Hakim-hakim 13:18

13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” ¹ 

Hakim-hakim 18:6

18:6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence. ²  The Lord will be with you on your mission.” ³ 

Hakim-hakim 8:23

8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”

Hakim-hakim 18:4

18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, ⁴  “He hired me and I became his priest.”

Hakim-hakim 13:13

13:13 The Lord’s messenger told ⁵  Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. ⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 9:11

9:11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!’ ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 13:11

13:11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met ⁸  the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” ⁹  He said, “Yes.” ¹⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 11:10

11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, ¹¹  if we do not do as you say.” ¹² 

Hakim-hakim 18:24

18:24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’” ¹³ 

Hakim-hakim 4:20

4:20 He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say ‘No.’”

Hakim-hakim 7:14

7:14 The other man said, ¹⁴  “Without a doubt this symbolizes ¹⁵  the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

Hakim-hakim 8:7

8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help, ¹⁶  after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh ¹⁷  your skin ¹⁸  with ¹⁹  desert thorns and briers.”

Hakim-hakim 9:9

9:9 But the olive tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!’ ²⁰ 

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!’ ²¹ 

Hakim-hakim 16:7

16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh ²²  bowstrings ²³  that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Hakim-hakim 16:11

16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, ²⁴  I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Hakim-hakim 17:9

17:9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.” ²⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 1:15

1:15 She answered, “Please give me a special present. ²⁶  Since you have given me land in the Negev, now give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs. ²⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 14:16

14:16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder ²⁸  and said, “You must ²⁹  hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men ³⁰  a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” ³¹ 

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, ³² 

you would not have solved my riddle!”

Hakim-hakim 15:6

15:6 The Philistines asked, ³³  “Who did this?” They were told, ³⁴  “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite ³⁵  took Samson’s ³⁶  bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. ³⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 8:18

8:18 He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me ³⁸  the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” ³⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 9:36

9:36 Gaal saw the men ⁴⁰  and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills – it just looks like men.” ⁴¹ 

Hakim-hakim 14:13

14:13 But if you cannot solve it, ⁴²  you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.” ⁴³ 

Hakim-hakim 15:10

15:10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking ⁴⁴  us?” The Philistines ⁴⁵  said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.”

Hakim-hakim 15:13

15:13 They said to him, “We promise! ⁴⁶  We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff.

Hakim-hakim 4:9

4:9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame ⁴⁷  on the expedition you are undertaking, ⁴⁸  for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.” ⁴⁹  Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Hakim-hakim 9:15

9:15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose ⁵⁰  me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches! ⁵¹  Otherwise ⁵²  may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’

Hakim-hakim 11:13

11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ⁵³  my land when they ⁵⁴  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ⁵⁵  Now return it ⁵⁶  peaceably!”

Hakim-hakim 13:23

13:23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. ⁵⁷  He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

Hakim-hakim 18:9

18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, ⁵⁸  for ⁵⁹  we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, ⁶⁰  but don’t hesitate ⁶¹  to invade and conquer ⁶²  the land.

Hakim-hakim 18:19

18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ⁶³  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ⁶⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 19:18

19:18 The Levite ⁶⁵  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ⁶⁶  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ⁶⁷  But no one has invited me into their home.

Hakim-hakim 15:11

15:11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.”

Hakim-hakim 16:13

16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair ⁶⁸  into the fabric on the loom ⁶⁹  and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

Hakim-hakim 17:2

17:2 He said to his mother, “You know ⁷⁰  the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen ⁷¹  from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole ⁷²  it, but now I am giving it back to you.” ⁷³  His mother said, “May the Lord reward ⁷⁴  you, my son!”

Hakim-hakim 6:13

6:13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, ⁷⁵  but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster ⁷⁶  overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ⁷⁷  ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

Hakim-hakim 1:2

1:2 The Lord said, “The men of Judah should take the lead. ⁷⁸  Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.” ⁷⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 6:23

6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! ⁸⁰  Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!”

Hakim-hakim 10:11

10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

Hakim-hakim 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but ⁸¹  I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” ⁸² 

Hakim-hakim 8:9

8:9 He also threatened ⁸³  the men of Penuel, warning, ⁸⁴  “When I return victoriously, ⁸⁵  I will tear down this tower.”

Hakim-hakim 11:38

11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave ⁸⁶  for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. ⁸⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 6:15

6:15 Gideon ⁸⁸  said to him, “But Lord, ⁸⁹  how ⁹⁰  can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” ⁹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 6:17

6:17 Gideon ⁹²  said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, ⁹³  then give me ⁹⁴  a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me.

