Hakim-hakim 1:16

1:16 Now the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Date Palm Trees to Arad in the desert of Judah, ¹  located in the Negev. ²  They went and lived with the people of Judah. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 3:19

3:19 But he went back ⁴  once he reached ⁵  the carved images ⁶  at Gilgal. He said to Eglon, ⁷  “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon ⁸  said, “Be quiet!” ⁹  All his attendants left.

Hakim-hakim 4:11

4:11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away ¹⁰  from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived ¹¹  near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

Hakim-hakim 6:25

Gideon Destroys the Altar

6:25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. ¹²  Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.

Hakim-hakim 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ¹³  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ¹⁴  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ¹⁵  will die by morning! ¹⁶  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ¹⁷  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 7:5

7:5 So he brought the men ¹⁹  down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” ²⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 7:13

7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. ²¹  The man ²²  said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw ²³  a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” ²⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 7:19

7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp ²⁵  at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. ²⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 12:6

12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” ²⁷  If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word ²⁸  correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.

Hakim-hakim 15:1

Samson Versus the Philistines

15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, ²⁹  Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. ³⁰  He said to her father, ³¹  “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” ³²  But her father would not let him enter.

Hakim-hakim 16:31

16:31 His brothers and all his family ³³  went down and brought him back. ³⁴  They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led ³⁵  Israel for twenty years.

Hakim-hakim 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ³⁶  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ³⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 18:2-3

18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, ³⁸  capable men ³⁹  from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. ⁴⁰  18:3 As they approached ⁴¹  Micah’s house, they recognized the accent ⁴²  of the young Levite. So they stopped ⁴³  there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ⁴⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 18:9

18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, ⁴⁵  for ⁴⁶  we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, ⁴⁷  but don’t hesitate ⁴⁸  to invade and conquer ⁴⁹  the land.

Hakim-hakim 18:27

18:27 Now the Danites ⁵⁰  took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city. ⁵¹ 

Hakim-hakim 19:10

19:10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left ⁵²  and traveled as far as ⁵³  Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). ⁵⁴  He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. ⁵⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 20:18

20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel ⁵⁶  and asked God, ⁵⁷  “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” ⁵⁸  The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”

Hakim-hakim 21:19

21:19 However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel ⁵⁹  (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.”

[1:16]  ¹ tc Part of the Greek ms tradition lacks the words “of Judah.”

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “[to] the Desert of Judah in the Negev, Arad.”

[1:16]  ³ tn The phrase “of Judah” is supplied here in the translation. Some ancient textual witnesses read, “They went and lived with the Amalekites.” This reading, however, is probably influenced by 1 Sam 15:6 (see also Num 24:20-21).

[3:19]  ⁴ tn Or “returned” (i.e., to Eglon’s palace).

[3:19]  ⁵ tn The words “when he reached” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads “from.”

[3:19]  ⁶ tn Or “idols.”

[3:19]  ⁷ tn The words “to Eglon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:19]  ⁹ tn Or “Hush!”

[4:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “separated.”

[4:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “pitched his tent.”

[6:25]  ¹² tn Or “Take a bull from your father’s herd, the second one, the one seven years old.” Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.

[6:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

[6:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “fights for him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁶ sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.

[6:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

[6:31]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).

[7:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the people.”

[7:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”

[7:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”

[7:13]  ²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:13]  ²³ tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.

[7:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”

[7:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”

[7:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “that were in their hands.”

[12:6]  ²⁷ sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.

[12:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew mss.

[15:1]  ²⁹ sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.

[15:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”

[15:1]  ³¹ tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).

[15:1]  ³² tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).

[16:31]  ³³ tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”

[16:31]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”

[16:31]  ³⁵ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

[17:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).

[17:10]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.

[18:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”

[18:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

[18:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”

[18:3]  ⁴¹ tn Or “When they were near.”

[18:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).

[18:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[18:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”

[18:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

[18:9]  ⁴⁶ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

[18:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

[18:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “be lazy.”

[18:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

[18:27]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ⁵¹ tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[19:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

[19:10]  ⁵³ tn Heb “to the front of.”

[19:10]  ⁵⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[19:10]  ⁵⁵ tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”

[20:18]  ⁵⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:18]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

[20:18]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

[21:19]  ⁵⁹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.