Hakim-hakim 4:18

4:18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest, ¹  my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera ²  stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him.

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 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 11:39

11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. ⁴  Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. ⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 16:14

16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ⁶  Samson!” ⁷  He woke up ⁸  and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

Hakim-hakim 16:19

16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap ⁹  and then called a man in to shave off ¹⁰  the seven braids of his hair. ¹¹  She made him vulnerable ¹²  and his strength left him.

[4:18]  ¹ tn Heb “Turn aside” (also a second time later in this verse).

[4:18]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:1]  ³ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.

[11:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”

[16:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:14]  ⁷ tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.

[16:14]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

[16:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.

[16:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

[16:19]  ¹² tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.