שופטים י״א:ל״ד-מ׳

הכרע הכרעתני. לשון נקבה, ודומה לו (שיר השירים ד ט): לבבתני אחותי כלה:

You are among those who ruined me. This is the feminine usage.¹⁸הִכְרַעְתִּנִי, with the “cherik” vocalization under the ת, is generally translated as referring to the first person neuter, “I brought to the knees.” Here, however, the translation is the feminine “you brought to the knees.” Similarly, "You captured my heart, my sister bride."¹⁹Shir Hashirim, 4:9. Here, too, לִבַּבֽתִּנִי, with the “cherik” vocalization under the the ת, is translated as the feminine “you captured my heart.”

היית בעוכרי. כל דמי נעכר, קפחת את רגלי:

You have surely brought me to my knees All my blood is in turmoil, You have taken away my feet.

וירדתי על ההרים. לשון יללה הוא, ודוגמתו (ישעיהו טו ג): על גגותיה וברחובותיה כולה ייליל ירד בבכי, המתעצב בבכי עד שגופו משתבר. ובמדרש אגדה דורש רבי תנחומא (בחוקותי ה): על ההרים. לפני סנהדרין, שמא ימצאו פתח לנדרך:

To grieve on the hills. This word refers to bewailing. ²⁰Not, as translated elsewhere, “To descend,” but “To grieve.” Similarly, "On its roofs and thoroughfares, total wailing, weeping grief."²¹Yeshaya, 15:3. Weeping so intense that it causes a physical breakdown.²²רד may also be translated as “crushing.” See Yeshaya, 45:1. Midrash Agada: R' Tanchuma expounded, On the hills; before the Sanhedrin—perhaps they may find a loophole in your vow.²³Yalkut, 67.

ותבך על בתוליה. מדלא כתיב על בתולותיה, משמע בתולים ממש:

Wept over her maidenhood. Since it is not written "over her maidens," the inference is, over her actual maidenhood.

ותהי חק. גזרו שלא יעשה אדם עוד כן, שאלו הלך אצל פנחס, או הוא בא אצלו, היה מתיר לו נדרו, עמדו בגדולתן, ומבין שניהם אבדה, ונפרע מהם, פנחס נסתלקה שכינה הימנו, שנאמר בדברי הימים (א ט כ): לפנים ה' עמו, למדנו שבסופו אינו עמו, ויפתח הוכה בשחין וניפול אברים, שנאמר (לקמן יב ז): ויקבר בערי גלעד. ויש עוד לפתור: ותהי חק בישראל. מחובר למקרא שלאחריו:

She became the subject of a law. Legislation was enacted prohibiting any repetition of this, for, had he approached Pinchos, or had Pinchos approached him, he would have released him from his vow.²⁴By informing him that a human being cannot be designated as an offering. But they refused to humble themselves,²⁵Pinchas, because it was Yiftoch who required his services; Yiftoch, because he was the supreme commander. (Yalkut, 68) and were, thus, both responsible for her ruin. They were punished. The Divine Presence departed from Pinchos, as it is said in Divrei Hayamim,²⁶Divrei Hayamim 1, 9:20. "Adonoy was with him previously." We learn that he was not with him later. And Yiftoch was afflicted with ulcerations and the loss of his limbs, as it is said,²⁷Below, 12:7. "He was buried in the cities of Gilod."²⁸Individual limbs, like the entire body, require burial. The plural usage, “cities”, teaches that his burial took place in a number of cities—wherever his limbs fell. (Yalkut, ibid.) Another interpretation: "She became the subject of a law in Yisroel" relates to the following passage.²⁹She was the subject of a law requiring the daughters of Yisroel to visit her yearly.

מימים ימימה תלכנה וגו'. הדבר הזה קבעו עליהם לחוק:

Journeyed annually. This was established as a law.³⁰This follows Rashi’s second interpretation of v. 39. See fn.29.

לתנות. לקונן:

To grieve. To weep.