Hakim-hakim 2:19

2:19 When a leader died, the next generation ¹  would again ²  act more wickedly than the previous one. ³  They would follow after other gods, worshiping them ⁴  and bowing down to them. They did not give up ⁵  their practices or their stubborn ways.

Hakim-hakim 7:19

7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp ⁶  at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 8:27

8:27 Gideon used all this to make ⁸  an ephod, ⁹  which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites ¹⁰  prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it ¹¹  there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Hakim-hakim 9:51

9:51 There was a fortified ¹²  tower ¹³  in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city’s leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower.

[2:19]  ¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:19]  ² tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.

[2:19]  ³ tn Heb “their fathers.”

[2:19]  sn The statement the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one must refer to the successive sinful generations after Joshua, not Joshua’s godly generation (cf. vv. 7, 17).

[2:19]  ⁴ tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”

[2:19]  ⁵ tn Or “drop.”

[7:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”

[7:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “that were in their hands.”

[8:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “made it into.”

[8:27]  ⁹ sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.

[8:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).

[8:27]  ¹¹ tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:51]  ¹² tn Or “strong.”

[9:51]  ¹³ tn Or “fortress.” The same Hebrew term occurs once more in this verse and twice in v. 52.