕr went up after him to the west corner of the city, and Shim’on and Lĕwi to the north, and Dan and Re’uḇĕn to the south.

32 And the men who were on the top of the wall, the inhabitants of the city, seeing that the sons of Ya’aqoḇ were coming up to them, they all fled from the wall, came down into the city, and concealed themselves in the midst of the city.

33 And Yissasḵar and Naphtali that remained under the wall approached and broke the gates of the city, and kindled a fire at the gates of the city, that melted the iron. And all the sons of Ya’aqoḇ came into the city, they and all their men, and they fought with the inhabitants of the city of Sarton, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and no man stood before them.

34 And about two hundred men fled from the city, and they all went and hid themselves in a certain tower in the city. And Yahuḏah pursued them to the tower and he broke down the tower, which fell upon the men, and they all died.

35 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ went up the way of the roof of that tower, and they looked, and see, there was another strong and high tower at a distance in the city, and the top of it reached to the shamayim. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ hurried and came down, and went with all their men to the tower, and found it filled with about three hundred men, women and little ones.

36 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ smote a great smiting among those men in the tower and they ran away and fled from them.

37 And Shim’on and Lĕwi pursued them, then twelve strong and mighty men came out to them from the place where they had concealed themselves.

38 And those twelve men maintained a strong battle against Shim’on and Lĕwi, and Shim’on and Lĕwi could not prevail over them. And those mighty men broke the shields of Shim’on and Lĕwi, and one of them struck at Lĕwi’s head with his sword, then Lĕwi hastily placed his hand to his head, for he was afraid of the sword. And the sword struck Lĕwi’s hand, and it was just short of the hand of Lĕwi being cut off.

39 And Lĕwi seized the sword of the mighty man in his hand, and took it forcibly from the man, and with it he struck at the head of the powerful man, and he cut off his head.

40 And eleven men approached to fight against Lĕwi, for they saw that one of them was killed, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ fought, but the sons of Ya’aqoḇ could not prevail over them, for those men were very powerful.

41 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ seeing that they could not prevail over them, Shim’on gave a loud and mighty shout, and the eleven powerful men were stunned at the voice of Shim’on’s shouting.

42 And Yahuḏah at a distance knew the voice of Shim’on’s shouting, and Naphtali and Yahuḏah ran with their shields to Shim’on and Lĕwi, and found them fighting with those powerful men, unable to prevail over them as their shields were broken.

43 And Naphtali saw that the shields of Shim’on and Lĕwi were broken, and he took two shields from his servants and brought them to Shim’on and Lĕwi.

44 And Shim’on, Lĕwi and Yahuḏah, all three on that day fought against the eleven mighty men until the time of sunset, but they could not prevail over them.

45 And this was told to Ya’aqoḇ, and he was bitterly grieved, and he prayed to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and he and Naphtali his son went against these mighty men.

46 And Ya’aqoḇ approached and drew his bow, and came near to the mighty men, and slew three of their men with the bow. And the remaining eight turned back, and see, the battle waged against them in the front and rear, and they were greatly afraid for their lives, and could not stand before the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and they fled from before them.

47 And in their flight they met Dan and Ashĕr coming toward them, and they suddenly fell upon them, and fought with them, and slew two of them. And Yahuḏah and his brothers pursued them, and smote the remainder of them, and slew them.

48 And all the sons of Ya’aqoḇ returned and walked about the city, searching if they could find any men. And they found about twenty young men in a cave in the city, and Gaḏ and Ashĕr smote them all. And Dan and Naphtali fell upon the rest of the men who had fled and escaped from the second tower, and they smote them all.

49 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ smote all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton, but the women and little ones they left in the city and did not slay them.

50 And all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton were powerful men, one of them would pursue a thousand, and two of them would not flee from ten thousand of the rest of men.

51 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ slew all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton with the edge of the sword, so that no man stood against them, and they left the women in the city.

52 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ took all the spoil of the city, and captured what they desired, and they took flocks and herds and property from the city. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ did to Sarton and its inhabitants as they had done to Ḥatsar and its inhabitants, and they turned and went away.