Hakim-hakim 9:20

9:20 But if not, may fire blaze from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! May fire also blaze from the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and consume Abimelech!”

Hakim-hakim 14:15

14:15 On the fourth ¹  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ²  If you refuse, ³  we will burn up ⁴  you and your father’s family. ⁵  Did you invite us here ⁶  to make us poor?” ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 14:18

14:18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?”

He said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer, ⁸ 

you would not have solved my riddle!”

Hakim-hakim 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ⁹  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ¹⁰  for I have been dedicated to God ¹¹  from the time I was conceived. ¹²  If my head ¹³  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

Hakim-hakim 19:9

19:9 When the man got ready to leave ¹⁴  with his concubine and his servant, ¹⁵  his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over! ¹⁶  Stay another night! Since the day is over, ¹⁷  stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.” ¹⁸ 

[14:15]  ¹ tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.

[14:15]  ² tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”

[14:15]  ³ tn Heb “lest.”

[14:15]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[14:15]  ⁶ tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (halo’), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.

[14:15]  ⁷ tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.

[14:18]  ⁸ sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.

[16:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

[16:17]  ¹² tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

[19:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the man arose to go.”

[19:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “young man.”

[19:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”

[19:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “declining.”

[19:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”