Hakim-hakim 11:29--15:20
Context11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered 1 Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went 2 to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. 3 11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 11:31 then whoever is the first to come through 4 the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he 5 will belong to the Lord and 6 I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” 11:32 Jephthah approached 7 the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 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! 8 The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. 9
11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out 10 to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. 11 She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. 11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! 12 You have brought me disaster! 13 I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” 14 11:36 She said to him, “My father, since 15 you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. 16 After all, the Lord vindicated you before 17 your enemies, the Ammonites.” 11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. 18 For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” 19 11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave 20 for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. 21 11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. 22 Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. 23 11:40 Every year 24 Israelite women commemorate 25 the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. 26
12:1 The Ephraimites assembled 27 and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight 28 with the Ammonites without asking 29 us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” 30
12:2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. 31 I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. 32 12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help, 33 I risked my life 34 and advanced against 35 the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up 36 to fight with me today?” 12:4 Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and they fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because the Ephraimites insulted them, saying, 37 “You Gileadites are refugees in Ephraim, living within Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s territory.” 38 12:5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River 39 opposite Ephraim. 40 Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive 41 said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked 42 him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” 43 If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word 44 correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead. 12:7 Jephthah led 45 Israel for six years; then he 46 died and was buried in his city in Gilead. 47
12:8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem 48 led 49 Israel. 12:9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, 50 and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. 51 Ibzan 52 led 53 Israel for seven years; 12:10 then he 54 died and was buried in Bethlehem.
12:11 After him Elon the Zebulunite led 55 Israel for ten years. 56 12:12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
12:13 After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite led 57 Israel. 12:14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years. 12:15 Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, 58 so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
13:2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. 59 13:3 The Lord’s angelic 60 messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You 61 are infertile and childless, 62 but you will conceive and have a son. 13:4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. 63 13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. 64 You must never cut his hair, 65 for the child will be dedicated to God 66 from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power 67 of the Philistines.”
13:6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God 68 came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger – he was very awesome. 69 I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. 70 So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. 71 For the child will be dedicated 72 to God from birth till the day he dies.’”
13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, 73 “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God 74 to visit 75 us again, so he can teach 76 us how we should raise 77 the child who will be born.” 13:9 God answered Manoah’s prayer. 78 God’s angelic messenger visited 79 the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 13:10 The woman ran at once and told her husband, 80 “Come quickly, 81 the man who visited 82 me the other day has appeared to me!” 13:11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met 83 the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” 84 He said, “Yes.” 85 13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, 86 how should the child be raised and what should he do?” 87 13:13 The Lord’s messenger told 88 Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. 89 13:14 She should not drink 90 anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. 91 She should obey everything I commanded her to do.” 13:15 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please stay here awhile, 92 so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” 93 13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, 94 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.) 95 13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.” 96 13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” 97 13:19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. 98 13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it 99 while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown 100 to the ground.
13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger. 101 13:22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!” 102 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. 103 He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”
13:24 Manoah’s wife 104 gave birth to a son and named him Samson. 105 The child grew and the Lord empowered 106 him. 13:25 The Lord’s spirit began to control him 107 in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye. 108 14:2 When he got home, 109 he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. 110 Now get her for my wife.” 14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our 111 people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” 112 But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, 113 because she is the right one for me.” 114 14:4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, 115 because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines 116 (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).
14:5 Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached 117 the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. 118 14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered 119 him and he tore the lion 120 in two with his bare hands 121 as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
14:7 Samson continued on down to Timnah 122 and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one. 123 14:8 Some time later, when he went back to marry 124 her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw 125 a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. 14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned 126 to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. 127
14:10 Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. 128 Samson hosted a party 129 there, for this was customary for bridegrooms 130 to do. 14:11 When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company. 131 14:12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, 132 I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets 133 of clothes. 14:13 But if you cannot solve it, 134 you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.” 135 14:14 He said to them,
“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong one came something sweet.”
They could not solve the riddle for three days.
14:15 On the fourth 136 day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. 137 If you refuse, 138 we will burn up 139 you and your father’s family. 140 Did you invite us here 141 to make us poor?” 142 14:16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder 143 and said, “You must 144 hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men 145 a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” 146 14:17 She cried on his shoulder 147 until the party was almost over. 148 Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. 149 Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle. 150 14:18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
He said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer, 151
you would not have solved my riddle!”
