Hakim-hakim 5:14

5:14 They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, ¹ 

they follow ²  after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers.

From Makir leaders came down,

from Zebulun came ³  the ones who march carrying ⁴  an officer’s staff.

Hakim-hakim 10:9

10:9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. ⁵  Israel suffered greatly. ⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 20:3-4

20:3 The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!” 20:4 The Levite, ⁷  the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, “I and my concubine stopped in ⁸  Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin ⁹  to spend the night.

Hakim-hakim 20:12

20:12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe ¹⁰  of Benjamin, saying, “How could such a wicked thing take place? ¹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 20:17

20:17 The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior. ¹² 

Hakim-hakim 20:20-21

20:20 The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they ¹³  arranged their battle lines against Gibeah. 20:21 The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day. ¹⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 20:30

20:30 The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; ¹⁵  they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before.

Hakim-hakim 20:32

20:32 Then the Benjaminites said, “They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s retreat ¹⁶  and lure them ¹⁷  away from the city into the main roads.”

Hakim-hakim 20:40

20:40 But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky. ¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 20:46

20:46 That day twenty-five thousand ¹⁹  sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. ²⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 21:13-14

21:13 The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed. ²¹  21:14 The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites ²²  gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around. ²³ 

Hakim-hakim 21:18

21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, ²⁴  for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’ ²⁵ 

[5:14]  ¹ tn Heb “From Ephraim their root in Amalek” (the words “they came” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons). Because of the difficulty of the MT, many prefer to follow one of the ancient versions or emend the text. For various proposals see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 252-53. The present translation repoints שָׁרְשָׁם (shorsham, traditionally translated “their root”) as a Piel verb form with enclitic mem (ם). The preposition ב (bet) on עֲמָלֵק (’amaleq) introduces the object (see Job 31:12 for an example of the construction). Ephraim’s territory encompassed the hill country of the Amalekites (Judg 12:15).

[5:14]  ² tn The words “They follow” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:14]  ³ tn The word “came” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:14]  ⁴ tn Or possibly “who carry.”

[10:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the house of Ephraim.”

[10:9]  ⁶ tn Or “Israel experienced great distress.” Perhaps here the verb has the nuance “hemmed in.”

[20:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “The man, the Levite.”

[20:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “came to.”

[20:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”

[20:12]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads the plural, but surely the singular (which is supported by the LXX and Vulgate) is preferable here.

[20:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “What is this wicked thing which happened among you?”

[20:17]  ¹² tn Heb “a man of war.”

[20:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”

[20:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the third day.”

[20:32]  ¹⁶ tn Or “run away.”

[20:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

[20:40]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.”

[20:46]  ¹⁹ sn The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 429) and C. F. Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days’ fighting emphasizes Israel’s humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator’s emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days’ casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.

[20:46]  ²⁰ tn Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.

[21:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “And all the assembly sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the cliff of Rimmon and they proclaimed to them peace.”

[21:14]  ²² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:14]  ²³ tn Heb “but they did not find for them enough.”

[21:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

[21:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “is cursed.”