Hakim-hakim 14:19

14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes ¹  and gave them ²  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 14:13

14:13 But if you cannot solve it, ⁴  you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.” ⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ⁶  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 14:12

14:12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, ⁸  I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets ⁹  of clothes.

Hakim-hakim 8:24

8:24 Gideon continued, ¹⁰  “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.” ¹¹  (The Midianites ¹²  had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

Hakim-hakim 3:16

3:16 Ehud made himself a sword – it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. ¹³  He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh.

Hakim-hakim 8:26

8:26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. ¹⁴  This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, ¹⁵  purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. ¹⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 16:11

16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, ¹⁷  I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Hakim-hakim 11:35

11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! ¹⁸  You have brought me disaster! ¹⁹  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” ²⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 21:18

21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, ²¹  for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’ ²² 

Hakim-hakim 9:4

9:4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous ²³  men as his followers. ²⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 4:23

4:23 That day God humiliated King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.

Hakim-hakim 21:1

600 Brides for 600 Brothers

21:1 The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.”

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 6:36

6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, ²⁵  as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. ²⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 2:22

2:22 Joshua left those nations ²⁷  to test ²⁸  Israel. I wanted to see ²⁹  whether or not the people ³⁰  would carefully walk in the path ³¹  marked out by ³²  the Lord, as their ancestors ³³  were careful to do.”

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!’ ³⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 15:15

15:15 He happened to see ³⁵  a solid ³⁶  jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it ³⁷  and struck down ³⁸  a thousand men.

Hakim-hakim 5:30

5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder ³⁹  –

a girl or two for each man to rape! ⁴⁰ 

Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, ⁴¹ 

he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, ⁴² 

two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,

for the neck of the plunderer!’ ⁴³ 

Hakim-hakim 6:26

6:26 Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern. ⁴⁴  Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.”

Hakim-hakim 19:22

19:22 They were having a good time, ⁴⁵  when suddenly ⁴⁶  some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, ⁴⁷  surrounded the house and kept beating ⁴⁸  on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.” ⁴⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 20:15

20:15 That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah. ⁵⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 2:1

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

2:1 The Lord’s angelic messenger ⁵¹  went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. ⁵²  I said, ‘I will never break my agreement ⁵³  with you,

Hakim-hakim 6:37

6:37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it ⁵⁴  is dry, then I will be sure ⁵⁵  that you will use me to deliver Israel, ⁵⁶  as you promised.”

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 ⁵⁷  you will not kill ⁵⁸  me.”

Hakim-hakim 17:3

17:3 When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate ⁵⁹  this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.” ⁶⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 21:5

21:5 The Israelites asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes has not assembled before the Lord?” They had made a solemn oath that whoever did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah must certainly be executed. ⁶¹ 

[14:19]  ¹ tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”

[14:19]  ² tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

[14:19]  ³ tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”

[14:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”

[14:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”

[17:10]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[14:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”

[14:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “changes.”

[8:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “said to them.”

[8:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder.”

[8:24]  ¹² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term גֹּמֶד (gomed) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger – approximately 18 inches [45 cm]). Some suggest it is equivalent to the short cubit (the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of the clenched fist – approximately 13 inches [33 cm]) or to the span (the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger in a spread hand – approximately 9 inches [23 cm]). See BDB 167 s.v.; HALOT 196 s.v.; B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 142.

[8:26]  ¹⁴ sn Seventeen hundred gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.

[8:26]  ¹⁵ tn Or “pendants.”

[8:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.”

[16:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”

[11:35]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

[11:35]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

[11:35]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

[21:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

[21:18]  ²² tn Heb “is cursed.”

[9:4]  ²³ tn Heb “empty and reckless.”

[9:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they followed him.”

[6:36]  ²⁵ tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”

[6:36]  ²⁶ tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:22]  ²⁷ tn The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the Lord announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate “to test” to “He said” (v. 20; see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 111). In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20b-21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the Lord’s declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate “to test” to “left unconquered” (v. 21). In this case the Lord recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20), so the Lord announces that the punishment threatened earlier (Josh 23:12-13; see also Judg 2:3) will now be implemented. As B. G. Webb (Judges [JSOTSup], 115) observes, “The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment.” This view best harmonizes v. 23, which explains that the Lord did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22. (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of נָסָה [nasah] is subordinated to the perfect of עָזַב [’azav], see 2 Chr 32:31.)

[2:22]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:22]  ²⁹ tn The words “I [i.e., the Lord] wanted to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ³¹ tn Or “way [of life].”

[2:22]  ³² tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.

[2:22]  ³³ tn Or “fathers.”

[9:9]  ³⁴ 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.

[15:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he found.”

[15:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.

[15:15]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”

[15:15]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:30]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?”

[5:30]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “a womb or two for each man.” The words “to rape” are interpretive. The Hebrew noun translated “girl” means literally “womb” (BDB 933 s.v. I. רַחַם), but in this context may refer by extension to the female genitalia. In this case the obscene language of Sisera’s mother alludes to the sexual brutality which typified the aftermath of battle.

[5:30]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera.”

[5:30]  ⁴² tn Heb “the plunder of embroidered cloth.”

[5:30]  ⁴³ tn The translation assumes an emendation of the noun (“plunder”) to a participle, “plunderer.”

[6:26]  ⁴⁴ tn Possibly “in a row” or “in a layer,” perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar’s construction.

[19:22]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”

[19:22]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and look.”

[19:22]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness.” The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.

[19:22]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.

[19:22]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “so we can know him.” On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23).

[20:15]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.”

[2:1]  ⁵¹ sn See Exod 14:19; 23:20.

[2:1]  ⁵² tn Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”

[2:1]  ⁵³ tn Or “covenant” (also in the following verse).

[6:37]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “all the ground.”

[6:37]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “know.”

[6:37]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”

[15:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “swear to me.”

[15:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.

[17:3]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “dedicating, I dedicate.” In this case the emphatic infinitive absolute lends a mood of solemnity to the statement.

[17:3]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “to the LORD from my hand for my son to make a carved image and cast metal image.” She cannot mean that she is now taking the money from her hand and giving it back to her son so he can make an image. Verses 4-6 indicate she took back the money and used a portion of it to hire a silversmith to make an idol for her son to use. The phrase “a carved image and cast metal image” is best taken as referring to two idols (see 18:17-18), even though the verb at the end of v. 4, וַיְהִי (vayÿhi, “and it was [in the house of Micah]”), is singular.

[21:5]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’”