Hakim-hakim 3:7

Othniel: A Model Leader

3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

Hakim-hakim 5:8

5:8 God chose new leaders, ³ 

then fighters appeared in the city gates; ⁴ 

but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, ⁵ 

among forty military units ⁶  in Israel.

Hakim-hakim 6:25

Gideon Destroys the Altar

6:25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. ⁷  Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.

Hakim-hakim 8:33

Israel Returns to Baal-Worship

8:33 After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith ⁸  their god.

Hakim-hakim 10:6

The Lord’s Patience Runs Short

10:6 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. ⁹  They worshiped ¹⁰  the Baals and the Ashtars, ¹¹  as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, ¹²  Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. ¹³  They abandoned the Lord and did not worship ¹⁴  him.

Hakim-hakim 10:1

Stability Restored

10:1 After Abimelech’s death, ¹⁵  Tola son of Puah, grandson ¹⁶  of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar, ¹⁷  rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country.

1 Samuel 31:10

31:10 They placed Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths ¹⁸  and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.

Nehemia 9:26

9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. ¹⁹  They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.

Mazmur 78:56

78:56 Yet they challenged and defied ²⁰  the sovereign God, ²¹ 

and did not obey ²²  his commands. ²³ 

Yeremia 11:10

11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways ²⁴  of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to ²⁵  other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah ²⁶  have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

[3:7]  ¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[3:7]  ² sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

[5:8]  ³ tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.

[5:8]  ⁴ tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).

[5:8]  ⁶ tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).

[6:25]  ⁷ tn Or “Take a bull from your father’s herd, the second one, the one seven years old.” Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.

[8:33]  ⁸ sn Baal-Berith was a local manifestation of the Canaanite storm god. The name means, ironically, “Baal of the covenant.” Israel’s covenant allegiance had indeed shifted.

[10:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[10:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “served;” or “followed.”

[10:6]  ¹¹ sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).

[10:6]  ¹² map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines.”

[10:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “serve”; or “follow.”

[10:1]  ¹⁵ tn The word “death” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[10:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a man of Issachar.”

[31:10]  ¹⁸ sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. See the note on the same term in 7:3.

[9:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”

[78:56]  ²⁰ tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”

[78:56]  ²¹ tn Heb “God, the Most High.”

[78:56]  ²² tn Or “keep.”

[78:56]  ²³ tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).

[11:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “They have repeated the evil actions of….”

[11:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “have walked/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[11:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “house of Israel and house of Judah.”