Midrash sur La Genèse 35:23
בְּנֵ֣י לֵאָ֔ה בְּכ֥וֹר יַעֲקֹ֖ב רְאוּבֵ֑ן וְשִׁמְעוֹן֙ וְלֵוִ֣י וִֽיהוּדָ֔ה וְיִשָּׂשכָ֖ר וּזְבוּלֻֽן׃
Fils de Léa: le premier né de Jacob, Ruben; puis Siméon, Lévi, Juda, Issachar et Zabulon.
Sefer HaYashar (midrash)
And when Jacob saw what they had done to the city and the spoil they had made, Jacob was very angry at them, and he said unto them: What is it that ye have done unto me? Behold I have found rest among the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites, and no one of them ever said a word unto me. And now you have caused me to be in bad order with the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites, and the Perizzites; and I, being few in numbers, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me when they hear what you have done unto their brethren, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And Simeon and Levi, and their brothers, answered their father, saying: Behold, we are yet alive in the earth, and shall we suffer Shechem to do this to our sister? Why art thou silent at all that Shechem hath done, shall our sister be treated like a harlot of the street? And the number of the women captured by Simeon and Levi in the city of Shechem, outside of those they had slain, was eighty-five, of such as never knew a man. And amongst those captives was a young maiden of comely appearance, and her name was Bunah, and Simeon took her to wife. And the number of male persons which they captured and did not slay, was forty-seven men, and the rest they slew. And all the youths and women that Simeon and Levi had made captives from the city of Shechem became servants to the sons of Jacob and their children, even unto the day that the children of Jacob went forth from the land of Egypt. And when Simeon and Levi left the city the two young men that escaped death by concealing themselves in the city, arose and went about in the city, and they found the city destroyed and not a single man in it, only women crying and weeping. And these young men exclaimed: Behold, the evil which the sons of Jacob, the Hebrew, have brought over this city, in hav ing this day devastated one of the cities of Canaan without fear of their lives of all the inhabitants of Canaan' And these men went forth from the city and went into the city of Tapuah; and arriving there they said unto the inhabitants of Tapuah all that had occurred, and all that the sons of Jacob had done unto the city of Shechem. And when the news hath been imparted to Jashub the king of Tapuah, he dispatched messengers to the city of Shechem in order to see concerning what these two young men had said. For the king could not believe the statement of those men, saying: How can it be that two men could destroy a large city like Shechem. And Jashub’s messengers returned and spoke unto him saying: Behold we have come unto the city and it is completely destroyed, and we found not a single man in the entire city, only a few weeping women. And there is not one sheep nor any cattle there, for everything was taken away from the city by the sons of Jacob. And Jashub was astonished at that, saying: How could two men do such a thing as to destroy such a large city, and not even one of the inhabitants could stand against them. For such a thing hath never occurred since the days of Nimrod, nor in any of the former days hath such a thing come to pass.
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Sefer HaYashar (midrash)
And when Jacob saw what they had done to the city and the spoil they had made, Jacob was very angry at them, and he said unto them: What is it that ye have done unto me? Behold I have found rest among the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites, and no one of them ever said a word unto me. And now you have caused me to be in bad order with the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites, and the Perizzites; and I, being few in numbers, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me when they hear what you have done unto their brethren, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And Simeon and Levi, and their brothers, answered their father, saying: Behold, we are yet alive in the earth, and shall we suffer Shechem to do this to our sister? Why art thou silent at all that Shechem hath done, shall our sister be treated like a harlot of the street? And the number of the women captured by Simeon and Levi in the city of Shechem, outside of those they had slain, was eighty-five, of such as never knew a man. And amongst those captives was a young maiden of comely appearance, and her name was Bunah, and Simeon took her to wife. And the number of male persons which they captured and did not slay, was forty-seven men, and the rest they slew. And all the youths and women that Simeon and Levi had made captives from the city of Shechem became servants to the sons of Jacob and their children, even unto the day that the children of Jacob went forth from the land of Egypt. And when Simeon and Levi left the city the two young men that escaped death by concealing themselves in the city, arose and went about in the city, and they found the city destroyed and not a single man in it, only women crying and weeping. And these young men exclaimed: Behold, the evil which the sons of Jacob, the Hebrew, have brought over this city, in hav ing this day devastated one of the cities of Canaan without fear of their lives of all the inhabitants of Canaan' And these men went forth from the city and went into the city of Tapuah; and arriving there they said unto the inhabitants of Tapuah all that had occurred, and all that the sons of Jacob had done unto the city of Shechem. And when the news hath been imparted to Jashub the king of Tapuah, he dispatched messengers to the city of Shechem in order to see concerning what these two young men had said. For the king could not believe the statement of those men, saying: How can it be that two men could destroy a large city like Shechem. And Jashub’s messengers returned and spoke unto him saying: Behold we have come unto the city and it is completely destroyed, and we found not a single man in the entire city, only a few weeping women. And there is not one sheep nor any cattle there, for everything was taken away from the city by the sons of Jacob. And Jashub was astonished at that, saying: How could two men do such a thing as to destroy such a large city, and not even one of the inhabitants could stand against them. For such a thing hath never occurred since the days of Nimrod, nor in any of the former days hath such a thing come to pass. And Jashub, king of Tapuah, said unto all