14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes 152 and gave them 153 to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. 154 14:20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. 155
15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, 156 Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. 157 He said to her father, 158 “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” 159 But her father would not let him enter. 15:2 Her father said, “I really thought 160 you absolutely despised 161 her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!” 162 15:3 Samson said to them, 163 “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” 164 15:4 Samson went and captured three hundred jackals 165 and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair. 166 15:5 He lit the torches 167 and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 15:6 The Philistines asked, 168 “Who did this?” They were told, 169 “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite 170 took Samson’s 171 bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. 172 15:7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this, 173 I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” 174 15:8 He struck them down and defeated them. 175 Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
15:9 The Philistines went up and invaded 176 Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle 177 in Lehi. 15:10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking 178 us?” The Philistines 179 said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 15:11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 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 180 you will not kill 181 me.” 15:13 They said to him, “We promise! 182 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. 15:14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered 183 him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in 184 fire, and they 185 melted away from his hands. 15:15 He happened to see 186 a solid 187 jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it 188 and struck down 189 a thousand men. 15:16 Samson then said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps; 190
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
15:17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down 191 and named that place Ramath Lehi. 192
15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant 193 this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” 194 15:19 So God split open the basin 195 at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength 196 was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring 197 En Hakkore. 198 It remains in Lehi to this very day. 15:20 Samson led 199 Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence. 200
[11:29] 2 tn Heb “passed through.”
[11:29] 3 tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”
[11:31] 4 tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.
[11:31] 5 tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.
[11:31] 6 tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the
[11:32] 7 tn Heb “passed over to.”
[11:33] 8 tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”
[11:33] 9 tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”
[11:34] 10 tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”
[11:34] 11 tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”
[11:35] 12 tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.
[11:35] 13 tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”
[11:35] 14 tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the
[11:36] 15 tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[11:36] 16 tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the
[11:36] 17 tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”
[11:37] 18 tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”
[11:37] 19 tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”
[11:38] 20 tn Heb “he sent her.”
[11:38] 21 tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.
[11:39] 22 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] 23 tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”
[11:40] 24 tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”
[11:40] 25 tn Heb “go to commemorate.” The rare Hebrew verb תָּנָה (tanah, “to tell; to repeat; to recount”) occurs only here and in 5:11.
[11:40] 26 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in the year.” This is redundant (note “every year” at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:1] 27 tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”
[12:1] 28 tn Heb “cross over to fight.”
[12:1] 29 tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”
[12:1] 30 tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”
[12:2] 31 tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”
[12:3] 33 tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”
[12:3] 34 tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”
[12:3] 35 tn Heb “crossed over to.”
[12:3] 36 tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:4] 37 tn Heb “because they said.”
[12:4] 38 tc Heb “Refugees of Ephraim are you, O Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” The LXX omits the entire second half of the verse (beginning with “because”). The words כִּי אָמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם (ki ’amru pÿlitey ’efrayim, “because they said, ‘Refugees of Ephraim’”) may have been accidentally copied from the next verse (cf. כִּי יֹאמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם, ki yo’mÿru pelitey ’efrayim) and the following words (“you, O Gilead…Manasseh”) then added in an attempt to make sense of the verse. See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 307-8, and C. F. Burney, Judges, 327. If the Hebrew text is retained, then the Ephraimites appear to be insulting the Gileadites by describing them as refugees who are squatting on Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s land. The present translation assumes that “Ephraim” is a genitive of location after “refugees.”
[12:5] 39 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:5] 40 tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.
[12:5] 41 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.
[12:6] 43 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] 44 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
[12:7] 45 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:7] 46 tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:7] 47 tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.
[12:8] 48 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
[12:8] 49 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:9] 50 tn Heb “thirty daughters he sent off outside.” Another option is to translate, “He arranged for his thirty daughters…” It is not clear if he had more than the “thirty daughters” mentioned in the text.
[12:9] 51 tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”
[12:9] 52 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.
[12:9] 53 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:10] 54 tn Heb “Ibzan.” The pronoun “he” is used in the translation in keeping with English style, which tends to use a proper name first in a sentence followed by a pronoun rather than vice versa.
[12:11] 55 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:11] 56 tn Heb “…led Israel. He led Israel for ten years.”
[12:13] 57 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[13:1] 58 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[13:2] 59 tn Heb “and had not given birth.”
[13:3] 60 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).
[13:3] 62 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
[13:4] 63 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:5] 64 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] 65 tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”
[13:5] 66 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”).
[13:6] 68 tn Heb “The man of God.”
