Hakim-hakim 1:21

1:21 The men of Benjamin, however, did not conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. ¹  The Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day. ² 

Hakim-hakim 3:10

3:10 The Lord’s spirit empowered him ³  and he led Israel. When he went to do battle, the Lord handed over to him King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram and he overpowered him. ⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 3:17

3:17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)

Hakim-hakim 4:5

4:5 She would sit ⁵  under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel ⁶  in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 4:13

4:13 he ⁸  ordered ⁹  all his chariotry – nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels – and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon.

Hakim-hakim 4:16

4:16 Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died ¹⁰  by the edge of the sword; not even one survived! ¹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 5:8

5:8 God chose new leaders, ¹² 

then fighters appeared in the city gates; ¹³ 

but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, ¹⁴ 

among forty military units ¹⁵  in Israel.

Hakim-hakim 5:31

5:31 May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord!

But may those who love you shine

like the rising sun at its brightest!” ¹⁶ 

And the land had rest for forty years.

Hakim-hakim 6:2

6:2 The Midianites ¹⁷  overwhelmed Israel. ¹⁸  Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters ¹⁹  for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

Hakim-hakim 7:7

7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army ²⁰  and I will hand Midian over to you. ²¹  The rest of the men should go home.” ²² 

Hakim-hakim 8:7

8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help, ²³  after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh ²⁴  your skin ²⁵  with ²⁶  desert thorns and briers.”

Hakim-hakim 9:13

9:13 But the grapevine said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!’ ²⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 9:33

9:33 In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him.” ²⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 9:35

9:35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places.

Hakim-hakim 10:10-11

10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ²⁹  the Baals.” 10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

Hakim-hakim 10:15

10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, ³⁰  but deliver us today!” ³¹ 

Hakim-hakim 10:18

10:18 The leaders ³²  of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge ³³  against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”

Hakim-hakim 11:7

11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave ³⁴  my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”

Hakim-hakim 11:23

11:23 Since ³⁵  the Lord God of Israel has driven out ³⁶  the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? ³⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 12:14

12:14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years.

Hakim-hakim 20:46

20:46 That day twenty-five thousand ³⁸  sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. ³⁹ 

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

[1:21]  ² 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).

[3:10]  ³ tn Heb “was on him.”

[3:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “his hand was strong against Cushan-Rishathaim.”

[4:5]  ⁵ tn That is, “consider legal disputes.”

[4:5]  ⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[4:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “for judgment.”

[4:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:13]  ⁹ tn Or “summoned.”

[4:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fell.”

[4:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “was left.”

[5:8]  ¹² tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.

[5:8]  ¹³ tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)

[5:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).

[5:8]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).

[5:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength.”

[6:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

[6:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”

[6:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.

[7:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.

[7:7]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.

[7:7]  ²² tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”

[8:7]  ²³ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[8:7]  ²⁴ sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.

[8:7]  ²⁵ tn Or “flesh.”

[8:7]  ²⁶ tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.

[9:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Should I stop my wine, which makes happy gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.

[9:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Look! He and the people who are with him will come out to you, and you will do to him what your hand finds [to do].”

[10:10]  ²⁹ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”

[10:15]  ³¹ sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”

[10:18]  ³² tn Heb “the people, the officers.”

[10:18]  ³³ tn Heb “Who is the man who will begin fighting.”

[11:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:23]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Now.”

[11:23]  ³⁶ tn Or “dispossessed.”

[11:23]  ³⁷ 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.

[20:46]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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.