Hakim-hakim 8:17

8:17 He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city’s men.

Hakim-hakim 9:54

9:54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons, ¹  “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say, ²  ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died.

Hakim-hakim 20:35

20:35 The Lord annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 8:21

8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, ⁴  “Come on, ⁵  you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” ⁶  So Gideon killed ⁷  Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.

Hakim-hakim 8:18

8:18 He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me ⁸  the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 20:4

20:4 The Levite, ¹⁰  the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, “I and my concubine stopped in ¹¹  Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin ¹²  to spend the night.

Hakim-hakim 9:18

9:18 But you have attacked ¹³  my father’s family ¹⁴  today. You murdered his seventy legitimate ¹⁵  sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative. ¹⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 16:30

16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard ¹⁷  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. ¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 9:5

9:5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers, ¹⁹  the seventy legitimate ²⁰  sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped, ²¹  because he hid.

Hakim-hakim 16:2

16:2 The Gazites were told, ²²  “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town ²³  and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. ²⁴  They relaxed ²⁵  all night, thinking, ²⁶  “He will not leave ²⁷  until morning comes; ²⁸  then we will kill him!”

Hakim-hakim 9:56

9:56 God repaid Abimelech for the evil he did to his father by murdering his seventy half-brothers. ²⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 9:24

9:24 He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ³⁰  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ³¹ 

Hakim-hakim 7:25

7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. ³²  They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb ³³  in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites ³⁴  and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. ³⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 8:20

8:20 He ordered Jether his firstborn son, “Come on! ³⁶  Kill them!” But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword, ³⁷  because he was still young.

Hakim-hakim 20:5

20:5 The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. ³⁸  They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.

Hakim-hakim 8:19

8:19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear, ³⁹  as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

Hakim-hakim 3:29

3:29 That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites ⁴⁰  – all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped.

Hakim-hakim 1:8

1:8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire.

Hakim-hakim 20:37

20:37 The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash ⁴¹  to Gibeah. They ⁴²  attacked ⁴³  and put the sword to the entire city.

Hakim-hakim 3:31

3:31 After Ehud ⁴⁴  came ⁴⁵  Shamgar son of Anath; he killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad and, like Ehud, ⁴⁶  delivered Israel.

Hakim-hakim 20:45

20:45 The rest ⁴⁷  turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites ⁴⁸  caught ⁴⁹  five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels ⁵⁰  all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

Hakim-hakim 20:39

20:39 the Israelites counterattacked. ⁵¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ⁵²  they struck down ⁵³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

Hakim-hakim 20:31

20:31 The Benjaminites attacked ⁵⁴  the army, leaving the city unguarded. ⁵⁵  They began to strike down their enemy ⁵⁶  just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, ⁵⁷  the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down ⁵⁸  about thirty Israelites.

Hakim-hakim 9:45

9:45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled ⁵⁹  the city and spread salt over it. ⁶⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 15:13

15:13 They said to him, “We promise! ⁶¹  We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff.

Hakim-hakim 12:6

12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” ⁶²  If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word ⁶³  correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.

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 ⁶⁴  and gave them ⁶⁵  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ⁶⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 20:21

20:21 The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day. ⁶⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 4:16

4:16 Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died ⁶⁸  by the edge of the sword; not even one survived! ⁶⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 15:15-16

15:15 He happened to see ⁷⁰  a solid ⁷¹  jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it ⁷²  and struck down ⁷³  a thousand men. 15:16 Samson then said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey

I have left them in heaps; ⁷⁴ 

with the jawbone of a donkey

I have struck down a thousand men!”

Hakim-hakim 20:43

20:43 They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, ⁷⁵  and annihilated ⁷⁶  them all the way to a spot east of Geba. ⁷⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 1:4

1:4 The men of Judah attacked, ⁷⁸  and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed ten thousand men at Bezek.

Hakim-hakim 21:10

21:10 So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors ⁷⁹  against Jabesh Gilead. ⁸⁰  They commanded them, “Go and kill with your swords ⁸¹  the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children.

Hakim-hakim 1:5

1:5 They met ⁸²  Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and fought him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites.

Hakim-hakim 18:27

18:27 Now the Danites ⁸³  took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city. ⁸⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 1:25

1:25 He showed them a secret entrance into the city, and they put the city to the sword. But they let the man and his extended family leave safely.

Hakim-hakim 16:24

16:24 When the people saw him, ⁸⁵  they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” ⁸⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 15:8

15:8 He struck them down and defeated them. ⁸⁷  Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.

Hakim-hakim 21:11

21:11 Do this: ⁸⁸  exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male. ⁸⁹  But spare the lives of any virgins.” So they did as instructed. ⁹⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 8:10

8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed. ⁹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 20:3

20:3 The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!”

