Hakim-hakim 2:19

2:19 When a leader died, the next generation ¹  would again ²  act more wickedly than the previous one. ³  They would follow after other gods, worshiping them ⁴  and bowing down to them. They did not give up ⁵  their practices or their stubborn ways.

Hakim-hakim 4:11

4:11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away ⁶  from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived ⁷  near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

Hakim-hakim 7:3

7:3 Now, announce to the men, ⁸  ‘Whoever is shaking with fear ⁹  may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” ¹⁰  Twenty-two thousand men ¹¹  went home; ¹²  ten thousand remained.

Hakim-hakim 13:23

13:23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. ¹³  He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

Hakim-hakim 14:15-16

14:15 On the fourth ¹⁴  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ¹⁵  If you refuse, ¹⁶  we will burn up ¹⁷  you and your father’s family. ¹⁸  Did you invite us here ¹⁹  to make us poor?” ²⁰  14:16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder ²¹  and said, “You must ²²  hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men ²³  a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” ²⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.

³ tn Heb “their fathers.”

sn The statement the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one must refer to the successive sinful generations after Joshua, not Joshua’s godly generation (cf. vv. 7, 17).

⁴ tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”

⁵ tn Or “drop.”

⁶ tn Or “separated.”

⁷ tn Heb “pitched his tent.”

⁸ tn Heb “call into the ears of the people.”

⁹ tn Heb “afraid and shaking.”

¹⁰ tc Many interpreters reject the MT reading “and leave Mount Gilead” for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, “So Gideon tested them” (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).

¹¹ tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because warriors are in view, and in ancient Israelite culture these would be only males. (This is also the case in vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)

¹² tn Or “turned around, back.”

¹³ tn Heb “our hand.”

¹⁴ tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.

¹⁵ tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “lest.”

¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁸ tn Heb “house.”

¹⁹ tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (halo’), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.

²⁰ tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.

²¹ tn Heb “on him.”

²² tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”

²³ tn Heb “the sons of my people.”

²⁴ tn Heb “Should I tell you?”