After Simeon and Levi destroyed the men of Shechem, a great terror fell over every city in the region. The nations said: "If two sons of Jacob could exterminate an entire town, what would happen if all twelve brothers united?" The fear of God kept them paralyzed—but it did not last forever.
Seven years later, the kings of the Amorites heard that Jacob and his sons had resettled in Shechem. They assembled their armies, furious: "It is not enough that they killed every man in the city—now they come to take the land." According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserving ancient battle traditions translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, what followed was an epic military confrontation.
Judah was the first to charge into the enemy ranks. He met Ishub, King of Tapuah, a fearsome warrior encased head to foot in iron and brass armor, riding a powerful steed and hurling javelins with deadly accuracy from both hands. Judah was not intimidated. He picked up a stone weighing sixty shekels and launched it from 170 cubits away. The stone struck the king's shield so hard it knocked him clean off his horse.
Judah rushed forward to finish him before he could stand, but the king rallied and sprang back to his feet. A fierce hand-to-hand fight followed. Meanwhile, Jacob himself entered the battle, bending his bow and killing enemies from a distance. The other brothers joined the assault, each fighting with astonishing ferocity. The chronicle describes how the sons of Jacob systematically routed the Amorite coalition, striking terror into every surrounding kingdom. The nations concluded that the God of Israel fought alongside His people, and no army could stand against them.
XXXVI. (1) And a great terror was upon the cities
that were round about them, and they did not pursue after
the sons of Jacob; for they said, ' If two sons of Jacob were
able to do this thing ' (namely, to exterminate a whole town),
' how much more would they exterminate the whole world
if all the sons of Jacob gathered together ?' This terror of
them fell upon the cities, for the Lord let the terror fall
upon all the nations, and they did not pursue the sons of
Jacob. The sages say, ' They did not pursue them during
that same year, but after (seven) years they pursued them,
for they came back and settled there again.' The kings of
the Amorites assembled themselves, when they heard that
Jacob and his sons had again settled in Shekhem. They
came to slay them, saying, ' It is not enough for them to
have killed all the men of Shekhem, now they come also to
take possession of their land.'
(2) When Judah beheld them coming, he was the first to
spring in the midst of their ranks, and was soon engaged in
fight with Ishub, King of Tapuah, who was covered with
iron and brass from head to foot, standing in the middle of
his lines (of soldiers). He rode a powerful steed, and he
could throw his javelins with both hands from horseback,
in front and behind, and never missed his aim even to a
hair's breadth, for he was a mighty and powerful man, and
could manage his spear with either hand. Judah was not
at all frightened when he saw him, despite his strength,
but he picked up a heavy stone from the ground, weighing
about sixty shekels, and threw it at him at a distance of
two parts of a furlong; i.e., 170 cubits and one-third of a
cubit. Whilst the king was advancing against Judah,
dressed in iron armour and throwing his spears, Judah
struck him with the stone upon his shield and rolled him
oft' his horse. (3) Judah hastened to approach him, in
order to kill him before he could get up again from the
ground, but the king rallied quickly and sprang upon his
feet. Now he began to fight with Judah, shield against
shield. He drew his sword and tried to smite the head of
Judah, but Judah lifted up his shield and received the blow
aimed at him; the shield broke into two pieces. Judah
thereupon ducked and slashed with his sword at the feet of
the king and cut them off from the ankles. The king fell
to the ground and his sword slipped out of his hands.
Judah sprang upon him and cut off his head.
(4) Whilst he was busy stripping him of his armour, nine
comrades of the dead man attacked him. Judah broke the
head of the first who approached him with a stone, and killed
him on the spot. He let his shield drop out of his hand,
which Judah seized, and defended himself with it against the
other eight. His brother Levi came to his rescue and shot
the King of Ga'ash with an arrow. Judah succeeded then
in killing the eight. Jacob then killed (Zehori), King of
Shiloh, with an arrow, and they could not stand against
the children of Jacob, but all turned and fled, and the sons
of Jacob pursued them. And Judah killed on that day a
thousand men before sunset.
(5) The remaining sons of Jacob came out from Shekhem,
from the side where they had been standing, and pursued
them among the mountains, until they came to Hasor.