Hakim-hakim 20:13

20:13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings ⁹²  in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.” ⁹³  But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

Hakim-hakim 9:43

9:43 he took his men ⁹⁴  and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, ⁹⁵  he attacked and struck them down. ⁹⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 11:33

11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! ⁹⁷  The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. ⁹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ⁹⁹  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ¹⁰⁰  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ¹⁰¹  will die by morning! ¹⁰²  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ¹⁰³  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ¹⁰⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but ¹⁰⁵  I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” ¹⁰⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 20:48

20:48 The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns ¹⁰⁷  and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, ¹⁰⁸  the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. ¹⁰⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 6:30

6:30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! ¹¹⁰  He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.”

Hakim-hakim 9:40

9:40 Abimelech chased him, and Gaal ¹¹¹  ran from him. Many Shechemites ¹¹²  fell wounded at the entrance of the gate.

Hakim-hakim 20:25

20:25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers. ¹¹³ 

Hakim-hakim 20:46

20:46 That day twenty-five thousand ¹¹⁴  sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. ¹¹⁵ 

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. ¹¹⁶ 

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 ¹¹⁷  you will not kill ¹¹⁸  me.”

Hakim-hakim 7:14

7:14 The other man said, ¹¹⁹  “Without a doubt this symbolizes ¹²⁰  the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

Hakim-hakim 18:25

18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men ¹²¹  will attack you, and you and your family will die.” ¹²² 

Hakim-hakim 21:14

21:14 The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites ¹²³  gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around. ¹²⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 1:10

1:10 The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

Hakim-hakim 9:44

9:44 Abimelech and his units ¹²⁵  attacked and blocked ¹²⁶  the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down.

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, ¹²⁷  Samson!” ¹²⁸  He woke up ¹²⁹  and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

Hakim-hakim 8:3

8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” ¹³⁰  When he said this, they calmed down. ¹³¹ 

Hakim-hakim 16:12

16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ¹³²  Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) ¹³³  But he tore the ropes ¹³⁴  from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

Hakim-hakim 16:9

16:9 They hid ¹³⁵  in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, ¹³⁶  Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. ¹³⁷  The secret of his strength was not discovered. ¹³⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 20:42

20:42 They retreated before the Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook ¹³⁹  them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down. ¹⁴⁰ 

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 16:20

16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, ¹⁴¹  Samson!” He woke up ¹⁴²  and thought, ¹⁴³  “I will do as I did before ¹⁴⁴  and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

Hakim-hakim 21:8

21:8 So they asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” Now it just so happened no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the gathering. ¹⁴⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 7:22

7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords ¹⁴⁶  throughout ¹⁴⁷  the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went ¹⁴⁸  to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

Hakim-hakim 4:21

4:21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. ¹⁴⁹  She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground ¹⁵⁰  while he was asleep from exhaustion, ¹⁵¹  and he died.

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. ¹⁵²  He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

Hakim-hakim 14:8

14:8 Some time later, when he went back to marry ¹⁵³  her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw ¹⁵⁴  a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey.

[9:54]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[9:54]  ² tn The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:35]  ³ tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”

[8:21]  ⁴ tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:21]  ⁵ tn Or “Arise.”

[8:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”

[8:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “arose and killed.”

[8:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “Where are?”

[8:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “each one like the appearance of sons of the king.”

[20:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The man, the Levite.”

[20:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “came to.”

[20:4]  ¹² tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”

[9:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “have risen up against.”

[9:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[9:18]  ¹⁵ tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your brother.”

[16:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”

[16:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[9:5]  ²⁰ tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “remained.”

[16:2]  ²² tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”

[16:2]  ²³ tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.

[16:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”

[16:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “were silent.”

[16:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “saying.”

[16:2]  ²⁷ tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[16:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

[9:56]  ²⁹ tn Heb “seventy brothers.”

[9:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “their brother.”

[9:24]  ³¹ tn Heb “so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come, and their blood might be placed on Abimelech, their brother, who murdered them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to murder his brothers.”

[7:25]  ³² sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.

[7:25]  ³³ tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:25]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Midian.”

[7:25]  ³⁵ tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).

[8:20]  ³⁶ tn Or “Arise!”

[8:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “did not draw his sword for he was afraid.”

[20:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night.”

[8:19]  ³⁹ tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:29]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “They struck Moab that day – about ten thousand men.”

[20:37]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “hurried and put off [their hiding place].”

[20:37]  ⁴² tn Heb “the men hiding in ambush.”

[20:37]  ⁴³ tn Or “deployed.” The verb normally means “to lead” or “to draw.”

[3:31]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:31]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “was.”

[3:31]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “also he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:45]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the rest [of the Benjaminites]) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:45]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:45]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “gleaned.” The word is an agricultural term which pictures Israelites picking off the Benjaminites as easily as one picks grapes from the vine.

[20:45]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “stuck close after them.”

[20:39]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “turned in the battle.”