[13:6] 69 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome.”
[13:7] 70 tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
[13:7] 71 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:7] 72 tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”
[13:8] 73 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:8] 74 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:8] 76 tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).
[13:8] 77 tn Heb “what we should do for.”
[13:9] 78 tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”
[13:10] 80 tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[13:11] 84 tn Heb “the woman.”
[13:12] 86 tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”
[13:12] 87 tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”
[13:13] 89 tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.
[13:14] 91 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:15] 92 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
[13:15] 93 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
[13:16] 94 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
[13:16] 95 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
[13:17] 96 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
[13:18] 97 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
[13:19] 98 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the
[13:20] 99 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
[13:20] 100 tn Heb “on their faces.”
[13:21] 101 tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the
[13:22] 102 tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the
[13:23] 103 tn Heb “our hand.”
[13:24] 104 tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”
[13:24] 105 tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”
[13:24] 106 tn Traditionally, “blessed.”
[13:25] 107 tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”
[14:1] 108 tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
[14:2] 109 tn Heb “and he went up.”
[14:2] 110 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
[14:3] 111 tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.
[14:3] 112 tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
[14:3] 113 tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.
[14:3] 114 tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”
[14:4] 115 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
[14:4] 116 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
[14:5] 117 tc The MT reads, “Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they approached…” Verse 6b states that Samson did not tell his parents about his encounter with the lion (vv. 5b-6a), but v. 5a gives the impression they would have seen the entire episode. One could assume that Samson separated from his parents prior to the lion’s attack, but the Hebrew text does not indicate this. It seems more likely that the words “with his father and his mother” were accidentally copied into the text, perhaps under the influence of v. 4a, where the same phrase appears. An original singular verb (“he approached”) may have been changed to the plural form (“they approached”) after the words “his father and his mother” were accidentally added to the text.
[14:5] 118 tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”
[14:6] 119 tn Heb “rushed on.”
[14:6] 120 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:6] 121 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
[14:7] 122 tn Heb “He went down.”
[14:7] 123 tn Heb “She was the right one in the eyes of Samson.”
[14:8] 125 tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”
[14:9] 126 tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.
[14:9] 127 sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.
[14:10] 128 tn Heb “And his father went down to the woman.”
[14:10] 129 tn Or “[wedding] feast.”
[14:10] 130 tn Heb “the young men.”
[14:11] 131 tn Heb “When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him.” Instead of כִּרְאוֹתָם (kir’otam, “when they saw”) some ancient witnesses (e.g., some
[14:12] 132 tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”
[14:13] 134 tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”
[14:13] 135 tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”
[14:15] 136 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
[14:15] 137 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
[14:15] 139 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:15] 141 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew
[14:15] 142 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
[14:16] 144 tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”
[14:16] 145 tn Heb “the sons of my people.”
[14:16] 146 tn Heb “Should I tell you?”
[14:17] 148 tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
[14:17] 149 tn Heb “because she forced him.”
[14:17] 150 tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”
[14:18] 151 sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.
[14:19] 152 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
[14:19] 153 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
[14:19] 154 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
[14:20] 155 tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”
[15:1] 156 sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.
[15:1] 157 tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”
[15:1] 158 tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).
[15:1] 159 tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).
[15:2] 160 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 161 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 162 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
[15:3] 163 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”
[15:3] 164 tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”
[15:4] 165 tn Traditionally, “foxes.”
[15:4] 166 tn Heb “He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle.”
[15:5] 167 tn Heb “He set fire to the torches.”
[15:6] 169 tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
[15:6] 170 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 171 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 172 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.
[15:7] 173 tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.
[15:7] 174 tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”
[15:8] 175 tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.
[15:9] 177 tn Or “spread out.” The Niphal of נָטָשׁ (natash) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
[15:10] 178 tn Or “come up against.”
[15:10] 179 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:12] 180 tn Or “swear to me.”
[15:12] 181 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
[15:13] 182 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
[15:14] 183 tn Heb “rushed on.”
[15:14] 184 tn Heb “burned with.”
[15:14] 185 tn Heb “his bonds.”
[15:15] 186 tn Heb “he found.”
[15:15] 187 tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.
[15:15] 188 tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”
[15:15] 189 tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:16] 190 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”).
[15:17] 191 tn Heb “from his hand.”
[15:17] 192 sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”
[15:18] 193 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
[15:18] 194 tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.
[15:19] 195 tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.
[15:19] 197 tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:19] 198 sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”
