Tanach
Shoftim 7:4-6 שופטים ז׳:ד׳-ו׳
Part of: Chapter 7
Reading: Hebrew · Simple EnglishHebrew · Faithful translationHebrew onlyHebrew · Simple EnglishHebrew · Faithful translationHebrew onlySimple English onlyFaithful translation onlySide by sideRashi
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־גִּדְעוֹן עוֹד הָעָם רָב הוֹרֵד אוֹתָם אֶל־הַמַּיִם וְאֶצְרְפֶנּוּ לְךָ שָׁם וְהָיָה אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ זֶה ׀ יֵלֵךְ אִתָּךְ הוּא יֵלֵךְ אִתָּךְ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ זֶה לֹא־יֵלֵךְ עִמָּךְ הוּא לֹא יֵלֵֽךְ׃
Adonoy then said to Gidon, "There are still too many people. Lead them down to the water, where I shall purge them for you there. And it shall be; when I say to you this one goes with you, he will go with you. And when I say to you this one does not go with you, he will not go."
Adonoy then said to Gidon, "There are still too many people. Lead them down to the water, where I shall purge them for you there. And it shall be; when I say to you this one goes with you, he will go with you. And when I say to you this one does not go with you, he will not go."
וַיּוֹרֶד אֶת־הָעָם אֶל־הַמָּיִם וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־גִּדְעוֹן כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־יָלֹק בִּלְשׁוֹנוֹ מִן־הַמַּיִם כַּאֲשֶׁר יָלֹק הַכֶּלֶב תַּצִּיג אוֹתוֹ לְבָד וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יִכְרַע עַל־בִּרְכָּיו לִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃
He led the people down to the water. Adonoy said to Gidon, "Anyone who laps up the water with his tongue, the way dogs lap, set aside—anyone who bends forward while on his knees to drink [should also be set aside.]"
He led the people down to the water. Adonoy said to Gidon, "Anyone who laps up the water with his tongue, the way dogs lap, set aside—anyone who bends forward while on his knees to drink [should also be set aside.]"
Rashi
וַיְהִי מִסְפַּר הַֽמְלַקְקִים בְּיָדָם אֶל־פִּיהֶם שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת אִישׁ וְכֹל יֶתֶר הָעָם כָּרְעוּ עַל־בִּרְכֵיהֶם לִשְׁתּוֹת מָֽיִם׃ {ס}
The number of those who lapped from hand to mouth: were three hundred men. All the rest of the people bent forward while on their knees to drink water.
The number of those who lapped from hand to mouth: were three hundred men. All the rest of the people bent forward while on their knees to drink water.
Rashi
המלקקים בידם. אין זה דרך כריעה כלוקק בלשונו:
Who lapped from hand. This is not the kind of bending forward as when lapping up with the tongue.4Lapping from hand to mouth does not involve prostrating oneself.
כל אשר ילוק בלשונו וגו' וכל אשר יכרע על ברכיו לשתות. תציג אותו לבד חוץ מסיעתך, כי הם לא ילכו עמך, שכך הם למודים לכרוע לפני עבודת גלולים:
Anyone who laps with his tongue, etc. Anyone who bends forward while on his knees to drink, set them aside, out of your retinue. They shall not accompany you, since they are practiced in kneeling before idols.3Both phrases of this passage—“Anyone who laps, etc.” and “anyone who bends forward, etc.”—refer to the same drinkers. Those who bend forward while on their knees, bringing their faces down to the water in order to lap it up, are practiced in prostrating themselves before idols.