Hakim-hakim 6:14-16

6:14 Then the Lord himself ¹  turned to him and said, “You have the strength. ²  Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! ³  Have I not sent you?” 6:15 Gideon ⁴  said to him, “But Lord, ⁵  how ⁶  can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” ⁷  6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but ⁸  I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 2:1-5

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

2:1 The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹⁰  went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. ¹¹  I said, ‘I will never break my agreement ¹²  with you, 2:2 but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ ¹³  But you have disobeyed me. ¹⁴  Why would you do such a thing? ¹⁵  2:3 At that time I also warned you, ¹⁶  ‘If you disobey, ¹⁷  I will not drive out the Canaanites ¹⁸  before you. They will ensnare you ¹⁹  and their gods will lure you away.’” ²⁰ 

2:4 When the Lord’s messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. ²¹  2:5 They named that place Bokim ²²  and offered sacrifices to the Lord there.

Hakim-hakim 5:23

5:23 ‘Call judgment down on ²³  Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic ²⁴  messenger;

‘Be sure ²⁵  to call judgment down on ²⁶  those who live there,

because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, ²⁷ 

to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ ²⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 13:3

13:3 The Lord’s angelic ²⁹  messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You ³⁰  are infertile and childless, ³¹  but you will conceive and have a son.

Hakim-hakim 13:18-20

13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” ³²  13:19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. ³³  13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it ³⁴  while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown ³⁵  to the ground.

[6:14]  ¹ sn Some interpreters equate the Lord and the messenger in this story, but they are more likely distinct. In vv. 22-23 the Lord and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21).

[6:14]  ² tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”

[6:14]  ³ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

[6:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:15]  ⁵ tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.

[6:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “with what.”

[6:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “in my father’s house.”

[6:16]  ⁸ tn Or “certainly.”

[6:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”

[2:1]  ¹⁰ sn See Exod 14:19; 23:20.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”

[2:1]  ¹² tn Or “covenant” (also in the following verse).

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “their altars.”

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

[2:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “What is this you have done?”

[2:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And I also said.” The use of the perfect tense here suggests that the messenger is recalling an earlier statement (see Josh 23:12-13). However, some translate, “And I also say,” understanding the following words as an announcement of judgment upon those gathered at Bokim.

[2:3]  ¹⁷ tn The words “If you disobey” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13.

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צִדִּים (tsiddim) is uncertain in this context. It may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “snare.” If so, a more literal translation would be “they will become snares to you.” Normally the term in question means “sides,” but this makes no sense here. On the basis of Num 33:55 some suggest the word for “thorns” has been accidentally omitted. If this word is added, the text would read, “they will become [thorns] in your sides” (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

[2:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “their gods will become a snare to you.”

[2:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “lifted their voices and wept.”

[2:5]  ²² sn Bokim means “weeping ones” and is derived from the Hebrew verb בָּכָא (bakha’, “to weep”).

[5:23]  ²³ tn Heb “Curse Meroz.”

[5:23]  ²⁴ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

[5:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.

[5:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[to] curse.”

[5:23]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to the help of the Lord” (the same Hebrew phrase occurs in the following line). Another option is to read “to aid the Lord’s cause.”

[5:23]  ²⁸ tn Or “along with the other warriors.”

[13:3]  ²⁹ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).

[13:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Look, you.”

[13:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “and have not given birth.”

[13:18]  ³² tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.

[13:19]  ³³ tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the Lord’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (layhavah mal’akh yÿhvah), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ (shureq) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא (mafli’) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (הוּא, hu’) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.

[13:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”

[13:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “on their faces.”