Hakim-hakim 8:2

8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes ⁹⁵  are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! ⁹⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 8:6

8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give ⁹⁷  bread to your army?” ⁹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 8:25

8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” ⁹⁹  So they ¹⁰⁰  spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

Hakim-hakim 10:15

10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, ¹⁰¹  but deliver us today!” ¹⁰² 

Hakim-hakim 11:36

11:36 She said to him, “My father, since ¹⁰³  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ¹⁰⁴  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ¹⁰⁵  your enemies, the Ammonites.”

Hakim-hakim 15:3

15:3 Samson said to them, ¹⁰⁶  “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” ¹⁰⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 15:12

15:12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me ¹⁰⁸  you will not kill ¹⁰⁹  me.”

Hakim-hakim 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ¹¹⁰  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ¹¹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 18:25

18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men ¹¹²  will attack you, and you and your family will die.” ¹¹³ 

Hakim-hakim 19:12

19:12 But his master said to him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. ¹¹⁴  We will travel on to Gibeah.”

Hakim-hakim 14:3

14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our ¹¹⁵  people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” ¹¹⁶  But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, ¹¹⁷  because she is the right one for me.” ¹¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 11:7-8

11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave ¹¹⁹  my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?” 11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ¹²⁰  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ¹²¹  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ¹²²  of all who live in Gilead.” ¹²³ 

Hakim-hakim 12:2

12:2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. ¹²⁴  I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. ¹²⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 12:5

12:5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River ¹²⁶  opposite Ephraim. ¹²⁷  Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive ¹²⁸  said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked ¹²⁹  him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,”

Hakim-hakim 13:16

13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, ¹³⁰  I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) ¹³¹ 

Hakim-hakim 20:18

20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel ¹³²  and asked God, ¹³³  “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” ¹³⁴  The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”

Hakim-hakim 20:23

20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we ¹³⁵  again march out to fight ¹³⁶  the Benjaminites, our brothers?” ¹³⁷  The Lord said, “Attack them!” ¹³⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 20:28

20:28 Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord ¹³⁹  in those days), “Should we ¹⁴⁰  once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, ¹⁴¹  or should we ¹⁴²  quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them ¹⁴³  over to you.”

Hakim-hakim 5:29

5:29 The wisest of her ladies ¹⁴⁴  answer;

indeed she even thinks to herself,

Hakim-hakim 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ¹⁴⁵  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ¹⁴⁶  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ¹⁴⁷  will die by morning! ¹⁴⁸  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ¹⁴⁹  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ¹⁵⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 8:8

8:8 He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. ¹⁵¹  The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. ¹⁵² 

Hakim-hakim 11:9

11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ¹⁵³  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ¹⁵⁴  I will be your leader.” ¹⁵⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 19:28

19:28 He said to her, “Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home. ¹⁵⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 20:4

20:4 The Levite, ¹⁵⁷  the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, “I and my concubine stopped in ¹⁵⁸  Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin ¹⁵⁹  to spend the night.

[13:18]  ¹ tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.

[18:6]  ² tn Heb “in peace.”

[18:6]  ³ tn Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”

[18:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.

[13:13]  ⁵ tn Or “said to.”

[13:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.

[9:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Should I stop my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over the trees? The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.

[13:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “came to.”

[13:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the woman.”

[13:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I [am].”

[11:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The Lord will be the one who hears between us.” For the idiom שָׁמַע בַּיִן (shama’ bayin, “to hear between”), see Deut 1:16.

[11:10]  ¹² sn The Lord will judge…if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.

[18:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

[7:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[7:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”

[8:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[8:7]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Or “flesh.”

[8:7]  ¹⁹ 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.

[9:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Should I stop my abundance, with which they honor gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.

[9:13]  ²¹ 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.

[16:7]  ²² tn Or “moist.”

[16:7]  ²³ tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.

[16:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”

[17:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And I am going to reside in a place I can find.”

[1:15]  ²⁶ tn Elsewhere the Hebrew word בְרָכָה (vÿrakhah) is often translated “blessing,” but here it refers to a gift (as in Gen 33:11; 1 Sam 25:27; 30:26; and 2 Kgs 5:15).

[1:15]  ²⁷ tn Some translations regard the expressions “springs of water” (גֻּלֹּת מָיִם, gullot mayim) and “springs” (גֻּלֹּת) as place names here (cf. NRSV).

[14:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “on him.”

[14:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”

[14:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the sons of my people.”

[14:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “Should I tell you?”

[14:18]  ³² 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.

[15:6]  ³³ tn Or “said.”

[15:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

[15:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.

[8:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Where are?”

[8:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “each one like the appearance of sons of the king.”

[9:36]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the people” (also in vv. 38, 43, 48). These were warriors, so “men” has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males.

