The destruction of Shechem by Simon and Levi terrified the heathen all
around. If two sons of Jacob had succeeded in ruining a great city like
Shechem, they argued, what would Jacob and all his sons accomplish
acting together? Jacob meanwhile left Shechem, hindered by none, and
with all his possessions he set out, to betake himself to his father
Isaac. But after an eight days' march he encountered a powerful army,
which had been dispatched from Nineveh to levy tribute upon the whole
world and subjugate it. On coming in the vicinity of Shechem, this army
heard to what the city had been exposed at the hands of the sons of
Jacob, and fury seized the men, and they resolved to make war upon
Jacob.
But Jacob said to his sons: "Fear not, God will be your helper, and He
will fight for you against your enemies. Only you must put away from
you the strange gods in your possession, and you must purify
yourselves, and wash your garments clean."
Girt with his sword, Jacob advanced against the enemy, and in the first
onslaught he slew twelve thousand of the weak in the army. Then Judah
spake to him, and said, "Father, thou art tired and exhausted, let me
fight the enemy alone." And Jacob replied, saying, "Judah, my son, I
know thy strength and thy bravery, that they are exceeding great, so
that none in the world is like unto thee therein." His countenance like
a lion's and inflamed with wrath, Judah attacked the army, and slew
twelve myriads of tried and famous warriors. The battle raged hot in
front and in the rear, and Levi his brother hastened to his aid, and
together they won a victory over the Ninevites. Judah alone slew five
thousand more soldiers, and Levi dealt blows right and left with such
vigor that the men of the enemy's army fell like grain under the scythe
of the reaper.
Alarmed about their fate, the people of Nineveh said: "How long shall
we fight with these devils? Let us return to our land, lest they
exterminate us root and branch, without leaving a remnant." But their
king desired to restrain them, and he said: "O ye heroes, ye men of
might and valor, have you lost your senses that you ask to return to
your land? Is this your bravery? After you have subdued many kingdoms
and countries, ye are not able to hold out against twelve men? If the
nations and the kings whom we have made tributary to ourselves hear of
this, they will rise up against us as a man, and make a laughing-stock
of us, and do with us according to their desire. Take courage, ye men
of the great city of Nineveh, that your honor and your name be exalted,
and you become not a mockery in the mouth of your enemies."
These words of their king inspired the warriors to continue the
campaign. They sent messengers to all the lands to ask for help, and,
reinforced by their allies, the Ninevites assaulted Jacob a second
time. He spoke to his sons, saying, "Take courage and be men, fight
against your enemies." His twelve sons then took up their stand in
twelve different places, leaving considerable intervals between one and
another, and Jacob, a sword in his right hand and a bow in his left,
advanced to the combat. It was a desperate encounter for him. He had to
ward off the enemy to the right and the left. Nevertheless he inflicted
a severe blow, and when a band of two thousand men beset him, he leapt
up in the air and over them and vanished from their sight. Twenty-two
myriads he slew on this day, and when evening came he planned to flee
under cover of darkness. But suddenly ninety thousand men appeared, and
he was compelled to continue the fight. He rushed at them with his
sword, but it broke, and he had to defend himself by grinding huge
rocks into lime powder, and this he threw at the enemy and blinded them
so that they could see nothing. Luckily, darkness was about to fall,
and he could permit himself to take rest for the night.
In the morning, Judah said to Jacob, "Father, thou didst fight the
whole of yesterday, and thou art weary and exhausted. Let me fight this
day." When the warriors caught sight of Judah's lion face and his lion
teeth, and heard his lion voice, they were greatly afraid. Judah hopped
and jumped over the army like a flea, from one warrior to the next,
raining blows down upon them incessantly, and by evening he had slain
eighty thousand and ninety-six men, armed with swords and bows. But
fatigue overcame him, and Zebulon took up his station at his brother's
left hand, and mowed down eighty thousand of the enemy. Meantime Judah
regained some of his strength, and, rising up in wrath and fury, and
gnashing his teeth with a noise like unto thunder claps in midsummer,
he put the army to flight. It ran a distance of eighteen miles, and
Judah could enjoy a respite that night.
But the army reappeared on the morrow, ready for battle again, to take
revenge on Jacob and his children. They blew their trumpets, whereupon
Jacob spake to his sons, "Go forth and fight with your enemies."
Issachar and Gad said that this day they would take the combat upon
themselves, and their father bade them do it while their brothers kept
guard and held themselves in readiness to aid and relieve the two
combatants when they showed signs of weariness and exhaustion.
The leaders of the day slew forty-eight thousand warriors, and put to
flight twelve myriads more, who concealed themselves in a cave.
Issachar and Gad fetched trees from the woods, piled the trunks up in
front of the opening of the cave, and set fire to them. When the fire
blazed with a fierce flame, the warriors spoke, saying: "Why should we
stay in this cave and perish with the smoke and the heat? Rather will
we go forth and fight with our enemies, then we may have a chance of
saving ourselves." They left the cave, going through openings at the
side, and they attacked Issachar and Gad in front and behind. Dan and
Naphtali saw the plight of their brothers and ran to their assistance.
They laid about with their swords, hewing a way for themselves to
Issachar and Gad, and, united with them, they, too, opposed the foe.
It was the third day of the conflict, and the Ninevites were reinforced
by an army as numerous as the sand on the sea-shore. All the sons of
Jacob united to oppose it, and they routed the host. But when they
pursued after the enemy, the fugitives faced about and resumed the
battle, saying: "Why should we run away? Let us rather fight them,
perhaps we may be victorious, now they are weary." A stubborn combat
ensued, and when Jacob saw the vehement attack upon his children, he
himself sprang into the thick of the battle and dealt blows right and
left. Nevertheless the heathen were victorious, and succeeded in
separating Judah from his brethren. As soon as Jacob was aware of the
peril of his son, he whistled, and Judah responded, and his brethren
hastened to his aid. Judah was fatigued and parched with thirst, and
there was no water for him to drink, but he dug his finger into the
ground with such force that water gushed out in the sight of the whole
army. Then said one warrior to another, "I will flee before these
devils, for God fights on their side," and he and all the army fled
precipitately, pursued by the sons of Jacob. Soldiers without number
they slew, and then they went back to their tents. On their return they
noticed that Joseph was missing, and they feared he had been killed or
taken captive. Naphtali ran after the retreating enemy, to make search
for Joseph, and he found him still fighting against the Ninevite army.
He joined Joseph, and killed countless soldiers, and of the fugitives
many drowned, and the men that were besetting Joseph ran off and left
him in safety.
At the end of the war Jacob continued his journey, unhindered, to his
father Isaac.[291]