his people: Strengthen yourselves and we will go forth to fight against those Hebrews, and we will do unto them as they did unto the people of that city, and we will avenge on them the cause of all the people of the city. And Jashub, king of Tapuah, consulted with his counselors concerning this matter, and they said unto him: Thou alone canst not succeed against those Hebrews for they must have a peculiar power being able to do such work with the whole city. If two of them could destroy the whole city without one man being able to stand against them, then surely, if we go against them, they will all rise and exterminate us likewise. But send thou to all the kings around us and let them assemble, and with them we will go to fight against the sons of Jacob, and then wilt thou prevail against them. And when Jashub heard the words of his advisers, their words seemed good in his eyes and in the eyes of the people, and he did so. And Jashub sent to all the kings of the Amorites around Shechem and Tapuah, saying: Send me your help and come up with me to smite Jacob the Hebrew and his sons, and to exterminate them from the earth, for thus did they do to the city of Shechem and ye do not even know of it. And when the kings of the Amorites heard of the evil which the sons of Jacob had done to the city of Shechem, they were greatly astonished. And all of them assembled, the seven kings of the Amorites with their armies, altogether about ten thousand men drawing the sword, and they came to wage war against the sons of Jacob. And when Jacob heard that the kings of the Amorites came to fight against his sons, Jacob was in great fear and distress. And Jacob rebuked Simeon and Levi, saying: What is it that ye have done unto me? why have ye done unto me the evil to summon against me all the children of Canaan, to exterminate me and my household? For I was in rest, I as well as my house hold, ere you have done this thing to unite against me all the inhabitants of the land, by your actions. And Judah replied unto his father, saying: And have my brothers Simeon and Levi slain all the inhabitants of Shechem without any cause? verily they did it because Shechem had defiled our sister, transgressing the commandments of God to Noah and his children, for Shechem hath both robbed us of our sister and defiled her. And Shechem committed that great evil, but none of the inhabitants of his city spoke unto him a word, saying: Why dost thou do this? Is it not for this reason that my brothers went out and smote the city? And the Lord gave them into their hands, because all her in habitants have transgressed the commandments of our God. Have, then, my brothers acted without any just cause? And now why fearest thou, and wherefore art thou distressed, and what causeth thy heart to think evil of my brothers and thy wrath to kindle against them? And verily our God, who hath delivered into their hands the city of Shechem and its inhabitants, will deliver into our hands likewise all the kings of the Canaanites that are now advancing against us, and we will do unto them as my brothers have done unto Shechem. And now be thou quiet concerning them, and abandon thy fears, but trust in God and pray unto him in our behalf to help us and deliver us, and to give our enemies into our hands.
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Sefer HaYashar (midrash)
And Judah called one of his father's servants, saying: Go and see where the kings, that come against us, are stationed with their armies. And the servant went and looked from the distance, ascending opposite Mount Sihon, and he saw all the armies of the kings standing in the field. And he returned unto Judah and said: Behold the kings are stationed in the field with all their armies, a people of great multitude, even like the sand on the sea shore. And Judah said unto Simeon and Levi and unto all his brothers: Strengthen yourselves and be brave men, for the Lord our God is with us; fear them not! Stand up and arm yourselves with all the utensils of war, with bow and sword, and let us go to fight against those uncircumcised ones. The Lord our God he will save us! And they arose and put on their weapons great and small, eleven sons of Jacob and their servants with them. And all the servants of Isaac, that were in Hebron with Isaac, came to them likewise, girt with all the instruments of war. And the sons of Jacob with their servants marched against the kings, one hundred and twelve men in all and Jacob went along with them. And they sent unto Isaac the son of Abraham to Hebron, to Kirjath-arba, saying: Pray thou for us unto the Lord our God, to deliver us from the hands of the Canaanites, that are coming against us, and to give them into our hands. And Isaac the son of Abraham prayed unto the Lord in behalf of his children, saying: Oh Lord God, thou who hast assured my father Abraham, saying, I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven, and then didst promise unto me likewise and thou hast fulfilled thy word, now behold the kings of Canaan are all united, coming to make war against my children on whose hands there is no violence. And now, oh Lord God, the God of all the earth, pervert thou the counsel of these kings, so that they do not fight against my children. And wilt thou let the fear of my children enter the hearts of all these kings and of all their people, and humble their pride, that they may turn away from my children, and deliver my children and their servants with thy strong hand and outstretched arm, for in thine hands are power and strength to do all these things. And Jacob and his sons with all their servants went forth against the kings, trusting in the Lord their God. And as they went on, Jacob their father also prayed un to the Lord saying: Oh Lord, thou sublime and fearful God, who hast ruled from the earliest days even to this day and who will rule forever, thou who provokest war and who causeth it to cease and in whose hands are power and might to lift up and to cast down to the very ground, may my prayer be accepted unto thee that thou turn unto me in thy mercy, to put the fear of my sons into the hearts of the kings and their people, to terrify them and their armies, and to deliver by thy great mercy all those that trust in thee. For it is thou who subduest peoples under us and nations under our hands! And all the kings of the Amorites came and posted themselves in the field, in order to consult with their counselors what to do unto the sons of Jacob; for they were still afraid of them, saying: Two of them have slain the whole city of Shechem.
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