Hakim-hakim 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ¹  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ²  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ³  will die by morning! ⁴  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ⁵  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ⁶ 

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 ⁷  is dry, then I will be sure ⁸  that you will use me to deliver Israel, ⁹  as you promised.”

Hakim-hakim 13:16

13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, ¹⁰  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.) ¹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 16:5

16:5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate ¹²  him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

Hakim-hakim 16:30

16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard ¹³  and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life. ¹⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ¹⁵  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ¹⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 18:9

18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, ¹⁷  for ¹⁸  we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, ¹⁹  but don’t hesitate ²⁰  to invade and conquer ²¹  the land.

Hakim-hakim 20:35

20:35 The Lord annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites. ²² 

[6:31]  ¹ tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

[6:31]  ² tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

[6:31]  ³ tn Heb “fights for him.”

[6:31]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

[6:31]  ⁶ 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).

[6:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the ground.”

[6:37]  ⁸ tn Or “know.”

[6:37]  ⁹ tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”

[13:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “If you detain me.”

[13:16]  ¹¹ 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).

[16:5]  ¹² tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”

[16:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”

[16:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”

[17:10]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.

[18:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

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

[18:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

[18:9]  ²⁰ tn Or “be lazy.”

[18:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

[20:35]  ²² tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”