There, before the town of Hasor, they had to fight more
than they had fought in the vale of Shekhem. (6) Jacob
shot with his arrows and killed Pir'athaho, King of Hasor,
and Susi, King of Sartan, and Laban, King of Horan (or
Heldon, pn'pn), and Shakir (or Shikkor), King of Mahna(im).
Judah was the first to climb up the wall of Hasor. Four
82 [xxxvi. 6
warriors attacked Judah and fought with him, till Naphtali
came to his rescue, for he followed Judah upon the wall;
but before he came up, Judah had killed the four warriors.
Judah stood now on the right side of the wall, and
Naphtali on the left, and they killed all the people that
were there. The other sons of Jacob jumped upon the wall
after them, and destroyed it, and on that same day they
took the town of Hasor, and killed all the warriors, and
they did not leave one single man. After that they carried
away the booty.
(7) The following day they went to Sartan. There was a
great multitude of people, and the fight was a very heavy
one, for it was a town built upon a height, with high walls,
and it was difficult to approach in consequence of these
walls; yet they subdued it on that same day, and got
upon the walls. The first to climb them was Judah, on
the east, after him came Gad on the west, Simeon and
Levi climbed up on the north, and Eeuben and Dan on the
south, whilst Naphtali and Issachar put fire to the gates of
the town. The fight was very fierce upon the walls, and their
remaining comrades went up to their assistance. They all
stood now against a huge tower (wherein the inhabitants
had fled, defying from there the assailants). That was
before Judah had taken the tower. But he soon went up to
the top of the tower and killed two hundred men on the
roof, and the other sons of Israel killed the rest, not leaving
one single man, for these were all powerful and valiant
warriors. They carried away the whole booty and returned
to their places.
(8) Now they went against Tapuah, for its inhabitants
had tried to rob them of their spoil. First they killed all
the men who had come out for the purpose of robbing them
of the booty. Afterwards they rested on the waters of
Jishub (31l"^), north of Tapuah. Early in the morning
of the third day they marched tow^ards Tapuah. Whilst
they were gathering their booty, the inhabitants of Shilo
came out and attacked them. But they were all beaten
and killed before noon, and they entered with the fugitives
into Shilo, and did not allow them to stand up against
the sons of Jacob. On that same day they occupied
the town and carried away the spoil thereof. The troop of
their company which they had left against Tapuah came
now to meet them with the booty from Tapuah.
(9) On the fourth day they marched against the camp of
Shakir ("T'DcO. Some of the camp came out to rob them of
the booty. They (the sons of Jacob) had gone down into the
valley, and the (men from Shakir) ran after them, but
when they tried to ascend again they were killed. After
that the men from the camp of Shakir threw stones upon
them; but the sons of Jacob occupied the towm, and killed
all the warriors, and added the booty from this towai to the
booty they had formerly collected.
(10) On the fifth day they went to Mount Ga'ash. There
lived a great multitude of the Amorites. Ga ash was a
fortified town of the Amorites. They fought against it, but
could not well subdue it because it had three walls, one wall
inside the other. And the inhabitants began to defy and
to reproach the sons of Jacob. (11) Judah waxed wroth,
and he was the first to jump upon the wall. He would
have met his death there had not his father Jacob come to
his rescue. He first bent his bow and shot his arrows wdth
his right hand, then he dreW' his sword and killed right and
left, until Dan sprang upon the w^all and assisted Judah.
(From the right-hand side the inhabitants threw stones at
him, and from inside they fought him, and they all tried
to push him dow^n the w^all.) Dan drove them away from
the wall. After Dan, Simeon, Levi and Naphtali came up,
and they killed so many of the inhabitants that the blood
flowed like a river. (And when the sun was near its setting
they had taken the town and killed all the warriors) and
they carried away the booty.
(12) On the sixth day all the Amorites came without
arms and promised to keep peace (and friendship, and
they gave unto Jacob Timna' and the whole land of
Hararyah). Then made Jacob peace with them, and the
sons of Jacob restored them all the sheep they had
6—2
84 [XXXVI. 12
captured from them, and in returning them gave douhle,
two for one. And Jacob built Timnah (n^^DTi), and Judah
built Zabel ('pNaT). And from that time on they lived in
peace with the Amorites. This it was that Jacob said to
Joseph, '' I have given thee a portion above thy brethren,
which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword
and with my bow."