[20:39]  ⁵² tn Heb “And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel.”

[20:39]  ⁵³ tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[20:31]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “went out to meet.”

[20:31]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”

[20:31]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.”

[20:31]  ⁵⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:31]  ⁵⁸ tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:45]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “destroyed.”

[9:45]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”

[9:45]  sn The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: “May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!” See J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire (BibOr), 15, 53. Deut 29:23, Jer 17:6, and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment.

[15:13]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.

[12:6]  ⁶² sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.

[12:6]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew mss.

[14:19]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”

[14:19]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

[14:19]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”

[20:21]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”

[4:16]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “fell.”

[4:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “was left.”

[15:15]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “he found.”

[15:15]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.

[15:15]  ⁷² tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”

[15:15]  ⁷³ tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:16]  ⁷⁴ tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).

[20:43]  ⁷⁵ tc The translation assumes the reading מִנּוֹחָה (minnokhah, “from Nohah”; cf. 1 Chr 8:2) rather than the MT’s מְנוּחָה (mÿnukhah, “resting place”).

[20:43]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “tread down, walk on.”

[20:43]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “unto the opposite of Gibeah toward the east.” Gibeah cannot be correct here, since the Benjaminites retreated from there toward the desert and Rimmon (see v. 45). A slight emendation yields the reading “Geba.”

[1:4]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “Judah went up.”

[21:10]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

[21:10]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “there.”

[21:10]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “the edge of the sword.”

[1:5]  ⁸² tn Or “found.”

[18:27]  ⁸³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ⁸⁴ tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[16:24]  ⁸⁵ tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.

[16:24]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “multiplied our dead.”

[15:8]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.

[21:11]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.”

[21:11]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.”

[21:11]  ⁹⁰ tc Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, “‘But the virgins you should keep alive.’ And they did so.” These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: וְאֶת־הַבְּתוּלוֹת תְּחַיּוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן (ve’et-habbÿtulot tÿkhayyu vayya’asu khen). It is likely that a scribe’s eye jumped from the vav (ו) on וְאֶת (vÿ’et) to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction.

[8:10]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “About fifteen thousand [in number] were all the ones remaining from the army of the sons of the east. The fallen ones were a hundred and twenty thousand [in number], men drawing the sword.”

[20:13]  ⁹² tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”

[20:13]  ⁹³ tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”

[9:43]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “his people.”

[9:43]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”

[9:43]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”

[11:33]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”

[11:33]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”

[6:31]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

[6:31]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “fights for him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁰² 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]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

[6:31]  ¹⁰⁴ 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).

[6:16]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Or “certainly.”

[6:16]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”

[20:48]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.”

[20:48]  ¹⁰⁸ tc The translation is based on the reading מֵעִיר מְתִים (me’ir mÿtim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (me’ir mÿtom, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L).

[20:48]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”

[6:30]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.

[9:40]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gaal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:40]  ¹¹² tn The word “Shechemites” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarification.

[20:25]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the ground, all of these were wielding the sword.”

[20:46]  ¹¹⁴ sn The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 429) and C. F. Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days’ fighting emphasizes Israel’s humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator’s emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days’ casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.

[20:46]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.

[21:5]  ¹¹⁶ 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.’”

[15:12]  ¹¹⁷ tn Or “swear to me.”

[15:12]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.

[7:14]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[7:14]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”

[18:25]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

[18:25]  ¹²² tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

[21:14]  ¹²³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:14]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “but they did not find for them enough.”

[9:44]  ¹²⁵ tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”

[9:44]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “stood [at].”

[16:14]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:14]  ¹²⁸ 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]  ¹²⁹ tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:3]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”

[8:3]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”

[16:12]  ¹³² tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:12]  ¹³³ tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”

[16:12]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:9]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vÿha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).

[16:9]  ¹³⁶ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:9]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “when it smells fire.”

[16:9]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “His strength was not known.”

[20:42]  ¹³⁹ tn Heb “clung to”; or “stuck close.”

[20:42]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Heb “and those from the cities were striking them down in their midst.”

[16:20]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:20]  ¹⁴² tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:20]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “and said.”

[16:20]  ¹⁴⁴ tn Heb “I will go out as before.”

[21:8]  ¹⁴⁵ tn Heb “Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.”

[7:22]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Heb “the Lord set the sword of each one against his friend.”

[7:22]  ¹⁴⁷ tc MT has “and throughout the camp,” but the conjunction (“and”) is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.

[7:22]  ¹⁴⁸ tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:21]  ¹⁴⁹ tn Heb “took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand.”

[4:21]  ¹⁵⁰ tn Heb “and it went into the ground.”

[4:21]  ¹⁵¹ 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.”

[13:23]  ¹⁵² tn Heb “our hand.”

[14:8]  ¹⁵³ tn Heb “get.”

[14:8]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”