Hakim-hakim 10:9-18

10:9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. ¹  Israel suffered greatly. ² 

10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ³  the Baals.” 10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 10:12 the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian ⁴  when they oppressed you? ⁵  You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power. ⁶  10:13 But since you abandoned me and worshiped ⁷  other gods, I will not deliver you again. 10:14 Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!” ⁸  10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, ⁹  but deliver us today!” ¹⁰  10:16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned ¹¹  and worshiped ¹²  the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. ¹³ 

An Outcast Becomes a General

10:17 The Ammonites assembled ¹⁴  and camped in Gilead; the Israelites gathered together and camped in Mizpah. 10:18 The leaders ¹⁵  of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge ¹⁶  against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”

[10:9]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of Ephraim.”

[10:9]  ² tn Or “Israel experienced great distress.” Perhaps here the verb has the nuance “hemmed in.”

[10:10]  ³ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:12]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the LXX which reads “Midian”; the Hebrew text has “Maon.”

[10:12]  ⁵ tn The words “Did I not deliver you” are interpretive. The Hebrew text simply reads, “Is it not from Egypt…when they oppressed you?” Perhaps the incomplete sentence reflects the Lord’s frustration.

[10:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “hand.”

[10:13]  ⁷ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “in your time of trouble.”

[10:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”

[10:15]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[10:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from their midst.”

[10:16]  ¹² tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “And his spirit grew short [i.e., impatient] with the suffering of Israel.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) also appears as the subject of the verb קָצַר (qatsar) in Num 21:4 (the Israelites grow impatient wandering in the wilderness), Judg 16:16 (Samson grows impatient with Delilah’s constant nagging), and Zech 11:8 (Zechariah grows impatient with the three negligent “shepherds”).

[10:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “were summoned;” or “were mustered.”

[10:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the people, the officers.”

[10:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Who is the man who will begin fighting.”