Hakim-hakim 2:18

2:18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people ¹  from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them ²  when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 4:21

4:21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. ⁴  She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground ⁵  while he was asleep from exhaustion, ⁶  and he died.

Hakim-hakim 11:17

11:17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us ⁷  to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. ⁸  Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. ⁹  So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

Hakim-hakim 11:26

11:26 Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?

Hakim-hakim 12:1

Civil Strife Mars the Victory

12:1 The Ephraimites assembled ¹⁰  and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight ¹¹  with the Ammonites without asking ¹²  us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” ¹³ 

Hakim-hakim 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹⁴  You must never cut his hair, ¹⁵  for the child will be dedicated to God ¹⁶  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power ¹⁷  of the Philistines.”

Hakim-hakim 13:7

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹⁸  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ¹⁹  For the child will be dedicated ²⁰  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

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. ²¹  He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

Hakim-hakim 14:6

14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered ²²  him and he tore the lion ²³  in two with his bare hands ²⁴  as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

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 ²⁵  and gave them ²⁶  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ²⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ²⁸  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ²⁹  for I have been dedicated to God ³⁰  from the time I was conceived. ³¹  If my head ³²  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

Hakim-hakim 16:23

Samson’s Death and Burial

16:23 The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”

Hakim-hakim 16:28

16:28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord, ³³  remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge ³⁴  against the Philistines for my two eyes!”

Hakim-hakim 18:9

18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, ³⁵  for ³⁶  we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, ³⁷  but don’t hesitate ³⁸  to invade and conquer ³⁹  the land.

Hakim-hakim 18:30

18:30 The Danites worshiped ⁴⁰  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ⁴¹  of Gershom, son of Moses, ⁴²  and his descendants ⁴³  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.

[2:18]  ¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:18]  ² tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:18]  ³ tn Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.

[4:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand.”

[4:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it went into the ground.”

[4:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and exhausted.” Another option is to understand this as a reference to the result of the fatal blow. In this case, the phrase could be translated, “and he breathed his last.”

[11:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “me.” (Collective Israel is the speaker.)

[11:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “did not listen.”

[11:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “Also to the king of Moab he sent, but he was unwilling.”

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”

[12:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cross over to fight.”

[12:1]  ¹² tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”

[12:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”

[13:5]  ¹⁴ tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.

[13:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

[13:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

[13:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hand.”

[13:7]  ¹⁸ tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

[13:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

[13:7]  ²⁰ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

[13:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “our hand.”

[14:6]  ²² tn Heb “rushed on.”

[14:6]  ²³ tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”

[14:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”

[14:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

[14:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”

[16:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

[16:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17]  ³² tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

[16:28]  ³³ tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).

[16:28]  ³⁴ tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”

[18:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

[18:9]  ³⁶ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

[18:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

[18:9]  ³⁸ tn Or “be lazy.”

[18:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

[18:30]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

[18:30]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “son.”

[18:30]  ⁴² tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

[18:30]  ⁴³ tn Heb “sons.”