Hakim-hakim 1:18

1:18 The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory surrounding each of these cities. ¹ 

Hakim-hakim 6:3

6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, ²  the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 6:18

6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back ⁴  with a gift ⁵  and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”

Hakim-hakim 8:23

8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”

Hakim-hakim 9:4

9:4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous ⁶  men as his followers. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 9:45

9:45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled ⁸  the city and spread salt over it. ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 11:9

11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ¹⁰  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ¹¹  I will be your leader.” ¹² 

Hakim-hakim 11:23-24

11:23 Since ¹³  the Lord God of Israel has driven out ¹⁴  the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? ¹⁵  11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us. ¹⁶ 

[1:18]  ¹ tn Heb “The men of Judah captured Gaza and its surrounding territory, Ashkelon and its surrounding territory, and Ekron and its surrounding territory.”

[6:3]  ² tn Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”

[6:3]  ³ 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).

[6:18]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.

[9:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “empty and reckless.”

[9:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they followed him.”

[9:45]  ⁸ tn Or “destroyed.”

[9:45]  ⁹ tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”

[9:45]  sn The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: “May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!” See J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire (BibOr), 15, 53. Deut 29:23, Jer 17:6, and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment.

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “places them before me.”

[11:9]  ¹² tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

[11:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “Now.”

[11:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “dispossessed.”

[11:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.

[11:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the Lord our God dispossesses before us we will possess?” Jephthah speaks of Chemosh as if he is on a par with the Lord God of Israel. This does not necessarily mean that Jephthah is polytheistic or that he recognizes the Lord as only a local deity. He may simply be assuming the Ammonite king’s perspective for the sake of argument. Other texts, as well as the extrabiblical Mesha inscription, associate Chemosh with Moab, while Milcom is identified as the god of the Ammonites. Why then does Jephthah refer to Chemosh as the Ammonite god? Ammon had likely conquered Moab and the Ammonite king probably regarded himself as heir of all territory formerly held by Moab. Originally Moab had owned the disputed territory (cf. Num 21:26-29), meaning that Chemosh was regarded as the god of the region (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 203-4). Jephthah argues that Chemosh had long ago relinquished claim to the area (by allowing Sihon to conquer it), while the Lord had long ago established jurisdiction over it (by taking it from Sihon and giving it to Israel). Both sides should abide by the decisions of the gods which had stood firm for three hundred years.