Hakim-hakim 1:1

Judah Takes the Lead

1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ¹  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ² 

Hakim-hakim 1:10

1:10 The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

Hakim-hakim 1:17

1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon ³  and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath. ⁴  So people now call the city Hormah. ⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 1:21

1:21 The men of Benjamin, however, did not conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. ⁶  The Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 20:46

20:46 That day twenty-five thousand ⁸  sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 21:14

21:14 The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites ¹⁰  gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around. ¹¹ 

[1:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

[1:17]  ³ tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ⁵ sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).

[1:21]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:21]  ⁷ sn The statement to this very day reflects the perspective of the author, who must have written prior to David’s conquest of the Jebusites (see 2 Sam 5:6-7).

[20:46]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[21:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “but they did not find for them enough.”