[9:36]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”

[14:13]  ⁴² tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”

[14:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”

[15:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “come up against.”

[15:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.

[4:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “honor.”

[4:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking.” Another option is to translate, “due to the way you are going about this.” In this case direct reference is made to Barak’s hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.

[4:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “for into the hands of a woman the Lord will sell Sisera.”

[9:15]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “are about to anoint [with oil].”

[9:15]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “in my shade.”

[9:15]  ⁵² tn Heb “If not.”

[11:13]  ⁵³ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

[11:13]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).

[11:13]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[11:13]  ⁵⁶ tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

[13:23]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “our hand.”

[18:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

[18:9]  ⁵⁹ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

[18:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

[18:9]  ⁶¹ tn Or “be lazy.”

[18:9]  ⁶² tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

[18:19]  ⁶³ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

[18:19]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”

[19:18]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:18]  ⁶⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[19:18]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the LORD I am going.” The Hebrew text has “house of the LORD,” which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads “to my house.”

[16:13]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.

[16:13]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.

[17:2]  ⁷⁰ tn The words “You know” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[17:2]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “taken.”

[17:2]  ⁷² tn Heb “took.”

[17:2]  ⁷³ tn In the Hebrew text the statement, “but now I am giving it back to you,” appears at the end of v. 3 and is spoken by the mother. But v. 4 indicates that she did not give the money back to her son. Unless the statement is spoken by the woman to the LORD, it appears to be misplaced and fits much better in v. 2. It may have been accidentally omitted from a manuscript, written in the margin, and then later inserted in the wrong place in another manuscript.

[17:2]  ⁷⁴ tn Traditionally, “bless.”

[6:13]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “But my lord.”

[6:13]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “all this.”

[6:13]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[1:2]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “Judah should go up.”

[1:2]  ⁷⁹ tn The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[6:23]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.

[6:16]  ⁸¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[6:16]  ⁸² tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”

[8:9]  ⁸³ tn Heb “said to.” The translation “threatened” is interpretive, but is clearly indicated by the context.

[8:9]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “saying.”

[8:9]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “safely.” Heb “in peace.”

[11:38]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “he sent her.”

[11:38]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.

[6:15]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:15]  ⁸⁹ tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.

[6:15]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “with what.”

[6:15]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “in my father’s house.”

[6:17]  ⁹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:17]  ⁹³ tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”

[6:17]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “perform for me.”

[8:2]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “gleanings.”

[8:2]  ⁹⁶ sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family.

[8:6]  ⁹⁷ tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

[8:6]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).

[8:6]  sn The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon’s forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.

[8:25]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “We will indeed give.”

[8:25]  ¹⁰⁰ tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.

[10:15]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”

[10:15]  ¹⁰² 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.”

[11:36]  ¹⁰³ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[15:3]  ¹⁰⁶ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”

[15:3]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”

[15:12]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Or “swear to me.”

[15:12]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.

[17:10]  ¹¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹¹ 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.

[18:25]  ¹¹² tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

[18:25]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

[19:12]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “who are not from the sons of Israel.”

[14:3]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.

[14:3]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”

[14:3]  ¹¹⁷ tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.

[14:3]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”

[11:7]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:8]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).

[11:8]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.

[11:8]  ¹²² sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

[11:8]  ¹²³ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

[12:2]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”

[12:2]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

[12:5]  ¹²⁶ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:5]  ¹²⁷ tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.

[12:5]  ¹²⁸ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.

[12:5]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “say to.”

[13:16]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “If you detain me.”

[13:16]  ¹³¹ tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the Lord’s messenger, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yÿhvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s messenger” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ’adonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).

[20:18]  ¹³² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:18]  ¹³³ tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

[20:18]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

[20:23]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:23]  ¹³⁶ tn Heb “approach for battle.”

[20:23]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

[20:23]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ¹³⁹ tn Heb “standing before him.”

[20:28]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ¹⁴² tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

[5:29]  ¹⁴⁴ tn Or “princesses.”

[6:31]  ¹⁴⁵ tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

[6:31]  ¹⁴⁷ tn Heb “fights for him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁴⁸ 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]  ¹⁴⁹ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

[6:31]  ¹⁵⁰ 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).

[8:8]  ¹⁵¹ tn Heb “and spoke to them in the same way.”

[8:8]  ¹⁵² tn Heb “The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.”

[11:9]  ¹⁵³ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:9]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Heb “places them before me.”

[11:9]  ¹⁵⁵ tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

[19:28]  ¹⁵⁶ tn Heb “And the man took her on the donkey and arose and went to his place.”

[20:4]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Heb “The man, the Levite.”

[20:4]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Heb “came to.”

[20:4]  ¹⁵⁹ tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”