Hakim-hakim 2:15

2:15 Whenever they went out to fight, ¹  the Lord did them harm, ²  just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. ³  They suffered greatly. ⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 3:4

3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. ⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 3:22

3:22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud ⁶  did not pull the sword out of his belly. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 6:3

6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, ⁸  the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 6:5

6:5 When they invaded ¹⁰  with their cattle and tents, they were as thick ¹¹  as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. ¹²  They came to devour ¹³  the land.

Hakim-hakim 8:3

8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” ¹⁴  When he said this, they calmed down. ¹⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 8:6

8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give ¹⁶  bread to your army?” ¹⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 11:34

11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out ¹⁹  to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. ²⁰  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

[2:15]  ¹ tn The expression “to fight” is interpretive.

[2:15]  ² tn Heb “the Lord’s hand was against them for harm.”

[2:15]  ³ tn Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”

[2:15]  ⁴ tn Or “they experienced great distress.”

[3:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

[3:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:22]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has “and he went out to the [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew word פַּרְשְׁדֹנָה (parshÿdonah) which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. The noun has the article prefixed and directive suffix. The word may be a technical architectural term, indicating the area into which Ehud moved as he left the king and began his escape. In this case Ehud is the subject of the verb “went out.” The present translation omits the clause, understanding it as an ancient variant of the first clause in v. 23. Some take the noun as “back,” understand “sword” (from the preceding clause) as the subject, and translate “the sword came out his [i.e., Eglon’s] back.” But this rendering is unlikely since the Hebrew word for “sword” (חֶרֶב, kherev) is feminine and the verb form translated “came out” (וַיֵּצֵא, vayyetse’) is masculine. (One expects agreement in gender when the subject is supplied from the preceding clause. See Ezek 33:4, 6.) See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 146-48, for discussion of the options.

[6:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”

[6:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him.” The translation assumes that וְעָלוּ (vÿ’alu) is dittographic (note the following עָלָיו, ’alayv).

[6:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “came up.”

[6:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “numerous.”

[6:5]  ¹² tn Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”

[6:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.

[8:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”

[8:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”

[8:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

[8:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).

[8:6]  sn The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon’s forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.

[11:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:34]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”

[11:34]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”